Tag Archives: medical marijuana

The Use of Marijuana or Synthetic Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Headache – MedScape

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“Pharmacological preparations of cannabinoid compounds have a variety of therapeutic uses in medicine, including different pain syndromes, but have not been previously reported as beneficial for cluster headache.We present a patient with cluster headache who was refractory to multiple acute and preventive medications but successfully aborted his attacks with recreational marijuana use; subsequent use of dronabinol provided equally effective pain relief. The beneficial effect may be related to the high concentration of cannabinoid receptors in the hypothalamus, which has been implicated as a site of dysfunction in neuroimaging studies of patients with cluster headache.

The plant Cannabis sativa has a long history of medical use in the treatment of pain and spasms, the promotion of sleep, and the suppression of nausea and vomiting. However, in the early 1970s cannabis was classified in the Narcotic Acts in countries all over the world as having no therapeutic benefit; therefore, it cannot be prescribed by physicians or dispensed by pharmacists. In the light of this contradictory situation, an increasing number of patients practice a self-prescription with cannabis products for relieving a variety of symptoms.

  The majority of patients used natural cannabis products such as marihuana, hashish, and an alcoholic tincture; in just 5 cases dronabinol (Marinol) was taken by prescription…

 …this survey demonstrates a successful use of cannabis products for the treatment of a multitude of various illnesses and symptoms. This use was usually accompanied only by slight and in general acceptable side effects…”

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/738529

Medical Marijuana Achieves ‘Complete Remission’ Of Crohn’s Disease; Drug Improves Appetite And Sleep Function, With No Side Effects

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“Smoking medical marijuana achieved remission in five of 11 subjects with Crohn’s disease who smoked twice a day for eight weeks, as part of a study.”

Crohn’s disease, one of several inflammatory bowel diseases, achieved “complete remission” in nearly half the subjects of one study that were exposed to smoking medical marijuana on a regular basis.

Published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the study examined the effects of consistent marijuana use on Crohn’s patients who suffered from severe cases of the disease. The results of the 21-subject study point toward the drug’s anti-inflammatory properties as being responsible for quieting symptoms in many patients, and even reaching total remission in others.”

More: http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/17529/20130718/medical-marijuana-crohns-disease-remission-anti-inflammatory-drug-inflammatory-bowel-disease.htm

“Study: Marijuana May Achieve Complete Remission of Crohn’s Disease”  http://blog.mpp.org/research/study-marijuana-may-achieve-complete-remission-of-crohns-disease/07192013/

 

“Cannabis Induces a Clinical Response in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: a Prospective Placebo-Controlled Study... The marijuana plant Cannabis sativa has been reported to produce beneficial effects for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases… We performed a prospective trial to determine whether cannabis can induce remission in patients with Crohn’s disease…Complete remission was achieved by 5/11 subjects in the cannabis group…Three patients in the cannabis group were weaned from steroid dependency . Subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648372

Cannabis Compounds Reduce Multi-Drug Resistant Infections

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“Cannabis Science, Inc. Dr. Robert Melamede, PhD., Director and Chief Science Officer, reported to the Board on the current state of research into the use of natural plant cannabinoids to reduce the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA), and the prospects for development of topical whole-cannabis treatments.

According to studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and by the Center for Disease Control in 2007, MRSA is responsible for more than 18,500 hospital-stay related deaths each year, and increased direct healthcare costs of as much as $9.7 billion.

Dr. Melamede stated, “Research into use of whole cannabis extracts and multi-cannabinoid compounds has provided the scientific rationale for medical marijuana’s efficacy in treating some of the most troubling diseases mankind now faces, including infectious diseases such as the flu and HIV, autoimmune diseases such as ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and diabetes, neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, stroke and brain injury, as well as numerous forms of cancer. One common element of these diseases is that patients often suffer extended hospital stays, risking development of various Staphyloccus infections including MRSA. A topical, whole-cannabis treatment for these infections is a functional complement to our cannabis extract-based lozenge.””

More: http://www.drugs.com/clinical_trials/cannabis-compounds-reduce-multi-resistant-infections-7080.html

Marijuana-Like Compounds Fight AIDS, Study Finds

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“Marijuana-like drugs can do more for AIDS patients than simply help them with their nausea or loss of appetite, according to a new study.

Doctor Tipster found new research published in the medical journal PLoS One that suggests marijuana-like compounds actually fight the HIV virus in late-stage AIDS patients.

Researchers told Doctor Tipster that they already know “cannabinoid drugs” like marijuana can have a therapeutic effect in AIDS patients. But they wanted to further understand how they “influence the spread of the virus itself.”

The study found that “cannabinoid receptors” are triggered by marijuana-like compounds and can actually block the spread of the HIV virus throughout the body.”

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/marijuana-fights-aids_n_1373224.html

Human Immunodeficiency Virus In Late-Stage AIDS Inhibited By Marijuana-Like Chemicals – MedicalNewsToday

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“Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, according to new findings published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

Medical marijuana is prescribed to treat pain, debilitating weight loss and appetite suppression, side effects that are common in advanced AIDS. This is the first study to reveal how the marijuana receptors found on immune cells – called cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 – can influence the spread of the virus. Understanding the effect of these receptors on the virus could help scientists develop new drugs to slow the progression of AIDS.

“We knew that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana can have a therapeutic effect in AIDS patients, but did not understand how they influence the spread of the virus itself,” said study author Cristina Costantino, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “We wanted to explore cannabinoid receptors as a target for pharmaceutical interventions that treat the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent further progression of the disease without the undesirable side effects of medical marijuana.”

