Category Archives: Insomnia

Therapeutic potential of cannabinoid medicines.

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Drug Testing and Analysis

“Cannabis was extensively used as a medicine throughout the developed world in the nineteenth century but went into decline early in the twentieth century ahead of its emergence as the most widely used illicit recreational drug later that century. Recent advances in cannabinoid pharmacology alongside the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have re-ignited interest in cannabis-based medicines.

The ECS has emerged as an important physiological system and plausible target for new medicines. Its receptors and endogenous ligands play a vital modulatory role in diverse functions including immune response, food intake, cognition, emotion, perception, behavioural reinforcement, motor co-ordination, body temperature, wake/sleep cycle, bone formation and resorption, and various aspects of hormonal control. In disease it may act as part of the physiological response or as a component of the underlying pathology.

In the forefront of clinical research are the cannabinoids delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, and their contrasting pharmacology will be briefly outlined. The therapeutic potential and possible risks of drugs that inhibit the ECS will also be considered. This paper will then go on to review clinical research exploring the potential of cannabinoid medicines in the following indications: symptomatic relief in multiple sclerosis, chronic neuropathic pain, intractable nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and weight in the context of cancer or AIDS, psychosis, epilepsy, addiction, and metabolic disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24006213

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.1529/abstract

Around-the-clock oral THC effects on sleep in male chronic daily cannabis smokers.

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“Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) promotes sleep in animals; clinical use of THC is associated with somnolence (sleepiness)…

These findings suggest that tolerance to the somnolent effects of THC may have occurred…

Somnolence from oral THC may dissipate with chronic, high-dose use.

This has implications for patients who may take chronic oral THC for medicinal purposes, including cannabis dependence treatment.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23952899

[From cannabis to selective CB2R agonists: molecules with numerous therapeutical virtues].

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“Originally used in Asia for the treatment of pain, spasms, nausea and insomnia, marijuana is the most consumed psychotropic drug worldwide. The interest of medical cannabis has been reconsidered recently, leading to many scientific researches and commercialization of these drugs.

Natural and synthetic cannabinoids display beneficial antiemetic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in numerous diseases, however accompanied with undesirable effects due to the CB1 receptor. Present researches focus on the design of therapeutical molecules targeting the CB2 receptors, and thus avoiding central side effects and therefore psychotropic effects caused by the CB1 receptor.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23732102

Marijuana first plants cultivated by man for medication (Update)

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“Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of the first plants cultivated by man. Shrouded in controversy, the intriguing history of cannabis as a medication dates back thousands of years before the era of Christianity.

Scientists believe the hemp plant originated in Asia. In 2737 B.C., Emperor Shen Neng of China prescribed tea brewed from marijuana leaves as a remedy for muscle injuries, rheumatism, gout, malaria, and memory loss. During the Bronze Age in 1400 B.C., cannabis was used throughout the eastern Mediterranean to ease the pain of childbirth and menstrual maladies.

More than 800 years before the birth of Christ, hemp was extensively cultivated in India for both its fiber and healing medicinal properties. William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, an Irish physician famous for his investigative research in pharmacology, is credited with introducing the therapeutic, healing properties of cannabis to Western medicine. During the 1830’s Dr. O’Shaughnessy, working for the British in India, conducted extensive experiments on lab animals. Encouraged by his results, Dr. O’Shaughnessy commenced patient treatment with marijuana for pain and muscle spasms. Further experiments indicated that marijuana was beneficial in the treatment of stomach cramps, migraine headaches, insomnia and nausea. Marijuana was also proven to be an effective anticonvulsant.

From the 1840s to the 1890s, hashish and marijuana extracts were among the most widely prescribed medications in the United States The 1850 United States Census records 8,327 marijuana plantations, each larger than 2000 acres. Recreational use of marijuana was not evident until early in the 20th century. Marijuana cigarettes became popular, introduced by migrants workers that brought marijuana with them from Mexico. With the onset of Prohibition, recreational use of marijuana skyrocketed. During the early 1930s, hash bars could be found all across the United States.

Although protested by the American Medical Association, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act banned the cultivation and use of cannabis by federal law. Under the law, cultivation, distribution and consumption of cannabis products for medicinal, practical or recreational was criminalized and harsh penalties were implemented.”

More: http://guardianlv.com/2013/06/marijuana-first-plants-cultivated-by-man-for-medication/

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Marijuana May Help Fight Brain Damage

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“Marijuana may actually help protect the brain against injury, a new study suggests.”

marijuana, cannabis, drug, addiction, weed

“While marijuana is most commonly known as a recreational drug, an increasingly number of studies show that the plant has many therapeutic qualities like relieving pain, insomnia, lack of appetite and other symptoms associated with conditions like cancer and PTSD.

Now a new study reveals that very low doses of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, may protect the brain from long-term cognitive damage in the wake of injury from hypoxia, seizures or toxic drugs.”

More: http://www.counselheal.com/articles/5586/20130530/marijuana-help-fight-brain-damage.htm

The endocannabinoid system and its therapeutic exploitation.

