Tag Archives: Cannabinoids

A Link Between Autism and Cannabinoids

Posted on by

“Two autism-related mutations in a synapse-adhesion protein lead to deficits in prolonged endocannabinoid signaling in mice. It’s a surprising connection that suggests such signaling problems could be implicated in autism spectrum disorders, according to a paper published today (April 11) in Neuron.

Tonic endocannabinoid signaling is long-lasting and contrasts with the brief pulses characteristic of phasic signaling. Endocannabinoid signaling in general affects memory formation, learning, pain, and other important processes, but the distinctions between tonic and phasic signaling have been poorly understood.

“It’s a very stimulating finding which could be a real turning point in understanding tonic endocannabinoids and how this otherwise mysterious lipid signaling really works,” said Bradley Alger, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine…

Alger added that, if the endocannabinoid system does turn out to be connected to autism in humans, medical marijuana could turn out to hold possibility for treating autism.”

More: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/35088/title/A-Link-Between-Autism-and-Cannabinoids/

Medical Marijuana is Being Used to Successfully Treat the Symptoms of Lupus in Patients

Posted on by

“Cannabis is considered an ideal medication to help Lupus patients cope with the symptoms of the disorder like nausea and pain. It’s also known to be an anti-inflammatory, suppressing certain parts of the immune system.”

“By lowering the levels of the inflammation-promoting protein interleukin-2, and raising levels of the anti-inflammatory protein interleukin-10, cannabis shows that it may be beneficial for treating autoimmune disorders where inflammation is the main complication.”

“There is no doubt that cannabis has some medicinal benefits, and helps patients to cope with symptoms of Lupus. On the contrary, medical cannabis is only legal in a number of states. The naturally grown “drug” remains illegal on a federal level, so one should consider the law and its consequences before deciding to self-medicate. Even if you live in a state where cannabis is legal medicinally, always consult your doctor before using cannabis to treat your condition.”

More Helpful Medical Marijuana & Lupus Resources:

  • http://www.mcsocal.com/blog/plaquenil-rheumatoid-arthritis-lupus-and-marijuana-cannabis
  • http://cure4lupus.org/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=164&chapter=1
  • http://www.thelupussite.com/
  • http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/lupus/
  • http://www.lupus.org/newsite/index.html
  • http://lupus.webmd.com/news/20030415/cannabis-may-suppress-immune-system
  • http://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/features/autoimmune-disease-and-ra
  • http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lupus/DS00115/DSECTION=alternative-medicine

More: http://www.medicaljane.com/2013/01/07/lupus-and-medical-marijuana/

Study Finds No Link Between Marijuana Use And Lung Cancer – ScienceDaily

Posted on by

“People who smoke marijuana–even heavy, long-term marijuana users–do not appear to be at increased risk of developing lung cancer…

Marijuana smoking also did not appear to increase the risk of head and neck cancers, such as cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat, or esophagus, the study found.

The findings were a surprise to the researchers. “We expected that we would find that a history of heavy marijuana use–more than 500-1,000 uses–would increase the risk of cancer from several years to decades after exposure to marijuana,” said the senior researcher, Donald Tashkin, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles.”

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060526083353.htm

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

Posted on by

“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

Cannabinoids and hallucinogens for headache.

Posted on by

“Hallucinogens and most cannabinoids are classified under schedule 1 of the Federal Controlled Substances Act 1970, along with heroin and ecstacy. Hence they cannot be prescribed by physicians, and by implication, have no accepted medical use with a high abuse potential. Despite their legal status, hallucinogens and cannabinoids are used by patients for relief of headache, helped by the growing number of American states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Cannabinoids in particular have a long history of use in the abortive and prophylactic treatment of migraine before prohibition and are still used by patients as a migraine abortive in particular.

 Most practitioners are unaware of the prominence cannabis or “marijuana” once held in medical practice.

