Marijuana may be an excellent alternative or addition to the medication regime of someone suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. The “active ingredients” in marijuana are cannabinoids. Depending on the strain and variety of marijuana, there can be up to 60 different types of cannabinoids present.
The presence of cannabinoids isn’t limited to marijuana. The human brain also produces these compounds and the brain contains the endocannabinoid system, which has receptors that bind to the cannabinoids. When this binding occurs, it can affect the levels of some brain chemicals, including dopamine.In some instances, cannabinoids can act as dopamine agonists, meaning they imitate the chemical, bind to the same receptors and produce the same results as natural dopamine.
The basal ganglia ,the area of the brain that controls movement has a large number of cannabinoid receptors. Interestingly enough, people with Parkinson’s disease often have fewer cannabinoid receptors than people without the disease.
Among the many studies and academic papers relating to the benefits of medical marijuana for Parkinson’s Disease, Sevcik J. and Masek K., of the Institute of Pharmacology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague had this to say:
“Cannabinoids might alleviate some parkinsonian symptoms by their remarkable receptor-mediated modulatory action in the basal ganglia output nuclei.