Marijuana Could Be the Answer to Curing Alzheimer's Disease, Study Shows
The clinical failure rate of Alzheimer's drugs is exceptionally high, yet early data from researchers at the Salk Institute suggests marijuana could provide a cure.
Sean Williams (TMFUltraLong) Sep 18, 2016 at 9:12AM
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The statistics associated with Alzheimer's disease are downright depressing.
The disease, which typically affects the elderly and is characterized by a progressive decline in cognitive function, currently afflicts 5.4 million Americans, and the Alzheimer's Association expects the direct and indirect costs of treatment to reach $236 billion in 2016. Some one in nine people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer's disease, and within the U.S., it's the sixth-leading cause of death.
These statistics are even scarier when you consider how much researchers still have to learn about this disease. Though there are medications designed to slow the progression of the various stages of the disease, a cure for Alzheimer's disease remains elusive for the time being.
A number of big-name drug developers have taken aim at Alzheimer's, only to have their studies end in disappointment. Drug giants Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer teamed up to develop bapineuzumab, while Eli Lilly developed solanezumab. Both drugs missed their primary endpoints in phase 3 studies. It's difficult to get medicine through the blood-brain barrier, and the clinical success rate of Alzheimer's drugs is particularly low.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) is hoping to change that with experimental therapy aducanumab, which, in early-stage studies, produced reduced cognitive decline and substantial beta-amyloid clearance. (Beta-amyloid is a protein found around the brain that, when clumped together, can form plagues that block neurons and lead to a progressive decline in cognitive function.) Unfortunately, early-stage success stories often miss the mark in later-stage studies, so the jury is still out on aducanumab.
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Is cannabis the answer to Alzheimer's disease?
However, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies believe the cure to Alzheimer's disease might come from a readily available substance: marijuana.
In order to test their theory, researchers at the Salk Institute modified nerve cells to produce high levels of beta-amyloid. Researchers then noted that these higher levels of beta-amyloid production led to the expression of pro-inflammatory proteins and eventually nerve cell death. The ongoing death of these nerve cells is what leads to the progressive cognitive decline witnessed in Alzheimer's patients. This itself was an intriguing finding, as it was long believed that an immune-like response, not the proteins themselves, led to nerve cell death.
Now here's where things get interesting. As the researchers noted in their findings, nerve cells in the brain contain receptors that are activated by lipid molecules known as endocannabinoids, which are naturally produced by nerve cells. These endocannabinoids are believed to help nerve cells with their ability to send signals relating to appetite, pain sensation, and memory. Marijuana contains the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (more commonly known as THC), which is similar to endocannabinoids and can activate those same nerve cell receptors. In other words, the researchers at Salk Institute hypothesized that cannabis could block the receptors that lead to the release of pro-inflammatory proteins and prevent nerve cell death.
For their test, the researchers applied THC to nerve cells producing high levels of beta-amyloid. The findings showed that beta-amyloid production was reduced, eliminating the pro-inflammatory protein response and sparing the nerve cells from death.
Understandably, this study would need to be tested in a well-controlled clinical setting to have validity, but it nonetheless offers significant hope that cannabis could hold the key to curing Alzheimer's disease.
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Before you get too excited...
While the findings from Salk Institute's researchers are eye-opening and exciting from a medical standpoint -- and they mark another victory for cannabis enthusiasts who'd like to see medical marijuana legalized throughout the country -- the reality is that cannabis' path to approval as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease could be long and difficult.
If you recall, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently issued a ruling that will keep cannabis designated as a schedule 1 (i.e., illicit) substance. Although the DEA appears to be relaxing its stance on marijuana for the purposes of medical research, there are no guarantees that access to cannabis for medical research will improve anytime soon. This also complicates matters for residents living in the 25 states that haven't legalized medical marijuana.
Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation on cannabis seemed to coincide with that of the DEA. The stance of both the DEA and FDA is that much is still unknown about the chemical composition of marijuana and that marijuana has no recognized medical benefits. There are also unknowns surrounding its safety that could make it difficult for any marijuana or cannabinoid-based drug to make it past the FDA.
Beyond these restrictions on marijuana's medical potential, the marijuana business in general faces some inherent disadvantages. Because marijuana remains an illicit substance at the federal level, marijuana businesses struggle to obtain basic financial services ranging from a checking account to lines of credit. Just 3% of the nation's 6,700 banks are currently working with companies in the cannabis industry.
Marijuana businesses also face disadvantages come tax time. U.S. tax code 280E prohibits businesses that deal with federally illegal substances from taking normal business deductions, leaving them to pay tax on their gross profits instead of net profits.
Ultimately, marijuana has shown flashes of medicinal potential across a number of disease types, including Alzheimer's disease. However, without controlled and FDA-approved clinical studies, the evidence needed to give marijuana recognized medical benefits just isn't there. Unfortunately, both Alzheimer's patients and investors looking to take advantage of marijuana's potentially expansive growth prospects will have to watch and wait from the sidelines.