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“The term ‘endocannabinoid’ – originally coined in the mid-1990s after the discovery of membrane receptors for the psychoactive principle in Cannabis, Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol and their endogenous ligands – now indicates a whole signalling system that comprises cannabinoid receptors, endogenous ligands and enzymes for ligand biosynthesis and inactivation. This system seems to be involved in an ever-increasing number of pathological conditions. With novel products already being aimed at the pharmaceutical market little more than a decade since the discovery of cannabinoid receptors, the endocannabinoid system seems to hold even more promise for the future development of therapeutic drugs. We explore the conditions under which the potential of targeting the endocannabinoid system might be realized in the years to come.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15340387

http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v3/n9/full/nrd1495.html

Cannabis for better sleep

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“The use of both natural cannabinoids and cannabis extracts are associated with improved sleep in patients with various debilitating illnesses, according to a review of clinical trial data published in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity.

“Cannabis … has been utilized for [the] treatment of pain and sleep disorders since ancient times,” authors wrote. “Modern clinical trials indicate that patients administered cannabis extracts report experiencing “more restful sleep, [an] increase [in] their daytime level of function, and [a] markedly improve[d] … quality of life.”

According to available data, of the 2,000 subjects that have been administered cannabis extracts in clinical trials, most “demonstrate marked improvement in subjective sleep parameters.”

Trial volunteers have not reported developing tolerance to the drug, even after using it for several years.

Full text of the study, “Cannabis, pain, and sleep: Lessons from therapeutic clinical trials of Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine,” appears in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity.”

http://azarius.net/news/193/Cannabis_for_better_sleep/

Smoking Cannabis Reduces Pain, Helps Sleep And Improves Mood For Those With Chronic Symptoms

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“For patients with chronic (long-term) neuropathic pain, smoking cannabis was found to reduce symptoms of pain, improve mood and help sleep, a report published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Journal Association) revealed. When damage or dysfunction of the nervous system results in chronic neuropathic pain, patients have few treatment options, such as antidepressants, local anesthetics, anticonvulsants or opioids. However, these medications often have undesirable side effects and do not work for everybody.

The authors inform that oral cannabinoids have been effective in reducing the symptoms of some types of pain. However, they many have different effects and risks compared to smoked cannabis.

Investigators from McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University carried out a randomized, controlled trial to determine the analgesic effect of smoked cannabis in 21 patients, aged 18 years or more, all of them with chronic neuropathic pain. THC levels (drug potencies) were divided into 2.5%, 6% and 9.4%. Some participants also received a placebo (0%).

The researchers inform that there was a correlation between increased THC content and better sleep quality. Symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were also reduced at 9.5% THC level.”

More: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199376.php

The nonpsychoactive Cannabis constituent cannabidiol is a wake-inducing agent.

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“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a constituent of Cannabis sativa that induces nonpsychotropic effects, and some of its biological actions in sleep have been described by the authors’ group.

 Here, the authors report that when administered 10 or 20 microg/1 microl during the lights-on period directly into either lateral hypothalamus (LH) or dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN), which are wake-inducing brain areas, CBD enhanced wakefulness and decreased slow wave sleep and REM sleep. Furthermore, CBD increased alpha and theta power spectra but diminished delta power spectra. Additionally, CBD increased c-Fos expression in LH or DRN.

These findings suggest that this cannabinoid is a wake-inducing compound that presumably activates neurons in LH and DRN.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19045957

Cannabidiol, a constituent of Cannabis sativa, modulates sleep in rats.

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“Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are two major constituents of Cannabis sativa. Delta(9)-THC modulates sleep, but no clear evidence on the role of CBD is available.

In order to determine the effects of CBD on sleep, it was administered intracerebroventricular (icv) in a dose of 10 microg/5 microl at the beginning of either the lights-on or the lights-off period. We found that CBD administered during the lights-on period increased wakefulness (W) and decreased rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). No changes on sleep were observed during the dark phase. Icv injections of CBD (10 microg/5microl) induced an enhancement of c-Fos expression in waking-related brain areas such as hypothalamus and dorsal raphe nucleus (DRD). Microdialysis in unanesthetized rats was carried out to characterize the effects of icv administration of CBD (10 microg/5 microl) on extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) within the nucleus accumbens. CBD induced an increase in DA release. Finally, in order to test if the waking properties of CBD could be blocked by the sleep-inducing endocannabinoid anandamide (ANA), animals received ANA (10 microg/2.5 microl, icv) followed 15 min later by CBD (10 microg/2.5 microl). Results showed that the waking properties of CBD were not blocked by ANA.

 In conclusion, we found that CBD modulates waking via activation of neurons in the hypothalamus and DRD. Both regions are apparently involved in the generation of alertness. Also, CBD increases DA levels as measured by microdialysis and HPLC procedures.

Since CBD induces alertness, it might be of therapeutic value in sleep disorders such as excessive somnolence.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16844117