“The active ingredient in marijuana may stall decline from Alzheimer’s disease, research suggests.”
“Scientists showed a synthetic version of the compound may reduce inflammation associated with Alzheimer’s and thus help to prevent mental decline. They hope the cannabinoid may be used to develop new drug therapies.” |
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.”
Sativex is designed as an add-on treatment for moderate to severe MS spasms and cramping in people who receive inadequate relief from the standard oral anti-spasticity medicines or have experienced unbearable side effects whilst taking these medicines.
Sativex contains two cannabinoids or active ingredients – THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). It is the first cannabinoid medicine derived from whole plant extracts from the cannabis sativa plant…”
More: http://www.webmd.boots.com/news/20100621/cannabis-based-spray-approved-for-ms
“Smoking marijuana may improve some symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a new study suggests.
Patients with multiple sclerosis in the study had less muscle tightness, also called spasticity, and less pain after they smoked marijuana, compared with after they took a placebo…
More research is needed to confirm the findings and to investigate whether lower doses of marijuana may have similar benefits with fewer adverse effects, said study researcher Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom, professor of neurosciences and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of California, San Diego.
The study is published today (May 14) in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Improved symptoms
Previous studies have suggested marijuana use may have benefits for MS patients, but most have investigated oral forms of the drug, including mouth sprays and capsules. In addition, most studies have asked patients to report changes in their symptoms, rather than having a researcher objectively assess them…
Participants were randomly assigned to receive treatment with a marijuana cigarette or a placebo cigarette, which did not contain delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient of marijuana. Participants smoked a marijuana cigarette once a day for three consecutive days under the supervision of a researcher. Eleven days later, participants repeated the procedure, but this time, they switched treatment groups so that everyone received the marijuana cigarette and placebo at some point in the study. On average, participants smoked four puffs of their cigarettes at each session.
Shortly after each treatment session, the researchers assessed participants with a test specifically designed to measure spasticity.
After smoking marijuana, participants experienced a 30 percent reduction in spasticity, compared with when they smoked the placebo cigarette, Corey-Bloom said.”
More: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/pot-smoking-may-help-relieve-symptoms-ms-771076
“Use of cannabis extract helps ease painful muscle stiffness among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a large trial published on Tuesday in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry…”
“A new cannabis-based licensed drug has transformed the life of multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer Teresa Pointer from Aylsham.”
“Mrs Pointer, 42, spotted an advertisement in the EDP eight years ago, asking people to take part in treatment trials at the James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston, and she has not looked back.
Today, thanks to two daily sprays of Sativex into her mouth, Mrs Pointer can sleep at night, walk for longer – and she has got her sense of humour back.
“I got in touch with Dr Willy Notcutt at the James Paget and then started on a clinical trial of Sativex. It was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s done so much for me. It really has given me my life back,” said Mrs Pointer, who lives with her husband and two daughters in Hungate Street.
She was diagnosed in 2004 with MS, a disease which affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
An increase in muscle tone, or “spasticity”, is a common symptom, causing involuntary muscle spasms, immobility, disturbed sleep, and pain.
Although MS is incurable, treatments and specialists can help sufferers manage their symptoms.
Within two weeks of starting the trial, Mrs Pointer, whose health problems forced her to retire from her job as an assistant cook at Aylsham’s Bure Valley School, began to notice an improvement.
“It doesn’t take any of the symptoms away but it relieves them,” she said. The drug relaxed her muscles, easing the pain, discomfort and spasms when her legs would “try and jump off the bed”, which stopped her sleeping.
“I had been getting so tetchy through lack of sleep. I was snappy and angry all the time. But, because it helped me sleep, I could laugh and smile again. I found the funnier side of life which I thought I’d lost forever.”
At a later point in the double-blind trial, which involved 18 local patients, Mrs Pointer, without her knowledge or that of the medical team, was given a placebo instead of Sativex. Her symptoms soon returned and she could not sleep.
After discussions with specialists, she was put back on the drug. “That night I slept like a baby again. The contrast was so stark,” she said.
Mrs Pointer said she had no previous experience of cannabis but Sativex only relaxed muscles, it did not generate the “high” sought by recreational drug users.
She also believes that, without the drug, she would be using her wheelchair far more often than she does at present as it relaxes her leg muscles enough to allow her to walk greater distances.
