“Cannabis plant extracts could potentially form the basic ingredients for a market-leading diabetes drug, the scientist who developed a former world-beating treatment for the condition believes.”
Read more: http://www.health.am/db/more/cannabis-might-treat-diabetes/
“Smoking cannabis may help prevent diabetes, a new study has suggested.
Researchers found that regular users of the Class B drug had significantly lower levels of insulin after fasting – a sign of increased protected against diabetes. They also had reduced insulin resistance.
The results, reported in the American Journal of Medicine, showed current users had 16 per cent lower fasting insulin levels than participants who reported never having used marijuana.
The findings raise the possibility treatments for diabetes could be developed based on the active ingredient of cannabis, commonly known as THC.
Large waist measurements are also linked to diabetes risk and the study revealed significant associations between marijuana use and smaller waists.
Lead researcher Murray A. Mittleman, of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, said it was the first study ‘to investigate the relationship between marijuana use and fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance’, The Albany Tribune reported.
But Joseph Alpert, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, and editor in chief of the American Journal of Medicine, said: ‘We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short and long term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer diabetes and frailty of the elderly.’
Researchers studied data from 4,657 patients who completed a drug use questionnaire.
The use of so-called ‘medical marijuana’ is growing in the US where several states allow it.”
http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/15/cannabis-could-combat-diabetes-study-shows-3759797/
“In a first-of-its-kind effort to illuminate the biochemical impact of trauma, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a connection between the quantity of cannabinoid receptors in the human brain, known as CB1 receptors, and post-traumatic stress disorder, the chronic, disabling condition that can plague trauma victims with flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability…
CB1 receptors are part of the endocannabinoid system, a diffuse network of chemicals and signaling pathways in the body that plays a role in memory formation, appetite, pain tolerance and mood. Animal studies have shown that psychoactive chemicals such as cannabis, along with certain neurotransmitters produced naturally in the body, can impair memory and reduce anxiety when they activate CB1 receptors in the brain…
“There’s not a single pharmacological treatment out there that has been developed specifically for PTSD,” says Dr. Neumeister. “That’s a problem. There’s a consensus among clinicians that existing pharmaceutical treatments such as antidepressant simple do not work. In fact, we know very well that people with PTSD who use marijuana — a potent cannabinoid — often experience more relief from their symptoms than they do from antidepressants and other psychiatric medications. Clearly, there’s a very urgent need to develop novel evidence-based treatments for PTSD.”
Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514085016.htm
“Researchers investigating anecdotal evidence that cannabis relieves some of the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have discovered a potential new target for cannabis-derived drugs for treatment of the disease.
This finding, published in the journal Gastroenterology… could bring new hope for… sufferers of diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis1 with the possibility that cannabis-derived drugs may help to heal the gut lining, which is damaged during the course of disease. ”
Read more: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/28584.php
“The marijuana plant cannabis is known to have therapeutic effects, including improvement of inflammatory processes. However, no report of patients using cannabis for Crohn’s disease (CD) was ever published.
To describe the effects of cannabis use in patients suffering from CD.
Of the 30 patients 21 improved significantly after treatment with cannabis… The need for other medication was significantly reduced. Fifteen of the patients had 19 surgeries during an average period of 9 years before cannabis use, but only 2 required surgery during an average period of 3 years of cannabis use.
This is the first report of cannabis use in Crohn’s disease in humans. The results indicate that cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity, as reflected by reduction in disease activity index and in the need for other drugs and surgery. Prospective placebo-controlled studies are warranted to fully evaluate the efficacy and side effects of cannabis in CD.”
Full Text: http://www.ima.org.il/IMAJ/ViewArticle.aspx?year=2011&month=08&page=455
“The psychoactive cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L. and the arachidonic acid-derived endocannabinoids are nonselective natural ligands for cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB(1)) and CB(2) receptors. Although the CB(1) receptor is responsible for the psychomodulatory effects, activation of the CB(2) receptor is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of inflammation, pain, atherosclerosis, and osteoporosis.
Here, we report that the widespread plant volatile (E)-beta-caryophyllene [(E)-BCP] selectively binds to the CB(2) receptor and that it is a functional CB(2) agonist.
Intriguingly, (E)-BCP is a common constituent of the essential oils of numerous spice and food plants and a major component in Cannabis.
…this natural product exerts cannabimimetic effects in vivo. These results identify (E)-BCP as a functional nonpsychoactive CB(2) receptor ligand in foodstuff and as a macrocyclic antiinflammatory cannabinoid in Cannabis…
Because (E)-BCP is a major constituent in Cannabis essential oil and shows significant cannabimimetic effects, it may also contribute to the overall effect of Cannabis preparations…”
“The endocannabinoid (EC) system mediates protection against intestinal inflammation. In this study, we investigated the effects of blocking EC degradation or cellular reuptake in experimental colitis in mice…
In conclusion, drugs targeting EC degradation offer therapeutic potential in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Furthermore, reduction of FAAH mRNA expression is involved in the pathophysiological response to colitis.”
“Inflammatory bowel disease is driven by an excessive immune response in the gut wall. This review summarises important new developments in understanding this immune response and the downstream mechanisms of intestinal injury, alongside their potential role in opening up new avenues of treatment…
Understanding the immunology of inflammatory bowel disease continues to underpin the vast majority of new therapies and identifies new targets.
Novel approaches, such as exploiting the antiinflammatory role of cannabinoid receptors, may also prove productive in the future.”
“Delta(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol (the active ingredient of marijuana), as well as endogenous and synthetic cannabinoids, exert many biological functions by activating two types of cannabinoid receptors, CB(1) and CB(2) receptors. CB(1) receptors have been detected on enteric nerves, and pharmacological effects of their activation include gastroprotection, reduction of gastric and intestinal motility and reduction of intestinal secretion.
The digestive tract also contains endogenous cannabinoids (i.e., the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-aracidonylglycerol) and mechanisms for endocannabinoid inactivation (i.e., endocannabinoids uptake and enzymatic degradation). Cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids and the proteins involved in endocannabinoids inactivation are collectively referred as the ‘endogenous cannabinoid system’.
A pharmacological modulation of the endogenous cannabinoid system could provide new therapeutics for the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal diseases, including nausea and vomiting, gastric ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, secretory diarrhoea, paralytic ileus and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Some cannabinoids are already in use clinically, for example, nabilone and delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol are used as antiemetics.”
“In the past centuries, different preparations of marijuana have been used for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, such as GI pain, gastroenteritis and diarrhea.
Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; the active component of marijuana), as well as endogenous and synthetic cannabinoids, exert their biological functions on the gastrointestinal tract by activating two types of cannabinoid receptors, cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1 receptor) and cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2 receptor). While CB1 receptors are located in the enteric nervous system and in sensory terminals of vagal and spinal neurons and regulate neurotransmitter release, CB2 receptors are mostly distributed in the immune system, with a role presently still difficult to establish.
Under pathophysiological conditions, the endocannabinoid system conveys protection to the GI tract, eg from inflammation and abnormally high gastric and enteric secretion.
For such protective activities, the endocannabinoid system may represent a new promising therapeutic target against different GI disorders, including frankly inflammatory bowel diseases (eg, Crohn’s disease), functional bowel diseases (eg, irritable bowel syndrome), and secretion- and motility-related disorders.”