“This study investigated the effects of dronabinol on pain, nausea, and length of stay following total joint arthroplasty (TJA).
Author Archives: David Worrell
Effect of Cannabidiol on Medial Temporal, Midbrain, and Striatal Dysfunction in People at Clinical High Risk of Psychosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
“Cannabidiol (CBD) has antipsychotic effects in humans, but how these are mediated in the brain remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie the therapeutic effects of CBD in psychosis. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Cannabidiol may partially normalize alterations in parahippocampal, striatal, and midbrain function associated with the CHR state. As these regions are critical to the pathophysiology of psychosis, the influence of CBD at these sites could underlie its therapeutic effects on psychotic symptoms.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30167644 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2697762“Psychosis: Cannabis extract normalizes brain function” https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322926.php
“Cannabis extract helps reset brain function in psychosis” https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-cannabis-reset-brain-function-psychosis.html
“Cannabis extract can help treat psychosis, study suggests” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-oil-psychosis-cbd-thc-legal-treatment-symptoms-mental-health-kings-college-london-a8512996.html
“Cannabis extract helps reset brain function in psychosis” https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/kcl-ceh082818.php
“Cannabidiol Reduces Symptoms of Psychosis. A new study found that the chemical extracted from cannabis has antipsychotic effects.” https://www.usnews.com/news/health-care-news/articles/2018-08-29/one-dose-of-cannabidiol-reduces-symptoms-of-psychosis
“MEDICAL MARIJUANA: CANNABIS EXTRACT CBD USED TO SUCCESSFULLY TREAT PSYCHOSIS.” https://www.newsweek.com/cannabidiol-cannabis-extract-could-treat-symptoms-psychosis-1094353
“Single dose of the cannabis compound CBD reduces psychotic symptoms by normalising brain activity” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6110591/Single-dose-cannabis-compound-CBD-reduces-psychotic-symptoms-normalising-brain-activity.html
“Brain scans show how cannabis extract may help people with psychosis” https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/29/brain-scans-show-how-cannabis-extract-may-help-people-with-psychosis
“British scientists have unraveled how a non-intoxicating component of cannabis acts in key brain areas to reduce abnormal activity in patients at risk of psychosis, suggesting the ingredient could become a novel anti-psychotic medicine.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-scientists-unravel-how-cannabis-component-may-fight-psychosis/
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“Science proves component in weed actually helps fight psychosis” https://nypost.com/2018/08/29/science-proves-component-in-weed-actually-helps-fight-psychosis/
“Cannabis component CBD can combat psychosis” https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/europe/2018-08-31-cannabis-component-cbd-can-combat-psychosis/
“Marijuana extract can help curb psychosis, study says” https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2018/08/29/Marijuana-extract-can-help-curb-psychosis-study-says/5371535560101/
“We Now Have Evidence That a Marijuana Compound Can Help People With Psychosis” https://futurism.com/cbd-psychosis/
Cannabis in liver disorders: a friend or a foe?
“The recent legalization of recreational marijuana use in some parts of the world, the discovery of new indications for the clinical application of cannabis, and the acceptance of the use of cannabis in practice has been paralleled by extensive research on the active components of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system within the human body.
In this review, we evaluate the available evidence on cannabis and its constituents and the application of this evidence in clinical practice, focusing particularly on the liver and liver diseases.
Constituents of cannabis, such as cannabidiol and Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol, have shown anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective effects both in in vitro and clinical studies, and appear to have potential in the symptom management and treatment of various liver diseases that were previously considered difficult to manage conservatively.
In addition, the manipulation of the inherent endocannabinoid response system has found favor in many clinical fields and has generated considerable research and clinical interest. Moreover, evidence with regard to the adverse effects of marijuana use in liver diseases is weak, which has led to raise a question on the prior rules, with regard to a denial of liver transplantation to marijuana users.
All in all, the recent trends in research, clinical experiences, as well as the legislature, has opened up new avenues towards the widespread clinical application of cannabis and its derivatives as well as modifiers of the components of the endocannabinoid system. More research is required to fully exploit these new evidences.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30169449
https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00042737-900000000-97980
Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin impairs epithelial calcium transport through inhibition of TRPV5 and TRPV6.
“Compounds extracted from the cannabis plant, including the psychoactive Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related phytocannabinoids, evoke multiple diverse biological actions as ligands of the G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2. In addition, there is increasing evidence that phytocannabinoids also have non-CB targets, including several ion channels of the transient receptor potential superfamily.
We investigated the effects of six non-THC phytocannabinoids on the epithelial calcium channels TRPV5 and TRPV6, and found that one of them, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), exerted a strong and concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on mammalian TRPV5 and TRPV6 and on the single zebrafish orthologue drTRPV5/6. Moreover, THCV attenuated the drTRPV5/6-dependent ossification in zebrafish embryos in vivo. Oppositely, 11-hydroxy-THCV (THCV-OH), a product of THCV metabolism in mammals, stimulated drTRPV5/6-mediated Ca2+ uptake and ossification.
These results identify the epithelial calcium channels TRPV5 and TRPV6 as novel targets of phytocannabinoids, and suggest that THCV-containing products may modulate TRPV5- and TRPV6-dependent epithelial calcium transport.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30170189
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1043661818311095
“Anticonvulsant effects of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive 
“This meta-analysis paper describes the analysis of observational clinical studies on the treatment of refractory epilepsy with cannabidiol (CBD)-based products. Beyond attempting to establish the safety and efficacy of such products, we also investigated if there is enough evidence to assume any difference in efficacy between CBD-rich extracts compared to purified CBD products.
The systematic search took place in February/2017 and updated in December/2017 using the keywords “epilepsy” or “Dravet” or “Lennox-Gastaut” or “CDKL5” combined with “Cannabis”, “cannabinoid”, “cannabidiol” or “CBD” resulting in 199 papers. The qualitative assessment resulted in 11 valid references, with an average impact factor of 8.1 (ranging from 1.4 to 47.8). The categorical data of a total of 670 patients were analyzed by Fischer test. The average daily dose ranged between 1 and 50 mg/kg, with treatment length from 3 to 12 months (mean 6.2 months).
Two thirds of patients reported improvement in the frequency of convulsive crisis (399/622, 64%). There were more reports of improvement from patients treated with CBD-rich extracts (318/447, 71%) than patients treated with purified CBD (81/223, 36%), with statistical significance (p<0.0001).
Nevertheless, when the standard clinical threshold of a “50% reduction or more in the frequency of convulsive crisis” was applied, only 39% of the individuals were considered “responders”, and there was no difference (p=0.56) between treatments with CBD-rich extracts (97/255, 38%) and purified CBD (94/223, 42%).
Patients treated with CBD-rich extracts reported lower average dose (6.1 mg/kg/day) than those using purified CBD (27.1 mg/kg/day). The reports of mild (109/285 vs 291/346, p<0.0001) and severe (23/285 vs 77/346, p<0.0001) adverse effects were more frequent in products containing purified CBD than in CBD-rich extracts.
CBD-rich extracts seem to present a better therapeutic profile than purified CBD, at least in this population of patients with refractory epilepsy. The roots of this difference is likely due to synergistic effects of CBD with other phytocompounds (aka Entourage effect), but this remains to be confirmed in controlled clinical studies.”
“Clinical studies indicate that cannabidiol (CBD), the primary non-addictive component of 
“Therapeutic use of cannabinoids, the main active ingredients of 