Marihuana as Medicine

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“BETWEEN 1840 and 1900, European and American medical journals published more than 100 articles on the therapeutic use of the drug known then as Cannabis indica (or Indian hemp) and now as marihuana.

It was recommended as an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, analgesic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant. As late as 1913 Sir William Osler recommended it as the most satisfactory remedy for migraine.

Today the 5000-year medical history of cannabis has been almost forgotten.

Its use declined in the early 20th century because the potency of preparations was variable, responses to oral ingestion were erratic, and alternatives became available—injectable opiates and, later, synthetic drugs such as aspirin and barbiturates.

In the United States, the final blow was struck by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Designed to prevent nonmedical use, this law made cannabis so difficult to obtain for medical purposes that it was removed from the pharmacopeia.”

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=388943#Abstract

The use of cannabis as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder: anecdotal evidence and the need for clinical research.

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“The authors present case histories indicating that a number of patients find cannabis (marihuana) useful in the treatment of their bipolar disorder.

Some used it to treat mania, depression, or both. They stated that it was more effective than conventional drugs, or helped relieve the side effects of those drugs.

One woman found that cannabis curbed her manic rages; she and her husband have worked to make it legally available as a medicine. Others described the use of cannabis as a supplement to lithium (allowing reduced consumption) or for relief of lithium’s side effects.

Another case illustrates the fact that medical cannabis users are in danger of arrest, especially when children are encouraged to inform on parents by some drug prevention programs.

An analogy is drawn between the status of cannabis today and that of lithium in the early 1950s, when its effect on mania had been discovered but there were no controlled studies.

In the case of cannabis, the law has made such studies almost impossible, and the only available evidence is anecdotal. The potential for cannabis as a treatment for bipolar disorder unfortunately can not be fully explored in the present social circumstances.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9692379

[Study on the extraction process for cannabinoids in hemp seed oil by orthogonal design].

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“OBJECTIVE: To select the optimum extracting procedure for cannabinoids from hemp seed oil.

METHODS: The optimum extracting procedure was selected with the content of cannabinol and delta9-tetrehydrocannabinol from hemp seed oil by orthogonal test design. We have examined three factors that may influence the extraction rate: the time of extraction, the times of extraction and the amount of methanol.

RESULTS: The optimum extraction condition was adding 5 ml, two times amount of methanol into hemp seed oil for 15 min.

CONCLUSION: The above extraction process gave the most rational, stable, feasible and satisfactory results. The method is convenient.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16131037

Stimulated CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor Inducing Ischemic Tolerance and Protecting Neuron from Cerebral Ischemia.

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“Anandamide system is mainly made up of cannabinoid receptors, their endogenous ligands and some related enzymes. Activation of the system mediates various molecular events, thereafter leading to vasodilation, bradycardia and anti-inflammation.

The stimulated cannabinoid receptors may take part in protection of endothelial cells from injury and therefore can be potential targets in therapy for some diseases, especially cardio or cerebral vascular disturbances.

Cerebral ischemia is a deadly disease that modern people have to face and will probably face for a long period of time. Ischemic tolerance has the protective effect of brain as an endogenous event in cerebral ischemia, in which variety of inducers such as transient cerebral ischemia, hypoxia, hypothermia and drug agents are involved.

Most of cannabinoid 1 receptors (CB1Rs), a member in G protein-coupled receptor family, exist in central nervous systems.

Mechanism of neuroprotection mediated by the receptor is considered through facilitating neurotransmitter release and regulating other molecular events. In this review, advance of the neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia and the mechanism of the action are overviewed.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27142423

“Cerebral ischemia or brain ischemia, is a condition that occurs when there isn’t enough blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand. This leads to limited oxygen supply or cerebral hypoxia and leads to the death of brain tissue, cerebral infarction, or ischemic stroke. It is a sub-type of stroke along with subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracerebral hemorrhage. There are two kinds of ischemia: focal ischemia: confined to a specific region of the brain; global ischemia: encompasses wide areas of brain tissue.”  http://www.columbianeurosurgery.org/conditions/cerebral-ischemia/

Targeting Cannabinoid Receptors in Brain Tumors

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“Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa L., act in the body by mimicking endogenous substances — the endocannabinoids — that activate specific cell surface receptors.

Cannabinoids exert various palliative effects in cancer patients. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit the growth of different types of tumor cells, including glioma cells, in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell signaling pathways, mostly the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, thereby inducing antitumoral actions such as the apoptotic death of tumor cells and the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis.

Of interest, cannabinoids seem to be selective antitumoral compounds as they kill glioma cells but not their nontransformed astroglial counterparts.

On the basis of these preclinical findings, a pilot clinical study of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme has been recently run. The fair safety profile of Δ9-THC, together with its possible growth-inhibiting action on tumor cells, may set the basis for future trials aimed at evaluating the potential antitumoral activity of cannabinoids.”

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-387-74349-3_17

Pharmacological management of agitation and aggression in Alzheimer’s Disease: a review of current and novel treatments.

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“Agitation and aggression are common neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and are highly prevalent in people with dementia. When pharmacological intervention becomes necessary, current clinical practice guidelines recommend antipsychotics, cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), and some antidepressants.

However, those interventions have modest to low efficacy, and those with the highest demonstrated efficacy have significant safety concerns. As a result, current research is focusing on novel compounds that have different mechanisms of action and that may have a better balance of efficacy over safety.