HIV infects active immune cells that carry the viral receptor CD4, which makes these cells unable to fight off the infection. In order to spread, the virus requires that “resting” immune cells be activated. In advanced AIDS, HIV mutates so it can infect these resting cells, gaining entry into the cell by using a signaling receptor called CXCR4. By treating the cells with a cannabinoid agonist that triggers CB2, Dr. Costantino and the Mount Sinai team found that CB2 blocked the signaling process, and suppressed infection in resting immune cells.

Triggering CB1 causes the drug high associated with marijuana, making it undesirable for physicians to prescribe. The researchers wanted to explore therapies that would target CB2 only. The Mount Sinai team infected healthy immune cells with HIV, then treated them with a chemical that triggers CB2 called an agonist. They found that the drug reduced the infection of the remaining cells.

“Developing a drug that triggers only CB2 as an adjunctive treatment to standard antiviral medication may help alleviate the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent the virus from spreading,” said Dr. Costantino. Because HIV does not use CXCR4 to enhance immune cell infection in the early stages of infection, CB2 agonists appear to be an effective antiviral drug only in late-stage disease.

As a result of this discovery, the research team led by Benjamin Chen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases, and Lakshmi Devi, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, plans to develop a mouse model of late-stage AIDS in order to test the efficacy of a drug that triggers CB2 in vivo. In 2009 Dr. Chen was part of a team that captured on video for the first time the transfer of HIV from infected T-cells to uninfected T-cells.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/243183.php

Medicinal Marijuana Effective For Neuropathic Pain In HIV – MedicalNewsToday

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“In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo. The study, sponsored by the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR) based at UC San Diego, will be published on line, in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

Led by Ronald J. Ellis, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine, the study looked at 28 HIV patients with neuropathic pain not adequately controlled by other pain-relievers, including opiates. They took part in the controlled study as outpatients at the UCSD Medical Center. The proportion of subjects achieving pain reduction of 30 percent or more was greater for those smoking cannabis than those smoking the placebo.

“Neuropathy is a chronic and significant problem in HIV patients as there are few existing treatments that offer adequate pain management to sufferers,” Ellis said. “We found that smoked cannabis was generally well-tolerated and effective when added to the patient’s existing pain medication, resulting in increased pain relief.””

More:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/117509.php

Medicinal Marijuana Effective For Neuropathic Pain In HIV, Study Finds – ScienceDaily

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“In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo.

The study’s findings are consistent with and extend other recent research supporting the short-term efficacy of cannabis for neuropathic pain,

“This study adds to a growing body of evidence that indicates that cannabis is effective, in the short-term at least, in the management of neuropathic pain,” commented Igor Grant, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the CMCR.

Grant noted that this is the fourth CMCR sponsored study to provide convergent evidence that cannabis can help in relieving these types of pain…”

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080806113135.htm

Medical Marijuana Might Reduce Nerve Pain Among People Living With HIV/AIDS, Study Says – MedicalNewsToday

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“Medical marijuana might reduce the pain of peripheral neuropathy, a type of nerve damage, among people living with HIV/AIDS, according to a study published in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Neurology, the Washington Post reports (Weiss, Washington Post, 2/13). Donald Abrams of the University of California-San Francisco and colleagues examined the effects of smoking medicinal marijuana among people living with HIV/AIDS during a two-year period beginning in May 2003, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The results are “evidence, using the gold standard for clinical research, that cannabis has some medical benefits for a condition that can be severely debilitating,” Abrams said.”

More:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/62955.php

Outlawing of Psychoactive Drugs ‘Scientific Censorship’ Says Former Drug Advisor

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“Criminalization of marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms and other psychoactive drugs in the United Kingdom amounts to an act of scientific censorship that inhibits further research from being done, according to a leading researcher on the effects of drugs on the human brain.”

marijuana  

“Outlawing of psychoactive drugs amounts to “the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo,” said David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, in a statement accompanying a paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.”

More: http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/2407/20130612/outlawing-psychoactive-drugs-scientific-censorship-former-drug-advisor.htm

Outlawing drugs like marijuana censors science, researchers say – FOX

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“The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, magic mushrooms and other psychoactive substances amounts to scientific censorship and is hampering research into potentially important medicinal uses, leading scientists argued on Wednesday.”

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“Laws and international conventions dating back to the 1960s have set back research in key areas such as consciousness by decades, they argued in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

“The decision to outlaw these drugs was based on their perceived dangers, but in many cases the harms have been overstated,” said David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London.

In a statement accompanying the Nature Reviews paper, he said the laws amounted “to the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo”.

“The laws have never been updated despite scientific advances and growing evidence that many of these drugs are relatively safe. And there appears to be no way for the international community to make such changes,” he said.

“This hindering of research and therapy is motivated by politics, not science.”

Nutt and Leslie King, both former British government drugs advisers, and co-author David Nichols of the University of North Carolina, called for the use of psychoactive drugs in research to be exempted from severe restrictions.

“If we adopted a more rational approach to drug regulation, it would empower researchers to make advances in the study of consciousness and brain mechanisms of psychosis, and could lead to major treatment innovations in areas such as depression and PTSD,” Nutt said.

Nutt was sacked as a government adviser in 2009 after publicly criticizing the government for ignoring scientific advice on cannabis and ecstasy. He has conducted a small human trial using psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms.

His study, using volunteers, suggested the drug had the potential to alleviate severe forms of depression in people who did not respond to other treatments.

But in April, Nutt said his plans to conduct the first full clinical trial to explore psilocybin as a treatment had stalled because of stringent rules on the use of illegal drugs in research.

The scientists said their call for reform had been endorsed by the British Neuroscience Association and the British Association for Psychopharmacology.”

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/outlawing-drugs-like-marijuana-censors-science-researchers-say/