Cannabis for inflammatory bowel disease.

“The marijuana plant Cannabis sativa has been used for centuries as a treatment for a variety of ailments. It contains over 60 different cannabinoid compounds.

Studies have revealed that the endocannabinoid system is involved in almost all major immune events. Cannabinoids may, therefore, be beneficial in inflammatory disorders.In murine colitis, cannabinoids decrease histologic and microscopic inflammation.

In humans, cannabis has been used to treat a plethora of gastrointestinal problems, including anorexia, emesis, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and diabetic gastroparesis.

Despite anecdotal reports on medical cannabis in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), there are few controlled studies. In an observational study in 30 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), we found that medical cannabis was associated with improvement in disease activity and reduction in the use of other medications.

In a more recent placebo-controlled study in 21 chronic CD patients, we showed a decrease in the CD activity index >100 in 10 of 11 subjects on cannabis compared to 4 of 10 on placebo. Complete remission was achieved in 5 of 11 subjects in the cannabis group and 1 of 10 in the placebo group. Yet, in an additional study, low-dose cannabidiol did not have an effect on CD activity.

In summary, evidence is gathering that manipulating the endocannabinoid system can have beneficial effects in IBD, but further research is required to declare cannabinoids a medicine. We need to establish the specific cannabinoids, as well as appropriate medical conditions, optimal dose, and mode of administration, to maximize the beneficial effects while avoiding any potential harmful effects of cannabinoid use”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24969296

Marijuana Better Cure for PTSD, Veteran Soldier Testifies

“Veteran Matt Kahl has claimed that marijuana is the only drug that allows him to get over his PTSD, the side effect after two tours in the Afghanistan war.

Kbzk reported that in an interview with CBS News’ Barry Peterson (video below), Matt Kahl shared his experience with marijuana as a cure for his PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

War veteran Matt Kahl came home to America after two tours in Afghanistan, a wounded soldier, physically and mentally. Kahl’s physical injuries wracked him with pain, and the mental anguish was overwhelming he had to take 15 different medications. The medication seemed short of helpful that Khal attempted suicide ten months after his return to America.

“About ten months after I got back, I attempted suicide. I was completely hopeless,” he said.

But then he discovered the “healing” effects of marijuana which had probably saved his life.

“Suddenly, my extremely overactive, hyper-vigilant mind started to calm down, and my pain gradually started to go away, too. I needed less of these other medications,” he revealed.

Shortly afterwards, Kahl was determined to move to another state where marijuana is legal so that he could “get his life back.” So he moved his family to Colorado.

Inquisitr reported that ever since the marijuana legalisation bill went into effect in Colorado, Denver’s crime rates have dropped by 10.6 percent compared to January of this year.

Matt Kahl now works with a support group called Grow4Vets in Colorado. He and other volunteers reportedly recently spent a day putting together bags of marijuana products to give away on holidays, like Memorial Day.

Current treatments of PTSD range from therapy to prescription drugs, but according to Grow4Vets founder Roger Martin, the group wants to replace the pills with marijuana.

“Anybody that’s been on narcotic medication especially wants to get off of it,” he said, adding that he really hasn’t met anybody who “just enjoys being in a drug stupor.”

Kbzk cited another veteran, marijuana shop owner Toni Fox’s father, who came home from Vietman suffering PTSD. Fox recalled her father struggled with PTSD his whole life that he eventually committed suicide when she was 14.

“I believe in my heart of hearts that, if he would have had access to cannabis, he would be alive today,” she said.

Despite Matt Kahl’s testimony, critics are still doubtful on the “healing” effects of marijuana, considering the fact that there is little or no scientific proof that it actually helps with PTSD.”

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/557139/20140627/marijuana-cure-ptsd-matt-kahl.htm#.U64Y-5RX-uY

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/

Researchers study neuroprotective properties in cannabis

“With more states opting to legalize the sale of medical marijuana, researchers are taking a closer look at the use of cannabis to treat chronic illnesses.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, recently sat down with the Medicine Hunter, Chris Kilham, to find out how it’s being studied.

Dr. Manny: Now from the medical marijuana perspective, as far as the treatment of chronic illnesses, what is it about cannabis that makes it that special?