Dr Notcutt, research and development director at the James Paget, said Mrs Pointer’s participation in the trial had been invaluable.
He added: “The results of these studies are being used all across the world as doctors and others look at the potential value of this medicine. Teresa and others like her locally have been pioneers in a therapy that has a huge potential in many different areas. Without more volunteers to help us explore, medical research will only make very slow progress.”
■ Around 100,000 people in the UK have MS. It is normally diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 40, and affects almost three times as many women as men.
■ Sativex, in the form of a mouth spray, contains the principal extracts delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol – found in the leaf and flower of the cannabis plant, and is the first cannabinoid preparation to be licensed in the UK for use in the treatment of muscle spasms in MS.”
“Blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry, and strawberry extracts inhibit growth and stimulate apoptosis of human cancer cells in vitro.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17147415
“Using Berries to Fight Cancer” http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119873
“Blueberries fight aggressive breast cancer” http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?id=7388978
“Inhibition of Benzo(a)pyrene Diol-Epoxide-induced Transactivation of Activated Protein 1 and Nuclear Factor κB by Black Raspberry Extracts” http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/62/23/6857.long
“Black raspberries prevent colorectal cancer in mice” http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39971798/ns/health-cancer/t/black-raspberries-prevent-colorectal-cancer-mice/
“Breast cancer link to small amount of alcohol” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15539450
“Alcohol link to bowel cancer risk” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6921998.stm
“Alcohol Linked To Breast Cancer” http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-529131.html
“Breast cancer leading cause of alcohol-attributable death in New Zealand women” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-07-breast-cancer-alcohol-attributable-death-zealand.html
“Alcoholism is linked to higher rates of general and cancer-related deaths” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-alcoholism-linked-higher-cancer-related-deaths.html
“Smoking, heavy drinking linked to earlier onset of pancreatic cancer” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-heavy-linked-earlier-onset-pancreatic.html
“Heavy alcohol consumption linked to lung cancer” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-heavy-alcohol-consumption-linked-lung.html
“Even moderate drinking may substantially raise risk of dying from cancer: study” http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/moderate-drinking-raises-cancer-death-risk-study-article-1.1265529
“Even a drink a day boosts cancer death risk, alcohol study finds” http://www.nbcnews.com/health/even-drink-day-boosts-cancer-death-risk-alcohol-study-finds-1C8381639?franchiseSlug=healthmain
“Drinking linked to endometrial cancer risk” http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20889546/ns/health-cancer/t/drinking-linked-endometrial-cancer-risk/
“For most cancer patients it has always been thought that the only purpose cannabis provided was to act as a painkiller a recent study has suggested that it can also help the patient regain their appetite and sense of taste. If this is true for cancer patients one must wonder if it is true for AIDS patients and patients with other conditions that allow the use of cannabis as a treatment option.”
In situations such as cancer and AIDS, patient’s anorexia is a common result for the lack of eating and poor nutrition. Although, anorexia is classified as a mental health condition as you can clearly see there is more than one way to become anorexic. By consuming a product (usually a dessert or candy that is made with cannabis) the patient can enjoy a delicious treat while increasing their appetites.
An anorexic also loses their appetite as the stomach shrinks and when food is not consumed for long periods of time the taste buds also decline. We are not suggestion people with anorexia should start smoking cannabis but further research into this area of treatment for anorexics is worth studying.
The original study is for cancer patients and the results showed an increase in the patients appetites and the study is worthy of further study for other conditions including anorexia.”
“The active chemical in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves, researchers in Spain report.
Guillermo Velasco and colleagues at Complutense University in Spain have found that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, causes brain cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy. Autophagy is the breakdown of a cell that occurs when the cell essentially self-digests.
The team discovered that cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells and people with brain tumors . When mice with the human brain cancer cells received the THC, the tumor growth shrank.
Two patients enrolled in a clinical trial received THC directly to the brain as an experimental treatment for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme , a highly aggressive brain tumor. Biopsies taken before and after treatment helped track their progress. After receiving the THC, there was evidence of increased autophagy activity.
The findings appear in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
The patients did not have any toxic effects from the treatment. Previous studies of THC for the treatment of cancer have also found the therapy to be well tolerated, according to background information in journal article.
Study authors say their findings could lead to new strategies for preventing tumor growth.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-4913095.html