Hallucinogens are being increasingly used by cluster headache patients outside of physician recommendation mainly to abort a cluster period and maintain quiescence for which there is considerable anecdotal success.

The legal status of cannabinoids and hallucinogens has for a long time severely inhibited medical research, and there are still no blinded studies on headache subjects, from which we could assess true efficacy.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23278122

Marijuana May Be Legitimate Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease, Report Says

Posted on by

“Researchers at the Roskamp Institute in Florida recently published a study in the journal Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience revealing that cannabinoids could delay the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and could quite plausibly terminate the disease entirely.”

medical marijuana alzheimers Marijuana May Be Legitimate Treatment for Alzheimers Disease, Report Says

“Corbin Bachmeier, Ph.D, lead researcher of the study, declared that Alzheimer’s disease is “the result of impaired Aβ [Amyloid-β protein] clearance from the brain”. According to this particular study, cannabinoids can resolve this problem, which makes it a prospective treatment.

Bachmeier’s examination determined that “modulation of the cannabinoid system was shown to reduce Aβ [Amyloid-β protein] brain levels and improve cognitive behavior in Alzheimer’s disease animal models.”

The study’s abstract states that the objective of the study was to “investigate the role of the cannabinoid system in the clearance of Aβ across the blood–brain barrier (BBB).”

For the first time in recorded history, the study in question establishes that the cannabinoid system does indeed play a role in the transit of Amyloid-β protein across the blood-brain barrier.

Bachmeier concluded that his discoveries “provide insight into the mechanism by which cannabinoid treatment reduces Aβ [Amyloid-β protein] burden in the AD [Alzheimer’s disease] brain and offer additional evidence on the utility of this pathway as a treatment for AD.”

This is good news for individuals suffering with this specific ailment and for their loved ones. Cannabinoids seem to be boundless in respect to the medicinal benefits they have to offer.”

http://ivn.us/2013/07/24/marijuana-may-be-legitimate-treatment-for-alzheimers-disease-report-says/

Cannabis Use, Effect And Potential Therapy For Alzheimer’s, MS and Parkinson’s

Posted on by

“The illegal status and wide-spread use of cannabis made basic and clinical cannabis research difficult in the past decades; on the other hand, it has stimulated efforts to identify the psychoactive constituents of cannabis. As a consequence, the endocannabinoid system was discovered, which was shown to be involved in most physiological systems — the nervous, the cardiovascular, the reproductive, the immune system, to mention a few.

One of the main roles of endocannabinoids is neuroprotection, but over the last decade they have been found to affect a long list of processes, from anxiety, depression, cancer development, vasodilatation to bone formation and even pregnancy.

Cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are supposed to represent a medicinal treasure trove which waits to be discovered…

The endocannabinoid system acts as a guardian against various attacks on the mammalian body.

Conclusion

The above described research concerning the endocannabinoid-system is of importance in both basic science and in therapeutics:

  • The discovery of the cannabis plant active constituent has helped advance our understanding of cannabis use and its effects.
  • The discovery of the endocannabinoids has been of central importance in establishing the existence of a new biochemical system and its physiological roles — in particular in neuroprotection.
  • These discoveries have opened the door for the development of novel types of drugs, such as THC for the treatment of nausea and for enhancing appetite in cachectic patients.
  • The endocannabinoid system is involved in the protective reaction of the mammalian body to a long list of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease which raises hope for novel therapeutic opportunities for these diseases.”

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071014163644.htm

Marijuana may block Alzheimer’s

Posted on by

“The active ingredient in marijuana may stall decline from Alzheimer’s disease, research suggests.” 

Brain

 

“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.”

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4286435.stm

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

Posted on by

“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 based spray approved for MS

Posted on by
“Sativex licensed for spasticity in multiple sclerosis. MS charity calls it a ‘milestone’
.
sad woman
 
“The cannabis-based mouth spray, Sativex, has been approved by the UK medicines regulator, MHRA, as a prescription only treatment for MS related spasticity.

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