Medicine Hunter: Well, it seems that there are primarily two things – there’s the THC, that’s what people associated with getting high. And that appears to have a saliatory effect on the eyes in case of glaucoma. For people who are suffering from chemotherapy and can’t eat, it helps to get their appetite back. And we also know that it is a potent pain reliever – and science on that goes back to the 1890s.

But there’s another agent in cannabis that is getting more attention now, and that is called cannabidiol. And this is something that you can swallow by the bucket-full, and it won’t get you high at all. But it appears to have profound nerve-protective and brain-enhancing properties. And interestingly enough, it also induces an anti-anxiety effect.

So this appears to be a very important agent, perhaps useful in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

DM: Are they extracting that particular chemical off the marijuana?

MH: There seem to be two pathways that people are taking.  You’ve got G.W. pharmaceuticals in Britain that has come out with a whole cannabis fluid spray. You’ve got people also isolating cannabidiol and playing with that in the lab.

I don’t know how this is all going to settle out – I mean, as a whole-plant person, I’m inclined toward the whole extract. But it does appear that this may also have anti-cancer properties, and that’s very intriguing.

DM: Is marijuana addictive?

MH: I would say that people can absolutely become dependent upon it.  But not physiologically addictive.  And, as you know, that’s not just parsing terms – I mean physiological addiction, you go through very grave withdrawal.

But people can become dependent on it just as they can on any substance.

DM: Tell me about this study in the American Journal of Pediatrics talking about pregnant Jamaican women and the use of pot.

MH: Melanie Dreher, who is the dean of nursing at Rush Medical Center inChicago, did a study in Jamaica. It was actually published in the American Journal of Pediatrics in 1994, but now it’s re-circulating because of all the interest in the neuroprotective properties.

Basically, she studied women during their entire pregnancy, and then studied the babies about a year after birth. And what she studied was a group of women who did smoke cannabis during pregnancy and those who didn’t. She expected to see a difference in the babies as far as birth weight and neuro tests, but there was no difference whatsoever. The differences that the researchers did notice, that are unexplained and kind of curious are that the babies of the women who had smoked cannabis — and we’re talking about daily use during their pregnancy — socialized more quickly, made eye contact more quickly and were easier to engage.

We don’t know why this is so, but all the old saws of smoking during pregnancy will result in low birth weight did not show up — at least in the Jamaican study. In U.S. studies where we’ve seen a similar investigation, women have concurrently been abusing alcohol and other drugs as well.

Alvarez said it’s interesting to note that there may be neuroprotective properties present in cannabis and the cannibidiol extract, but that smoking of any kind in pregnant women is discouraged.”

More research is needed when it comes to medical marijuana, he added.”

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/20/researchers-study-neuroprotective-properties-in-cannabis/

“Study: Cannabis may prevent brain damage” http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/06/study-cannabis-may-prevent-brain-damage/

Cannabinoid as a neuroprotective strategy in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury.

“Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia remains the single most important cause of brain injury in the newborn, leading to death or lifelong sequelae.

Because of the fact that there is still no specific treatment for perinatal brain lesions due to the complexity of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic pathophysiology, the search of new neuroprotective therapies is of great interest.

In this regard, therapeutic possibilities of the endocannabinoid system have grown lately.

The endocannabinoid system modulates a wide range of physiological processes in mammals and has demonstrated neuroprotective effects in different paradigms of acute brain injury, acting as a natural neuroprotectant.

Concerning perinatal asphyxia, the neuroprotective role of this endogenous system is emerging these years.

The present review mainly focused on the current knowledge of the cannabinoids as a new neuroprotective strategy against perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21788999

[The cannabinoid system and its importance in the perinatal period].

“The cannabinoid system has been recently described, including the endogenous ligands, mainly arachidonic acid derivatives, and their specific receptors. Endocannabinoids are involved in the modulation of synaptic transmission, through which they exert their psychoactive, motor and antinociceptive effects, among others; they also exert extraneural effects, mainly immunomodulation and vasodilation.

Recent data suggest that the cannabinoid system might play an important role in human ontogeny and could participate in the implantation and early development of the embryo, in fetal brain development, and in the beginning of breast feeding after birth.

In addition, the vasodilatory effect of cannabinoids, together with inhibition of the release of excitotoxic amino acids and cytokines, as well as modulation of oxidative stress and the toxic production of nitric oxide, justify the growing evidence pointing to a possible neuroprotective effect of cannabinoids in perinatal asphyxia.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16266619

Cannabinoids: well-suited candidates for the treatment of perinatal brain injury.