The purpose of this review is to evaluate novel pharmacological therapies for the management of agitation and aggression in AD patients. We performed a comprehensive literature search to identify recent novel drugs that are not included in most clinical practice guidelines or are currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of agitation and/or aggression in AD.

This review suggests that novel treatments, such as cannabinoids, lithium, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, narcotics, and newer antiepileptic drugs, may provide a safer alternative treatment options for the management of agitation and aggression in AD and requires further study in order to clarify their risks and benefits.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27137221

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/alzheimers-disease-ad/

Study: Cannabinoids Limit Neuroblastoma Cell Proliferation

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Study: Cannabinoids Limit Neuroblastoma Cell Proliferation

“The administration of the cannabinoids THC and CBD limit cancer activity in neuroblastoma cells in culture and in animals, according to preclinical data published in the journal Current Oncology.

Neuroblastoma is an aggressive form of childhood cancer that often goes inadequately addressed by conventional treatment.

Investigators reported that both types of cannabinoids reduced neuroblastoma cell viability, but that CBD demonstrated superior anti-cancer ability. The study is the first to document the anti-cancer properties of CBD in this particular cancerous cell line.

They concluded, “Our findings about the activity of CBD in nbl (neuroblastoma) support and extend previous findings about the anti-tumor activities of CBD in other tumors and suggest that cannabis extracts enriched in CBD and not in THC could be suitable for the development of novel non-psychotropic therapeutic strategies in nbl.”  http://enewspf.com/2016/04/21/study-cannabinoids-limit-neuroblastoma-cell-proliferation/

“In vitro and in vivo efficacy of non-psychoactive cannabidiol in neuroblastoma”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791143/?report=reader

Synthetic Cannabinoids versus Natural Marijuana: A Comparison of Expectations

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ScienceDaily

“A new study evaluated the expected outcomes of both synthetic and natural marijuana.

An article entitled “Comparison of Outcome Expectancies for Synthetic Cannabinoids and Botanical Marijuana,” from The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, studied the expected outcomes of both synthetic and natural marijuana.

186 adults who had previously used both synthetic and natural marijuana, as well as 181 who had previously used only botanical marijuana, were surveyed about their expected outcomes of using either type of cannabinoid.

The results showed that the expected negative effects were significantly higher for synthetic marijuana than for natural marijuana across both categories of use history.

Despite the more commonly expected negative effects of synthetic cannabinoids, the most cited reasons for using these compounds were wider availability, avoiding a positive drug test, curiosity, perceived legality, and cost.

Authors concluded, “Given growing public acceptance of recreational and medical marijuana, coupled with negative perceptions and increasing regulation of synthetic cannabinoid compounds, botanical marijuana is likely to remain more available and more popular than synthetic cannabinoids.”

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160427081800.htm

“Comparison of outcome expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26910181

 

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Comparison of outcome expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana.

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“Although initially developed for medical purposes, synthetic cannabinoids have also been consumed for recreational purposes.

To evaluate whether agreement with positive and negative outcome expectancies differed for synthetic cannabinoids versus botanical marijuana, and assess reported reasons for using synthetic cannabinoids.

A significant interaction revealed that participants who had used both synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana indicated lower agreement with positive expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids, and higher agreement with positive expectancies for botanical marijuana, than did those participants who used only botanical marijuana.

There was no interaction between type of drug and use history on agreement with negative expectancies, and participants agreed more strongly with negative outcome expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids than for botanical marijuana whether they had used one or both types of these drugs.

The most frequently provided reasons for using synthetic cannabinoids included availability, perceived legality, cost, curiosity, and social interaction.

Given growing public acceptance of recreational and medical marijuana, coupled with negative perceptions and increasing regulation of synthetic cannabinoid compounds, botanical marijuana is likely to remain more available and more popular than synthetic cannabinoids.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26910181

The endogenous cannabinoid system protects against colonic inflammation

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“Excessive inflammatory responses can emerge as a potential danger for organisms’ health.

Our results indicate that the endogenous cannabinoid system represents a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of intestinal disease conditions characterized by excessive inflammatory responses.

The major active constituent of the plant Cannabis sativa (marijuana), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and a variety of natural and synthetic cannabinoids have been shown to possess antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.

For millennia, Cannabis preparations have been used in folk medicine for the treatment of a wide variety of disorders, including those affecting the gastrointestinal tract. A century ago, extracts of Cannabis were used in the US to treat gastrointestinal pain of different origins, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea. There are also anecdotal reports suggesting that marijuana may be effective in alleviating symptoms of Crohn disease.

In conclusion, this study shows that the endogenous cannabinoid system is physiologically involved in the protection against excessive inflammation in the colon, both by dampening smooth muscular irritation caused by inflammation and by controlling cellular pathways leading to inflammatory responses.

These results strongly suggest that modulation of the physiological activity of the endogenous cannabinoid system during colonic inflammation might be a promising therapeutic tool for the treatment of several diseases characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.”

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/19465

“A mouse study demonstrated that endogenous cannabinoid system signaling is likely to provide intrinsic protection against colonic inflammation. As a result, a hypothesis that phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids may be useful in the risk reduction and treatment of colorectal cancer has been developed.” http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cannabis-pdq#section/_7