New Study on Autism & Anandamide

(FYI - THC and Anandamide (an endocannabinoid your body makes) are "look-alikes" as far as your body is concerned. Your body can often substitute a molecule of THC where Anandamide is normally used. This is why cannabis can help to heal or treat so many conditions.) The link is to the full study which is free.

Plasma anandamide concentrations are lower in children with autism spectrum disorder
Plasma anandamide concentrations are lower in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract
Background

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by restricted, stereotyped behaviors and impairments in social communication. Although the underlying biological mechanisms of ASD remain poorly understood, recent preclinical research has implicated the endogenous cannabinoid (or endocannabinoid), anandamide, as a significant neuromodulator in rodent models of ASD. Despite this promising preclinical evidence, no clinical studies to date have tested whether endocannabinoids are dysregulated in individuals with ASD. Here, we addressed this critical gap in knowledge by optimizing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methodology to quantitatively analyze anandamide concentrations in banked blood samples collected from a cohort of children with and without ASD (N = 112).

Findings
Anandamide concentrations significantly differentiated ASD cases (N = 59) from controls (N = 53), such that children with lower anandamide concentrations were more likely to have ASD (p = 0.041). In keeping with this notion, anandamide concentrations were also significantly lower in ASD compared to control children (p = 0.034).

Conclusions
These findings are the first empirical human data to translate preclinical rodent findings to confirm a link between plasma anandamide concentrations in children with ASD. Although preliminary, these data suggest that impaired anandamide signaling may be involved in the pathophysiology of ASD.




So kids that have autism MAY improve if their endocannabinoid levels are raised, or are augmented by plant cannabinoids or even some synthetic cannabinoids. (Marinol, a synthetic THC, is a legally prescribed drug in the US and elsewhere.) This study's observation is supported by the remarkable results noted in these news articles-

Controversial Cannabis Treatment Helps 9-Year-Old Boy Speak His First Words (news – 2015)
Controversial Cannabis Treatment Helps 9-Year-Old Boy Speak His First Words

Israeli Leading Research Into Pot As Palliative for Autism (news – 2017)
Israeli Leading Research Into Pot As Palliative for Autism

Marijuana may be a miracle treatment for children with autism (news – 2017) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/25/marijuana-pot-treatment-children-autism- cannabis-oil/100381156/

Is Marijuana the World’s Most Effective Treatment for Autism? (news – 2018)
Is marijuana the world’s most effective treatment for autism?


There is a LOT more to cannabis than "just" getting high! (Although, getting high is fun! )


Granny

 

I am, as usual, reading studies and abstracts, and I just found another abstract that further supports the endocannabinoid deficiency theory of autism. It's done in "autistic" mice (made that way via genetics or drugs) and being just an abstract, it doesn't give many details. But I've quoted the part that looks "interesting"

Muscarinic M1 Receptor Modulation of Synaptic Plasticity in Nucleus Accumbens of Wild-Type and Fragile X Mice https://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00398

"In the fmr1-/y mouse model of Fragile X, we found that CB1R but not TRPV1 M1-LTD was impaired. Finally, pharmacological blockade of the degradation of anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol, the two principal endocannabinoids restored fmr1-/y LTD to wild-type levels."



So, in the fragile X autistic mouse, the CB1 receptors (the ones that get you high and so much more) aren't working like they should be. And when they stopped the break-down of the fragile endocannabinoids, Anandamide and 2-AG, thus raising their levels, it restored a more normal brain function.

Since CB1s are also affected by a lack of Omega 3 (they don't get hooked up properly - in 1st abstract), it might be good to add some Omega 3 to the diet of someone with autism (2nd abstract).

Nutritional omega-3 deficiency abolishes endocannabinoid-mediated neuronal functions. (abst – 2011) Nutritional omega-3 deficiency abolishes endocannabinoid-mediated neuronal functions. - PubMed - NCBI

ω-3 and ω-6 Fatty Acid Supplementation May Reduce Autism Symptoms Based on Parent Report in Preterm Toddlers. (2018) ω-3 and ω-6 Fatty Acid Supplementation May Reduce Autism Symptoms Based on Parent Report in Preterm Toddlers. - PubMed - NCBI

 

smokie, it just doesn't make it for folks like us to say "Pot is good for you and heals a lot of stuff!"

As cannabis users, we have to be able to present the facts about cannabis to the uneducated, and be able to back up what we say with medical studies!

So with help from people like you, I am going to educate every GC member who is willing to learn about what cannabis can do..... besides get you pleasantly high! Once the medical facts about cannabis become known, the need for FULL legalization becomes obvious!

Some of the things that cannabis can do are pretty amazing! Like did you know that just because you use cannabis, you have roughly 1/5 the chance of dying from a severe head trauma than a non-toker?

In “Effect of Marijuana Use on Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury” Effect of marijuana use on outcomes in traumatic brain injury. - PubMed - NCBI a US study looking at head trauma mortality rates and cannabis use, it was found that “Overall mortality was 9.9 per cent, however, mortality in the THC(+) group (2.4%) was significantly decreased compared with the THC(-) group (11.5%)”.

And since you enjoy science, have you gotten your copy of "Granny Storm Crow's List" yet? It contains over 5,000 pages of links to studies and news articles on cannabis, the cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system. You can get most of it here Granny's in the news! (I had to skip posting one section because of GC's "no other drugs" rule, but you still get over 90% of the List)


Granny