“Perinatal brain injury can be induced by a number of different damaging events occurring during or shortly after birth… the number of clinical interventions available for the treatment of the affected newborn babies is extremely limited. Hence, there is a dramatic need to develop new effective therapies aimed to prevent acute brain damage and enhance the endogenous mechanisms of long-term brain repair.

The endocannabinoid system is an endogenous neuromodulatory system involved in the control of multiple central and peripheral functions. An early responder to neuronal injury, the endocannabinoid system has been described as an endogenous neuroprotective system that once activated can prevent glutamate excitotoxicity, intracellular calcium accumulation, activation of cell death pathways, microglia activation, neurovascular reactivity and infiltration of circulating leukocytes across the blood-brain barrier.

The modulation of the endocannabinoid system has proven to be an effective neuroprotective strategy to prevent and reduce neonatal brain injury in different animal models and species.

Also, the beneficial role of the endocannabinoid system on the control of the endogenous repairing responses (neurogenesis and white matter restoration) to neonatal brain injury has been described in independent studies.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24961520

Marijuana Compound CBD Can Effectively Treat Schizophrenia

Marijuana Plant

“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a known marijuana compound, and might just be better than antipsychotics at treating schizophrenia.

A preliminary trial has shown this form of treatment to have fewer side effects than traditional methods of treatment…

Since CBD comes from the marijuana plant, political issues are likely to compromise its availability. Extracting the compound from the plant is also expensive.

But the biggest issue scientists face is that CBD is a natural compound, and can’t be patented the way new drugs are. Pharmaceutical companies are therefore not likely to develop it.”

http://www.designntrend.com/articles/14675/20140529/marijuana-compound-cbd-effectively-treat-schizophrenia.htm

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/schizophrenia/

Schizophrenic Genes may Increase Cannabis Use, Quantity

Marijuana Joint

“Study results showed that those who were genetically pre-disposed to schizophrenia were more likely to use cannabis and in greater quantities than those who did not possess schizophrenia risk genes.

… a pre-disposition to schizophrenia increases your likelihood of cannabis use,””

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/15633/20140624/schizophrenic-genes-may-increase-cannabis-use-quantity.htm

Study: Genes linked to schizophrenia may drive marijuana use (not vice versa)

<a href=http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/aid.2013.0182 target=new>Marijuana could be used to slow the spread of HIV</a>
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In this study researchers found that when treated with a daily dose of THC, monkeys who had an animal form of HIV actually had decreased damaged in the immune tissue of their stomachs over a 17 month period.
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“Our results indicate that chronic THC administration modulated duodenal T cell populations, favored a pro-Th2 cytokine balance, and decreased intestinal apoptosis. These findings reveal novel mechanisms that may potentially contribute to cannabinoid-mediated disease modulation.”

“Attempts to prove that marijuana will make you crazy have a long and undignified history in the debate over legalization and cannabis use. You seem crazy when you smoke marijuana, anti-potters decided, so it must make you crazy in a clinical way, such as (most notably and scariest) schizophrenia…

The latest study to poke holes in the blown-up fear of marijuana causing psychosis comes from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London.

The study shows that a gene related to schizophrenia may lead people to want to smoke marijuana. Note that this is exactly the kind of flip of a “common understanding” that comes out of correlation studies…

“We know that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Our study certainly does not rule this out, but it suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well – that a pre-disposition to schizophrenia also increases your likelihood of cannabis use,” Robert Power, who led the study, told Reuters.”

http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2014/06/24/study-genes-linked-to-schizophrenia-may-drive-marijuana-use-not-vise-versa/#24345103=0&24367101=0

Pot Use, Schizophrenia Have Gene Link

“Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London have found further evidence of a connection between smoking marijuana and having schizophrenia. There is already research that people who smoke pot are twice as likely to have schizophrenia.

But this study has clarified the link, and the relationship doesn’t appear to be causal.

Rather, there may be an underling genetic connection.

After studying the genetic profile of more than 2,000 participants, study leader Robert Power said their research “suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well—that a predisposition to schizophrenia also increases your likelihood of cannabis use.”

Those with a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia were more likely to smoke pot and to use it in greater amounts than those without risk genes. Power said the study “highlights the complex interactions between genes and environments.””

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/06/24/pot-use-and-schizophrenia-have-gene-link.html