Endocannabinoid system

What is the Endocannabinoid system?
In 1964, Raphael Mechoulam, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the University of Jerusalem, discovered the Endocannabinoid system, named after the plant, Cannabis sativa, that led to its discovery.
Endocannabinoids and their receptors are found throughout the body: in the brain, organs, GI tract, connective tissues, glands, and immune cells. In each tissue, the cannabinoid system performs different tasks, but the goal is always the same: homeostasis, the maintenance of a stable internal environment despite fluctuations in the external environment. Cannabinoids promote homeostasis at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular, to the organism. The detection of widespread cannabinoid receptors in the brain and peripheral tissues suggests that the cannabinoid system represents a previously unrecognized, ubiquitous network in the nervous system. The endocannabinoid signaling system is the most important physiologic system involved in establishing and maintaining human health.
Here's one example: autophagy, a process in which a cell sequesters part of its contents to be self-digested and recycled, is mediated by the cannabinoid system. Endocannabinoids and cannabinoids are also found at the intersection of the body's various systems, allowing communication and coordination between different cell types. At the site of an injury, for example, endocannabinoids can be found decreasing the release of activators and sensitizers from the injured tissue, stabilizing the nerve cell to prevent excessive firing, and calming nearby immune cells to prevent release of pro-inflammatory substances. Three different mechanisms of action on three different cell types for a single purpose: minimize the pain and damage caused by the injury.

So does the nature provide us with remidies that can help us to use and stimulate the endocannabinoid system in therapi to cure diseases?

The growing number of case reports, preclinical studies, patient statements and clinical trials with phytocannabinoids (plant-derived cannabinoids) modulating the activity of the endocannabinoid system shows to hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from Cancer, Diabetes, Asthma, Hypertension, Migraine, mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, Neuropathic pain, Multiple sclerosis, Colitis Ulcerosa, Atherosclerosis, Myocardial infarction, Stroke, Glaucoma, Psoriasis, Obesity/Metabolic syndrome, and Osteoporosis, to name just a few.
Furthermore the production of endocannabinoids in the cells can be stimulated and raised by activities such as meditation, yoga, massage, running and even laughing.

What are Cannabinoid receptors?
Cannabinoid receptors are present throughout the body, embedded in cell membranes, and are believed to be more numerous than any other receptor system. When cannabinoid receptors are stimulated, a variety of physiologic processes ensue.
Researchers have identified two G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors:

CB1, Cannabinoid receptor 1, predominantly present in the nervous system (the most common receptor in human brain), connective tissues, gonads, glands, and organs.

CB2, Cannabinoid receptor 2, predominantly found in the immune system and its associated structures. Many tissues contain both CB1 and CB2 receptors, each linked to a different action.

Endocannabinoids are endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitters (Not proteins, but fatty acid derived lipid molecules) our bodies naturally make to stimulate these receptors. The two most well understood of these molecules are:

Anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA)
2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)

They are synthesized on-demand from cell membrane arachidonic acid derivatives, have a local effect and short half-life before being degraded by the enzymes fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL).