Cannabinoids may be a target for new strategies in cancer treatment

“Cannabis-like substances that are produced by the body have both therapeutic and harmful properties, besides their well-known intoxicating effects, and the body’s cannabinoid system may be a target for new strategies in cancer treatment…

Cannabinoids have moreover been shown to affect the fate of cells. Cannabinoids protect some brain cells, whereas cells in certain types of brain tumors, such as glioma, are stimulated to commit controlled cell suicide (apoptosis)…

In summary, the findings of Sofia Gustafsson’s studies show that cannabinoids can be toxic for cancer cells… These findings are important for our knowledge both of the potential of the cannabinoid system as a target system for new strategies in cancer treatment…”

More: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120229/Cannabinoids-may-be-a-target-for-new-strategies-in-cancer-treatment.aspx

Rx Marijuana: Most Readers Support Use

“In one way or another, more than 80% of MedPage Today readers have a favorable opinion about medical marijuana.

A total of 60.7% of the more than 5,600 readers who voted in our survey last week indicated they have always favored medical marijuana, while another 20.4% who had previously opposed the legalization of pot as a medication indicated a change of heart (read “My Cannabis Conversion” by Dr. Sanjay Gupta).

Many readers suggested medical marijuana is a better option than the current crop of legal opiates.”

More: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/41176

Cannabinoids and glucocorticoids modulate emotional memory after stress.

“Bidirectional and functional relationships between glucocorticoids and the endocannabinoid system have been demonstrated. Here, I review the interaction between the endocannabinoid and glucocorticoid/stress systems. Specifically, stress is known to produce rapid changes in endocannabinoid signaling in stress-responsive brain regions. In turn, the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in the downregulation and habituation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity in response to stress. Glucocorticoids also recruit the endocannabinoid system to exert rapid negative feedback control of the HPA axis during stress. It became increasingly clear, however, that cannabinoid CB1 receptors are also abundantly expressed in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and other limbic regions where they modulate emotional arousal effects on memory.

 Enhancing cannabinoids signaling using exogenous CB1 receptor agonists prevent the effects of acute stress on emotional memory.

 I propose a model suggesting that the ameliorating effects of exogenously administered cannabinoids on emotional learning after acute stress are mediated by the decrease in the activity of the HPA axis via GABAergic mechanisms in the amygdala.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23954749

Clinical evaluation and optimal management of cancer cachexia.

“Cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) is a complex metabolic syndrome, different from malnutrition and sarcopenia, which is very common in cancer patients. Treatment for CACS is based on nutritional support and CACS pathophysiology-modulating drugs. The most commonly used are megestrol acetate (MA) and corticosteroids. The efficacy of MA has been confirmed by multiple clinical trials and meta-analyses. Glucocorticoids are also effective but should only be used for short periods and in selected cases. Future strategies should include intensified research into potentially effective drugs (ω-3 fatty acids, thalidomide, cannabinoids, ghrelin, bortezomib, and COX-2 inhibitors), combined treatment and new drugs (anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibodies, melanocortin, β-2 antagonists, and androgen receptor-modulating analogues). We propose a review based on the literature on the pathophysiology of CACS, the diagnostic criteria and treatment, and future strategies.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23953794

Marijuana stops child’s severe seizures

 

“Saundra Young of CNN.com delved into the heated debate of medical marijuana and children, in her story about a little girl who has a rare, and severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. While the debate continues, the pro-legalization side may have won a small victory in the form of Charlotte Figi, 6, who was given her life back by marijuana…

Desperate for a treatment, Charlotte’s father Matt searched the Internet and eventually found a boy with a similar case in which medical marijuana helped his seizures. The Figi’s turned to the Stanley brothers, one of Colorado’s largest marijuana growers and dispensary owners, for help.

“These six brothers were crossbreeding a strain of marijuana low in THC, the compound in marijuana that’s psychoactive, and high in CBD, which has medicinal properties but no psychoactivity,” writes Young. But the Stanley brothers didn’t know what to do with this particular strain, as no one seemed to want to buy it. Then they met Charlotte.

