Tag Archives: marijuana

Enhancing activity of marijuana-like chemicals in brain helps treat Parkinson’s symptoms in mice, Stanford study finds

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“Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for the debilitating condition of Parkinson’s disease. In a study published in the Feb. 8 issue of Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition similar to Parkinson’s.

“This study points to a potentially new kind of therapy for Parkinson’s disease,” said senior author Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Of course, it is a long, long way to go before this will be tested in humans, but nonetheless, we have identified a new way of potentially manipulating the circuits that are malfunctioning in this disease.”

Malenka and postdoctoral scholar Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, the study’s lead author, combined a drug already used to treat Parkinson’s disease with an experimental compound that can boost the level of endocannabinoids in the brain. When they used the combination in mice with a condition like Parkinson’s, the mice went from being frozen in place to moving around freely in 15 minutes. “They were basically normal,” Kreitzer said.”

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/02/enhancing-activity-of-marijuana-like-chemicals-in-brain-helps-treat-parkinsons-symptoms-in-mice-stanford-study-finds.html

“Brain chemicals may aid treatment of Parkinson’s”  http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/february14/med-brain-021407.html

Natural brain substance linked to Parkinson’s symptoms

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“Neuroscientists have found that a substance similar to the active ingredient in marijuana but produced naturally in the brain helps to control mobility — and may offer a novel target for treating Parkinson’s disease.

The findings by Stanford University researchers, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, show how marijuana-like “endocannabinoids” — one of the many chemicals used in the brain to transmit signals — form part of the neural machinery that directs normal physical movement.

A shortage of the endocannabinoids, the scientists found, can knock the system out of balance to produce the characteristic tremor, rigidity and other mobility problems of Parkinson’s disease patients…”

Read more; http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Natural-brain-substance-linked-to-Parkinson-s-2650879.php

Parkinsons’ Helped By Marijuana-Lke Chemicals In Brain

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(February 11, 2007) “Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for the debilitating condition of Parkinson’s disease. In a study published in Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition similar to Parkinson’s.

“This study points to a potentially new kind of therapy for Parkinson’s disease,” said senior author Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Of course, it is a long, long way to go before this will be tested in humans, but nonetheless, we have identified a new way of potentially manipulating the circuits that are malfunctioning in this disease.””

Read More: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/62616.php

Marijuana is helping to treat parkinson’s

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“My sister, who lives in Holland, is a Parkinson’s patient who is treating her condition with marijuana – or derivatives of it. In the last couple of months, Dutch doctors have been allowed to prescribe marijuana-based medication for Parkinson’s, and my sister has taken advantage of this change in the law.

Several products are available, including Marinol, a synthetic form of THC (tetrahydrocannabiol), the active ingredient of marijuana. This US-made product is expensive – 10 capsules cost 86 euros (£60) – and is not yet approved for Parkinson’s. It has so far been tested only on AIDS and MS patients.

Nonetheless, my sister has started to show spectacular results. She now has clarity of mind, she can turn around in bed by herself and doesn’t have to wake her husband to help her get out of bed. Her stiffness has gone and she is no longer an invalid…”

http://www.wddty.com/marijuana-is-helping-to-treat-parkinson-s.html

Marijuana-Like Compounds May Aid Array Of Debiliatiing Conditions Ranging From Parkinson’s Disease To Pain

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“Oct. 27, 2004 — No longer a pipe dream, new animal research now indicates that marijuana-like compounds can aid a bevy of debilitating conditions, ranging from brain disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease, to pain and obesity.

Research from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco points to the promise of marijuana-like treatments for those with the fatal brain disorder ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Our research indicates that select marijuana compounds, including THC, significantly slow the disease process and extend the life of mice with ALS,” says study author Mary Abood, PhD.

The study extends earlier work from Abood’s group that found that THC also can alleviate some ALS symptoms, like muscle spasms, in patients.

ALS wreaks its havoc by harming nerve cells that control muscles. As a consequence of the damage, an estimated 5,000 Americans afflicted annually experience progressive muscle weakness that can hinder movement, speech, even swallowing and breathing. New treatments for ALS are desperately needed…

“For the first time, our research shows the neuroprotective value of marijuana-like compounds in a well-established animal model of Parkinson’s disease,” says study author Andrea Giuffrida, PhD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Parkinson’s afflicts some 1 million Americans. Symptoms include slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and shaky tremors, which can harm a person’s ability to walk, talk, write, and eat. This havoc results from the death or injury of brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine.

“There are therapies that can help replenish depleted levels of dopamine and provide symptomatic relief, but none can reverse, prevent, or delay the progression of Parkinson’s disease,” says Giuffrida. “Our research shows that marijuana-like compounds may be able to answer this need.””

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041027102621.htm

 

Smoked cannabis proven effective in treating neuropathic pain.

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UC San Diego Health

“Smoked cannabis eased pain induced in healthy volunteers, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR.) However, the researchers found that less may be more.”

“The results, showing a medium-dose (4% THC by weight) of cannabis to be an effective analgesic, converged with results from the CMCR’s first published study, a paper by UCSF researcher Donald Abrams, M.D. published in the journal Neurology in February 2007. In that randomized placebo-controlled trial, patients smoking the same dose of cannabis experienced a 34% reduction in HIV-associated sensory neuropathy pain—twice the rate experienced by patients receiving a placebo.”