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Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.
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5 Tips for Avoiding Common Medicare Missteps
Medicare can be complicated, and if you don't understand its rules, you can end up getting short-changed.
Todd Campbell (TMFEBCapital) Sep 18, 2016 at 7:21AM
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Medicare is a critical safety net for tens of millions of seniors, and with 76 million baby boomers turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day, navigating this complex program successfully is critical. Make a wrong turn along the way and you could get slapped with steep, lifelong penalties. Here are five tips to help you get the most out of Medicare.
1. Don't delay
The most important tip of all is to sign up for Medicare as soon as you're eligible. If you don't, you could get stung by a big penalty.
You can sign up for Medicare as early as three months before the month you turn 65 and as late as three months after. Fail to sign up during that period and Medicare Part B premiums could go up by 10% for every full 12-month period you miss.
Tax revenue picks up most of the tab for Medicare Part B, however, recipients are responsible for premiums that equal about 25% of Part B's costs, or more if you're a high income earner.
Fail to sign up on time for Part D prescription drug coverage and you could end up paying more in premiums for that insurance, too.
After your initial enrollment period, if you go without Part D for any continuous period of 63 days or more, then you could pay a penalty equal to 1% of the base monthly premium times the number of full months you didn't have coverage. Since the penalty is calculated off of premiums likely to increase annually, you could end up paying a bigger penalty every year because of your delay.
Fortunately, signing up for Medicare is easy. If you're already receiving Social Security, you'll be signed up automatically. If you need to sign up on your own, you can do so online here.
2. Watch the limits
Medicare Part B and Part D premiums are based on income reported to the IRS two years ago. If income is above specific limits, then premiums can be substantially higher than they would be otherwise.
For example, the standard Part B premium in 2016 is $121.80. However, if you're single and earned between $85,000 and $107,000 two years ago, you would pay the standard premium plus a $48.70 income premium adjustment. Part D plan premiums are also adjusted upward based on income limits. Therefore, before you consider an investment or opportunity that could increase your income, you might want to make sure it doesn't nudge you into the next income limit range.
Seniors should also know that life changes that reduce income could allow you to get an exception to the income surcharge. So, if you're income has dropped because you've stopped working and that's reduced your income below a limit, it can pay off to appeal a high income premium adjustment.
The following chart highlights the income tiers and current income surcharges associated with them.
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IMAGE SOURCE: CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES.
3. Ditch Obamacare
If you're eligible for Medicare and you're currently getting your insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, or Obamacare, you still need to enroll in Medicare.
People become ineligible for Obamacare subsidies once they qualify for Medicare and delaying enrollment in Medicare because of Obamacare can trigger Part B and Part D penalties. You can keep your Obamacare plan in addition to Medicare, but you'll be responsible for its full cost and that cost may be more expensive than other supplemental insurance options, such as Medigap.
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4. Embrace your inner bargain hunter
Medicare Advantage plans and Part D plans are sold by private insurers that adjust their premiums annually to account for healthcare cost increases, such as doctor fees and drug prices. As a result, a plan that was a bargain when you signed up last year may not be a good deal next year.
Fortunately, you can switch Medicare Advantage and Part D plans every year between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. That makes this a perfect time to carefully consider any changes in your healthcare in the past year and the premiums your insurer is planning to charge you next year.
When evaluating plans, make sure to spend plenty of time determining how much each plan will pay toward your medicines. The amount Medicare Advantage and Part D enrollees pay for their medicine depends a lot on where insurers place those medicines in their drug formulary. Those formularies typically include tiers, with low tiers requiring little patient cost-sharing and high tiers including a lot of cost-sharing. Since drugs can move up or down in tiers every year, it's important to double-check before signing up for a plan to make sure you won't get any unwelcome surprises at the pharmacy when the new coverage kicks in.
5. Be proactive
Medicare Part A and Part B cover many healthcare expenses, but they don't cover everything. In 2016, Part A recipients pay a $1,288 deductible for each benefit period and after 60 days in the hospital, they start sharing in the costs to the tune of $322 per day. After 90 days, their share doubles to $644 per day for each lifetime reserve day (up to 60 lifetime reserve days). After that, they can be on the hook for all their hospital charges.
In addition to monthly premiums, Part B also charges a $166 deductible per year and after that, patients pay 20% coinsurance for any care they receive that's covered by it.
Furthermore, neither Part A or Part B limits how much money you might spend in any given year. Therefore, if you fall ill, your costs in any one year could be disastrous to your financial security.
In order to help insulate yourself against these potential expenses, you might want to consider signing up for Medigap insurance. Medigap plans pick up where original Medicare leaves off by paying a percentage of otherwise uncovered care. Medigap plans can cost hundreds of dollars per month and they can't be used with Medicare Advantage plans, but recipients of Part A and Part B could enjoy greater peace of mind by enrolling in them.
