The article we have covered in a previous week, “Cannabinoid Receptors in the Central
Nervous System: Their Signaling
and Roles in Disease” by Debra A. Kendall
and Guillermo A. Yudowski was an article about the purpose of Cannabinoid Receptors in the Central Nervous System. Basically, it can be summarized as the following; the endocannabinoid system has been connected to various essential roles in the synaptic ability to neurologically adapt and maintaining proper homeostasis in the brain. However, must those processes fail a myriad of things can go wrong to cause a tragedies in the subject.The topic today is why people should care about this topic and what the people must know, so without further ado let’s get to reading and clarifying!
The article informs us that certain kinds of unfortunate scenarios involving the endocannabinoid system are connected to various neurological diseases such as, Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington’s, Type Three Diabetes (Alzheimer’s Disease), and brain trauma.^1 Though, the article unfortunately leaves these tragic consequences at the article. As a result of these connection, we can now understand the essential nature of this information before us.
Figure one from the article mentioned is specifically excellent at explaining the essential nature of endocannabinoids. That piece is a diagram which explains the roles through the context of the membrane of neurons. Although, it could feel a tad bit overwhelming if you’re unfamiliar with the professional acronyms mentioned in figure one from the Neuroscience field. This was an excellent piece to me for it is maximized simplicity because, for clear reasons, that kind of thing strongly helps at a mere glance. The figure may also benefit people uninvolved in Neuroscience as well because figure one works similarly with the textbooks we grew up with in school with all the brief, yet descriptive, labeling and artistic style, and I find all of that effective myself in general because it’s easy on the eyes to track and logicate.
Now, at this point, one, such as yourself, may wonder why people really should care about all the above information. Well, let’s answer with essential basics to answer ourselves by quickly asking ourselves something simpler first; what really is so bad about what I considered consequences during a dysfunctional cannabinoid system? Well, Alzheimer’s disease for example is not very nice at all and looks even worse when examined scientifically. According to the NIH, Alzheimer’s disease has a wide spectrum of symptoms from memory loss and brain literal deterioration. Considering that we know the brain to be the most vital organ of all in the body, it’s no shock that such a scenario is serious and even severe. The severity of both mentioned examples of the consequences of Alzheimer’s disease in the last paragraph is clear and concerning when thought of this way in the clinical lens rather than “just another syndrome/disease” I personally notice in the general public awareness. I recommend reading the articles yourself to truly understand as I can only summarize so much of what we know!
Footnotes:
1: “Cannabinoid Receptors in the Central
Nervous System: Their Signaling
and Roles in Disease” by Debra A. Kendall
and Guillermo A. Yudowski
2: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-causes-and-risk-factors/what-happens-brain-alzheimers-disease