The first time Charlotte tried a small dose of cannabis oil, the results were astounding:

“When she didn’t have those three, four seizures that first hour, that was the first sign,” Paige recalled. “And I thought well, ‘Let’s go another hour, this has got to be a fluke.'”

The Stanley brothers started the Realm of Caring Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides this particular strain of medical marijuana to adults and children suffering from a host of diseases. The strain used by Charlotte and 41 other patients is affectionately called Charlotte’s Web.

Charlotte’s seizures stopped for seven days after her first dose and today she is eating, and walking on her own — even riding a bike, her parents say. Charlotte gets a dose of the cannabis oil twice a day in her food and her seizures are down to 2 to 3 per month.

“I literally see Charlotte’s brain making connections that haven’t been made in years,” Matt said. “My thought now is, why were we the ones that had to go out and find this cure? This natural cure? How come a doctor didn’t know about this? How come they didn’t make me aware of this?”

Read the full article on CNN.com.”

More: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/Marijuana_stops_childs_severe_seizures.html

Dad says marijuana saved his 6-year-old son’s life – msn

“”Miraculous” stories from people who say medical marijuana helped them when all else failed keep rolling in.”

Still of father and son who were saved by THC - via KCRA, http://aka.ms/dope-cure

“The latest? A 6-year-old boy from Modesto, Calif., named Jayden David. Just like a young girl in Colorado, he suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. The disorder gave Jayden seizures so severe and frequent, he couldn’t walk, play or do much of anything. He often had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Doctors prescribed as many as 22 pills a day. Nothing worked. “At one point Jayden had seizures 24 hours a day lasting an hour and a half,” his father, Jason David, told local station KCRA. “I went to my doctor and said, ‘I don’t think Jayden is going to last. He can’t sleep, can’t eat. He hasn’t used the restroom. He cant do anything.'”

With no alternate options, the doctor prescribed a liquid form of cannabis called CBD, which gives less of a high. It was the first day of his entire life that Jayden went seizure-free. In the two years since, he’s taken CBD daily and now walks, plays and laughs happily. Jason credits medical marijuana with saving his son’s life — and says he’s speaking out now to help other parents with children in Jayden’s situation. “How can I not tell people, ‘Hey, save your children’s lives?'” he asks.”

http://now.msn.com/jayden-david-6-was-saved-by-medical-marijuana-dad-says

Killing bacteria with cannabis

“Pharmacists and chemists have found another use for the multipurpose cannabis as a source of antibacterial chemicals for multidrug resistant bacteria.”

 

“All five cannabinoids (THC, CBD, CBG, CBC, and CBN) were potent against bacteria. Notably, they performed well against bacteria that were known to be multidrug resistant, like the strains of MRSA…

CBD and CBG have the most potential for consumer use because they are nonpsychotropic…”

More: http://arstechnica.com/science/2008/08/killing-bacteria-with-cannabis/

“Antibacterial cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: a structure-activity study.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681481

Pot is good for you? Marijuana fights the superbugs

Active Ingredient in Marijuana Kills Brain Cancer Cells – ABCNews

ABC News

 

 

“New research out of Spain suggests that THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — appears to prompt the death of brain cancer cells.

The finding is based on work with mice designed to carry human cancer tumors, as well as from an analysis of THC’s impact on tumor cells extracted from two patients coping with a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.

Explaining that the introduction of THC into the brain triggers a cellular self-digestion process known as “autophagy,” study co-author Guillermo Velasco said his team has isolated the specific pathway by which this process unfolds, and noted that it appears “to kill cancer cells, while it does not affect normal cells…”

 The findings were published in the April issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.”: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37948

More: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=7235037&page=1

“Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells” Full Text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673842/

Cannabidiol potentiates pharmacological effects of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol via CB(1) receptor-dependent mechanism.

“Cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, has been reported to have interactions with Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC)…

In the present study, we investigated whether cannabidiol modulates the pharmacological effects of Delta(9)-THC…

Cannabidiol potentiated pharmacological effects of Delta(9)-THC via CB(1) receptor-dependent mechanism.

These findings may contribute in setting the basis for interaction of cannabinoids and to find a cannabinoid mechanism in central nervous system.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18021759