Tag Archives: cannabis

Medical cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain and other disorders: misconceptions and facts.

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“Recently, many countries have enacted new cannabis policies, including decriminalization of cannabis possession, medical cannabis legalization, and legalization of recreational cannabis.  In this context, patients and their physicians have had an increasing number of conversations about the risks and benefits of cannabis.  While cannabis and cannabinoids continue to be evaluated as pharmacotherapy for medical conditions, currently, the best evidence exists for the following medical conditions: chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis.  We also reviewed the current state of evidence for cannabis and cannabinoids for a number of other medical conditions while addressing the potential acute and chronic effects of cannabis use, which are issues that physicians must consider before making an official recommendation on the use of medical cannabis to a patient.  As patient requests for medical cannabis increase, physicians must become knowledgeable on the science of medical cannabis and open to a discussion about why the patient feels that medical cannabis may be helpful to them.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29067992

http://pamw.pl/en/issue/article/29067992

Cannabinoids Modulate Neuronal Activity and Cancer by CB1 and CB2 Receptor-Independent Mechanisms.

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“Cannabinoids include the active constituents of Cannabis or are molecules that mimic the structure and/or function of these Cannabis-derived molecules.

Cannabinoids produce many of their cellular and organ system effects by interacting with the well-characterized CB1 and CB2 receptors. However, it has become clear that not all effects of cannabinoid drugs are attributable to their interaction with CB1 and CB2 receptors.

Evidence now demonstrates that cannabinoid agents produce effects by modulating activity of the entire array of cellular macromolecules targeted by other drug classes, including: other receptor types; ion channels; transporters; enzymes, and protein- and non-protein cellular structures.

This review summarizes evidence for these interactions in the CNS and in cancer, and is organized according to the cellular targets involved. The CNS represents a well-studied area and cancer is emerging in terms of understanding mechanisms by which cannabinoids modulate their activity. Considering the CNS and cancer together allow identification of non-cannabinoid receptor targets that are shared and divergent in both systems.

This comparative approach allows the identified targets to be compared and contrasted, suggesting potential new areas of investigation. It also provides insight into the diverse sources of efficacy employed by this interesting class of drugs. Obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the diverse mechanisms of cannabinoid action may lead to the design and development of therapeutic agents with greater efficacy and specificity for their cellular targets.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29066974
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00720/full

Association Between Marijuana Use and Sexual Frequency in the United States: A Population-Based Study

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“Marijuana use is independently associated with increased sexual frequency and does not appear to impair sexual function. A positive association between marijuana use and sexual frequency is seen in men and women across all demographic groups.”   http://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(17)31417-0/fulltext

“Marijuana Doesn’t Impair Sexual Desire, Study Suggests” https://www.livescience.com/60790-marijuana-use-desire.html
 
“Marijuana linked to BETTER sexual performance and higher libido: Stanford study finds cannabis users have 20% more sex than the rest of us” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5022161/Cannabis-IMPROVES-sexual-performance-boosts-libido.html
 

“Regular marijuana use linked to more sex. The first study to examine the relationship between marijuana use and frequency of sexual intercourse at the population level in the United States shows a positive correlation between the two.” http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/10/regular-marijuana-use-linked-to-more-sex.html

The Risks and Benefits of Cannabis in the Dermatology Clinic.

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SAGE Journals

“Cannabis ( Cannabis sativa/indica), also known as marijuana, has been used for medicinal and recreational purposes for millennia.

There has been a recent trend to legalize the use of cannabis, as illustrated by the recent legalization votes in numerous states in the United States and legislation in Canada to allow recreational cannabis use. With this increasing consumption of cannabis, dermatologists will see increased pressure to prescribe cannabis and will see the side effects of cannabis use with greater frequency.

There are several approved medical indications for cannabis use, including psoriasis, lupus, nail-patella syndrome, and severe pain. In addition, very preliminary studies have suggested cannabis and its derivatives might have use in acne, dermatitis, pruritus, wound healing, and skin cancer.

In this review, we summarize some of the studies and reports regarding the medicinal uses of cannabis in the dermatology clinic and some of the side effects that might present more often to dermatologists as the use of cannabis increases.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29056081
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1203475417738971

“Cannabinoid system in the skin – a possible target for future therapies in dermatology.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19664006

The use of cannabidiol for seizure management in patients with brain tumor-related epilepsy.

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“Epilepsy, commonly encountered by patients with brain tumors, is often refractory to standard therapies. Our aim was to examine the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol (CBD; Epidiolex, GW Pharmaceuticals) in those patients with epilepsy with concomitant tumors enrolled in The University of Alabama at Birmingham CBD Program (NCT02700412 and NCT02695537). Of the three patients with refractory seizures and a history of a primary brain tumor, two had improvement in seizure frequency and all three had improvement in seizure severity. These pilot results suggest that CBD should be further studied for the treatment of brain tumor-related epilepsy.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29063814

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13554794.2017.1391294?journalCode=nncs20

Inspired by Mary Jane? Mechanisms underlying enhanced creativity in cannabis users.