““This study helps to build a case that cannabis does have therapeutic value at a medium-dose level,” said Grant. “It also suggests that higher doses aren’t necessarily better in certain situations – something also observed with other medications, such as antidepressants.””

Read more: http://phys.org/news112456382.html

“Smoked Cannabis Proven Effective In Treating Neuropathic Pain”  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024141745.htm

“Smoked cannabis proven effective in treating neuropathic pain”  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2007-10-cannabis-proven-effective-neuropathic-pain.html

“Smoked Cannabis Proven Effective in Treating Neuropathic Pain”  https://health.ucsd.edu/news/2007/pages/10-24-medical-cannabis.aspx

Marijuana May Be Effective For Neuropathic Pain.

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“The growing body of evidence that marijuana (cannabis) may be effective as a pain reliever has been expanded with publication of a new study in The Journal of Pain reporting that patients with nerve pain showed reduced pain intensity from smoking marijuana.

Researchers at University of California Davis examined whether marijuana produces analgesia for patients with neuropathic pain. Thirty-eight patients were examined. They were given either high-dose (7%), low-dose (3.5%) or placebo cannabis.

The authors reported that identical levels of analgesia were produced at each cumulative dose level by both concentrations of the agent. As with opioids, cannabis does not rely on a relaxing or tranquilizing effect, but reduces the core component of nociception and the emotional aspect of the pain experience to an equal degree. There were undesirable consequences observed from cannabis smoking, such as feeing high or impaired, but they did not inhibit tolerability or cause anyone to withdraw from the study. In general, side effects and mood changes were inconsequential.

It was noted by the authors that since high and low dose cannabis produced equal analgesic efficacy, a case could be made for testing lower concentrations to determine if the analgesic profile can be maintained while reducing potential cognitive decline.

In addition, the authors said further research could probe whether adding the lowest effective dose of cannabis to another analgesic drug might lead to more effective neuropathic pain treatment for patients who otherwise are treatment-resistant.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626150628.htm

Marijuana Eases Chronic Pain, Researchers Say – ABC News

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“Smoking marijuana modestly reduced pain and other symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain, results of a small trial showed.

The most potent dose used reduced average daily pain scores by 0.7 points on an 11-point scale, according to Mark A. Ware of McGill University in Montreal, Canada and colleagues.

Those who smoked weed with 9.4 percent of the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) also reported sleeping better, the researchers reported online in CMAJ.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/smoking-marijuana-ease-chronic-pain-researchers/story?id=11515566

Marijuana may relieve nerve pain when other drugs don’t – USAToday

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“Smoking cannabis, also known as marijuana, reduced pain in patients with nerve pain stemming from injuries or surgical complications, new research shows.

Twenty-one adults with chronic nerve pain were taught to take a single inhalation of 25 milligrams of cannabis through a pipe, three times a day, for five days. The cannabis contained one of three levels of potency of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, as well as a placebo dosage containing no THC.

All of the patients rotated through each of the four dosages, with nine days of no smoking in between.

Patients smoking the highest potency marijuana (9.4%) reported less pain than those smoking samples containing no THC. Patients also reported better sleep and less anxiety, according to the Canadian study. 

On an 11-point scale, the average daily pain intensity was 6.1 for those smoking 9.4% THC concentration, compared to 5.4 for those smoking cannabis containing no THC.

“Patients have repeatedly made claims that smoked cannabis helps to treat pain, but the issue for me had always been the lack of clinical research to support that claim,” said Dr. Mark Ware, director of clinical research at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. In this small but randomized, controlled trial, “the pain reductions were modest, but significant,” he said. “And it was in people for whom nothing else worked.”

Read more: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/2010-09-05-marijuana-pain_N.htm

Medicinal Marijuana Eases Neuropathic Pain in HIV – ABC News

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“(HealthDay News) — Medicinal marijuana helps relieve neuropathic pain in people with HIV, says a University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine study.

It included 28 HIV patients with neuropathic pain that wasn’t adequately controlled by opiates or other pain relievers. The researchers found that 46 percent of patients who smoked medicinal marijuana reported clinically meaningful pain relief, compared with 18 percent of those who smoked a placebo.

The study, published online Aug. 6 in Neuropsychopharmacology, was sponsored by the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR).

“Neuropathy is a chronic and significant problem in HIV patients as there are few existing treatments that offer adequate pain management to sufferers,” study leader Dr. Ronald J. Ellis, an associate professor of neurosciences, said in an UCSD news release. “We found that smoked cannabis was generally well-tolerated and effective when added to the patient’s existing pain medication, resulting in increased pain relief.”

The findings are consistent with and extend other recent CMCR-sponsored research supporting the short-term effectiveness of medicinal marijuana in treating neuropathic pain.

“This study adds to a growing body of evidence that indicates that cannabis is effective, in the short-term at least, in the management of neuropathic pain,” Dr. Igor Grant, a professor of psychiatry and director of the CMCR, said in the UCSD news release.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5528635&page=1