“When reminded of their death, participants craved cannabis, even though there was no change in their conscious negative mood… Results indicate that cannabis served as a buffer and prevented death-related thoughts from entering consciousness, thus acting as a defense mechanism against death anxiety.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25950588
Tag Archives: cannabis
Arachidonylethanolamide induces apoptosis of human glioma cells through vanilloid receptor-1.
“The anti-tumor properties of cannabinoids have recently been evidenced, mainly with delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Here we investigated whether the most potent endogenous cannabinoid, arachidonylethanolamide (AEA), could be a candidate.
We observed that AEA induced apoptosis in long-term and recently established glioma cell lines via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1 (VR1).
In contrast with their role in THC-mediated death, both CB1 and CB2 partially protected glioma against AEA-induced apoptosis.
These data show that the selective targeting of VR1 by AEA or more stable analogues is an attractive research area for the treatment of glioma.”
Arachidonyl ethanolamide induces apoptosis of uterine cervix cancer cells via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1.
“Delta(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active agent of Cannabis sativa, exhibits well-documented antitumor properties, but little is known about the possible effects mediated by endogenous cannabinoids on human tumors. In the present study, we analyzed the effect of arachidonyl ethanolamide (AEA) on cervical carcinoma (CxCa) cell lines.
The major finding was that AEA induced apoptosis of CxCa cell lines via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1, whereas AEA binding to the classical CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors mediated a protective effect…
Overall, these data suggest that the specific targeting of VR1 by endogenous cannabinoids or synthetic molecules offers attractive opportunities for the development of novel potent anticancer drugs.”
Cannabidiol effects in the prepulse inhibition disruption induced by amphetamine.
“Drugs that facilitate dopaminergic neurotransmission such as amphetamine induce PPI disruption in human and rodents.
Clinical and neurobiological findings suggest that the endocannabinoid system and cannabinoids may be implicated in the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotomimetic constituent of the Cannabis sativa plant, has also been reported to have potential as an antipsychotic.
Our aim was to investigate if CBD pretreatment was able to prevent PPI disruption induced by amphetamine…
Pretreatment with CBD attenuated the amphetamine-disruptive effects…
These results corroborate findings indicating that CBD induces antipsychotic-like effects.
In addition, they pointed to the nucleus accumbens as a possible site of these effects.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25943166
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/schizophrenia/
Perceived efficacy of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis extracts for treatment of pediatric epilepsy: A potential role for infantile spasms and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
“There is a great need for safe and effective therapies for treatment of infantile spasms (IS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). Based on anecdotal reports and limited experience in an open-label trial, cannabidiol (CBD) has received tremendous attention as a potential treatment for pediatric epilepsy, especially Dravet syndrome.
We sought to document the experiences of children with IS and/or LGS who have been treated with CBD-enriched cannabis preparations.
Perceived efficacy and tolerability were similar across etiologic subgroups.
Eighty-five percent of all parents reported a reduction in seizure frequency, and 14% reported complete seizure freedom.
Reported side effects were far less common during CBD exposure, with the exception of increased appetite (30%).
A high proportion of respondents reported improvement in sleep (53%), alertness (71%), and mood (63%) during CBD therapy… this study suggests a potential role for CBD in the treatment of refractory childhood epilepsy including IS and LGS…”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25935511
“Safety and side effects of cannabidiol, a Cannabis sativa constituent.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22129319
“Cannabidiol, a safe and non-psychotropic ingredient of the marijuana plant Cannabis sativa…” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19690824
Cannabis Enhances Bipolar Patients’ Neurocognitive Performance
“According to a study published online in the journal Psychiatry Research, individuals with bipolar disorder who used cannabis showed higher neurocognitive performance than patients who did not use cannabis.
Researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Long Island, NY, in collaboration with a team at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, examined the difference in cognitive performance among 50 individuals with bipolar disorder who had a history of cannabis use, with 150 bipolar patients who had no history of cannabis use.
The team discovered that patients who used cannabis showed superior neurocognitive performance than those who did not…
“These data could be interpreted to suggest that cannabis use may have a beneficial effect on cognitive functioning in patients with severe psychiatric disorders…””
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249006.php
“Cognitive and clinical outcomes associated with cannabis use in patients with bipolar I disorder” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408776/
Study: Pot May Improve Cognitive Functioning in Bipolar Disorder
“Patients with severe psychiatric disorders actually function better in neurocognitive assessments when they have a history of marijuana use.
Patients with bipolar I disorder performed better in neurocognitive assessments when they had a history of marijuana use.”
“Cognitive and clinical outcomes associated with cannabis use in patients with bipolar I disorder” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408776/
Cognitive and clinical outcomes associated with cannabis use in patients with bipolar I disorder.
“The objective of the present study was to compare clinical and neurocognitive measures in individuals with bipolar disorder with a history of cannabis use disorder (CUD) versus those without a history of CUD…
We compared the groups on clinical and demographic variables, as well as on performance on neurocognitive tests…
CUD+ subjects demonstrated significantly better performance on measures of attention, processing speed, and working memory…
Interestingly, bipolar patients with history of CUD had better neurocognitive performance as compared to patients with no history of CUD.
…these analyses indicate an interesting pattern suggesting superior neurocognitive performance among bipolar patients with comorbid CUD when compared to bipolar patients with no history of cannabis use.”
European rating of drug harms.
“The present paper describes the results of a rating study performed by a group of European Union (EU) drug experts using the multi-criteria decision analysis model for evaluating drug harms.
Alcohol, heroin and crack emerged as the most harmful drugs (overall weighted harm score 72, 55 and 50, respectively). The remaining drugs had an overall weighted harm score of 38 or less, making them much less harmful than alcohol.
The outcome of this study shows that the previous national rankings based on the relative harms of different drugs are endorsed throughout the EU.
The results indicates that EU and national drug policy measures should focus on drugs with the highest overall harm, including alcohol and tobacco, whereas drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy should be given lower priority including a lower legal classification.”
A safer alternative: Cannabis substitution as harm reduction.
“Harm reduction is a set of strategies that aim to minimise problems associated with drug use while recognising that for some users, abstinence may be neither a realistic nor a desirable goal.
In this paper, we aim for deeper understandings of older adult cannabis users’ beliefs and substitution practices as part of the harm reduction framework..
Study participants described using cannabis as a safer alternative for alcohol, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals based on their perceptions of less adverse side effects, low-risk for addiction and greater effectiveness at relieving symptoms, such as chronic pain.
Cannabis substitution can be an effective harm reduction method for those who are unable or unwilling to stop using drugs completely.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25919477
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/addiction/