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Consciousness and Cognition

“Previous research suggests cannabis may enhance some aspects of creativity, although the results remain somewhat equivocal. Moreover, it is unclear whether differences in cannabis users’ personalities may account for any potentially beneficial effects of cannabis on creativity. This study was designed to examine whether sober cannabis users demonstrate superior self-reported and objective creativity test performance relative to non-users, and to determine whether any of the Big 5 personality domains underlie these effects. A sample of sober cannabis users (n=412) and non-users (n=309) completed measures of cannabis consumption, personality, self-reported and objective creativity. Relative to non-users, sober cannabis users self-reported higher creativity, and performed significantly better on a measure of convergent thinking. Controlling for cannabis users’ higher levels of openness to experience abolished these effects. Therefore, while cannabis users appear to demonstrate enhanced creativity, these effects are an artifact of their heightened levels of openness to experience.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29065317

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810017303744?via%3Dihub

Phytocannabinoids modulate emotional memory processing through interactions with the ventral hippocampus and mesolimbic dopamine system: implications for neuropsychiatric pathology.

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Psychopharmacology

“Growing clinical and preclinical evidence suggests a potential role for the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) as a pharmacotherapy for various neuropsychiatric disorders. In contrast, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component in cannabis, is associated with acute and neurodevelopmental propsychotic side effects through its interaction with central cannabinoidtype 1 receptors (CB1Rs). CB1R stimulation in the ventral hippocampus (VHipp) potentiates affective memory formation through inputs to the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system, thereby altering emotional salience attribution. These changes in DA activity and salience attribution, evoked by dysfunctional VHipp regulatory actions and THC exposure, could predispose susceptible individuals to psychotic symptoms. Although THC can accelerate the onset of schizophrenia, CBD displays antipsychotic properties, can prevent the acquisition of emotionally irrelevant memories, and reverses amphetamine-induced neuronal sensitization through selective phosphorylation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) molecular signaling pathway. This review summarizes clinical and preclinical evidence demonstrating that distinct phytocannabinoids act within the VHipp and associated corticolimbic structures to modulate emotional memory processing through changes in mesolimbic DA activity states, salience attribution, and signal transduction pathways associated with schizophrenia-related pathology.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29063964
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-017-4766-7

Medical Cannabis in Parkinson Disease: Real-Life Patients’ Experience.

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“The use of medical cannabis (MC) is controversial. Support for its benefits is based on small clinical series.

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to report the results of a standardized interview study that retrospectively assessed the effects of MC on symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) and its adverse effects in patients treated for at least 3 months.

METHODS:

The survey used telephone interviews using a structured questionnaire based on subjective global impressions of change for various parkinsonian symptoms and yes/no questions on adverse effects.

RESULTS:

Forty-seven nondemented patients with PD (40 men) participated. Their mean age was 64.2 ± 10.8 years, mean disease duration was 10.8 ± 8.3 years, median Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) was stage III. The duration of MC use was 19.1 ± 17.0 months, and the mean daily dose was 0.9 ± 0.5 g. The delivery of MC was mainly by smoking cigarettes (38 cases, 80.9%). Effect size (r) improvement for falls was 0.89, 0.73 for pain relief, 0.64 for depression, 0.64 for tremor, 0.62 for muscle stiffness, and 0.60 for sleep. The most frequently reported adverse effects from MC were cough (34.9%) in those who used MC by smoking and confusion and hallucinations (reported by 17% each) causing 5 patients (10.6%) to stop treatment.

CONCLUSIONS:

Medical cannabis was found to improve symptoms of PD in the initial stages of treatment and did not cause major adverse effects in this pilot, 2-center, retrospective survey. The extent of use and the reported effects lend support to further development of safer and more effective drugs derived from Cannabis sativa.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29059132

https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00002826-900000000-99616

Medical Cannabinoids in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

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AAP Gateway

“CONTEXT: Legalization of medical marijuana in many states has led to a widening gap between the accessibility and the evidence for cannabinoids as a medical treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review published reports to identify the evidence base of cannabinoids as a medical treatment in children and adolescents.

RESULTS: Evidence for benefit was strongest for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, with increasing evidence of benefit for epilepsy.”  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2017/10/19/peds.2017-1818

“Limited data on medical cannabis use in children. Strongest evidence supports use to reduce seizures, side effects of chemotherapy.”  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023094606.htm

“Marijuana Can Help Children with Seizures, Cancer Nausea”   https://www.healthline.com/health-news/marijuana-can-help-children-with-seizures-cancer-nausea

“Medical Marijuana Reduces CINV, Seizures in Children”  https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/887616