Tag Archives: therapy

Symptomatic therapy in multiple sclerosis: the role of cannabinoids in treating spasticity

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“Anecdotal evidence suggests a beneficial effect of cannabis on spasticity as well as pain. Recently, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have confirmed the clinical efficacy of cannabinoids for the treatment of spasticity in patients with MS. Based on these data, nabiximols (Sativex), a 1:1 mix of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol extracted from cloned Cannabis sativa chemovars, received approval for treating MS-related spasticity in various countries around the globe. In this article we review the current understanding of cannabinoid biology and the value of cannabinoids as a symptomatic treatment option addressing spasticity in patients with MS.

Based on individual case reports, the consumption of plant parts, specifically, the resin of the Cannabis sativa hemp plant, has, for years, been attributed to the capacity to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), such as spasticity, neuropathic pain, tremor, and disturbed bladder function. As characterization of the endocannabinoid system and its role in the motor system and pain processing continue to advance, there is increasing evidence of a scientific basis for the postulated therapeutic effect of cannabis derivatives.

The oromucosal administration of THC and CBD in a 1:1 ratio has proven to be a well tolerated therapeutic option for treating spasticity in patients with MS who respond poorly to conventional antispastic drugs. Assessment of the efficacy is limited by the fact that spasticity as a symptom is very difficult to measure reliably, objectively, and validly. Current study data support the position that the beneficial effects of nabiximols on subjective and objective endpoints in a selected patient sample outweigh the adverse pharmaceutical effects. The effects of long-term nabiximols treatment on neuropsychological processes and the structure of the endocannabinoid system need to be further characterized.”

Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437528/

Endocannabinoid system modulator use in everyday clinical practice in the UK and Spain.

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“Spasticity is a disabling complication of multiple sclerosis. Some commonly used oral medications include baclofen, tizanidine, anticonvulsants and benzodiazepines, but their benefits are modest.

Sativex(®) (GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, Porton Down, UK; Laboratorios Almirall, SA, Barcelona, Spain) is a unique cannabinoid-based medicine with two main active ingredients; 9-δ-tetrahydrocannabinol, which acts mainly on cannabinoid 1 receptors in the CNS and plays a key role in the modulation of spasticity and spasms, and cannabidiol, which has different properties, including minimization of the psychoactivity associated with 9-δ-tetrahydrocannabinol. Sativex is indicated for symptomatic improvement in adult patients with moderate-to-severe multiple sclerosis-related spasticity who have not responded adequately to other first- or second-line antispasticity medications, and who demonstrate clinically significant improvement in spasticity-related symptoms during an initial trial of therapy.

Over the past couple of years, Sativex has been approved for use in a number of European countries and ongoing postmarketing studies are evaluating the possible risks associated with Sativex treatment by systematically collecting all suspected adverse reactions that occur in patients from the start of treatment. Interim data from the UK as well as Spanish Sativex safety registries confirm that clinical benefit is maintained over the longer term despite the expected trend for deterioration owing to disease progression.

 Even after more than 2 years of use, no new safety/tolerability signals have emerged with Sativex, including no evidence of driving impairment and no relevant incidence of falls or other adverse events of concern, such as psychiatric or nervous system events.

Sativex appears to be a well-tolerated and useful add-on therapy in patients who have not achieved an adequate response with traditional antispastic agents.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23369054

Medical cannabis relieves sufferers of chronic ailments

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“Treatment can improve appetite, ease chronic pain, and more, say TAU researchers. Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more. The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia where other common medications fail.”

More: http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/news/medical-cannabis-relieves-sufferers-of-chronic-ailments/18330

Medical Cannabis Provides Dramatic Relief for Sufferers of Chronic Ailments, Israeli Study Finds

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“Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more. The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia where other common medications fail.”

 

“Overall, Klein believes that the healing powers of cannabis are close to miraculous, and has long supported an overhaul in governmental policy…”

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130124123453.htm

Dronabinol for supportive therapy in patients with malignant melanoma and liver metastases.

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“Loss of appetite and nausea can reduce the quality of life of patients with malignant melanoma and liver metastases. Often established antiemetic drugs fail to bring relief. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol), which is the active agent of Indian hemp, has been used successfully in this situation for other malignant tumors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

We treated 7 patients with hematogenous metastatic melanoma and liver metastases suffering from extensive loss of appetite and nausea supportively with dronabinol (Marinol. All of these patients had previously received standard antiemetic therapy without adequate relief. Dronabinol is a synthetic Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol. The drug was administered in capsule form. We evaluated the palliative effects of dronabinol with a special patient evaluation form, which was filled out at the beginning of the therapy and again after 4 weeks.

RESULTS:

The majority of patients described a significant increase in appetite and decrease in nausea. These effects remained for some weeks, but then decreased as metastases progressed and the general condition worsened. All of the patients experienced slight to moderate dizziness, but it was not sufficiently troubling to cause interruption or termination of therapy.

CONCLUSION:

Loss of appetite and nausea due to liver metastases of malignant melanoma can be treated in individual cases supportively with Dronabinol.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16408219

Peripheral Cannabinoids Attenuate Carcinoma Induced Nociception in Mice

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“Cancer pain remains poorly understood and there are no effective therapies…

 We tested whether a local CBr2 agonist produces antinociception. Our findings suggest that a peripheral CBr2 agonist could provide relief for cancer patients. Cannabinoids also potentiate the analgesic effects of morphine and prevent tolerance.

These desirable effects of cannabinoids show promise for management of cancer pain and may lead to improved analgesic therapy.

These findings support the suggestion that cannabinoids are capable of producing antinociception in carcinoma-induced pain.”

Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771220/

Cannabidiol bioavailability after nasal and transdermal application: effect of permeation enhancers.

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“The nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), has great potential for the treatment of chronic and ‘breakthrough’ pain that may occur in certain conditions like cancer. To fulfill this goal, suitable noninvasive drug delivery systems need to be developed for CBD. Chronic pain relief can be best achieved through the transdermal route, whereas ‘breakthrough’ pain can be best alleviated with intranasal (IN) delivery. Combining IN and transdermal delivery for CBD may serve to provide patient needs-driven treatment in the form of a nonaddictive nonopioid therapy.

CONCLUSION:

The results of this study indicated that CBD could be successfully delivered through the IN and transdermal routes.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20545522

Medical cannabis eases pain, improves appetite

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“Medical Cannabis treatment can improve appetite, ease chronic pain, and more, researchers say.

Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more.

The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia where other common medications fail.”

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-25/health/36547301_1_medical-cannabis-chronic-pain-muscle-spasms

Medical cannabis can improve appetite, ease chronic pain, say researchers

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“Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more. The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia  where other common medications fail.

In 2009, Zach Klein, a graduate of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Film and Television Studies, directed the documentary Prescribed Grass. Through the process, he developed an interest in the scientific research behind medical marijuana, and now, as a specialist in policy-making surrounding medical cannabis and an MA student at TAU’s Porter School of Environmental Studies, he is conducting his own research into the benefits of medical cannabis.

Using marijuana from a farm called Tikkun Olam – a reference to the Jewish concept of healing the world – Klein and his fellow researchers tested the impact of the treatment on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel. The results, Klein says, have been outstanding. Not only did participants experience dramatic physical results, including healthy weight gain and the reduction of pain and tremors, but Hadarim staff saw an immediate improvement in the participants’ moods and communication skills. The use of chronic medications was also significantly reduced, he reports.”

Read more: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130125/Medical-cannabis-can-improve-appetite-ease-chronic-pain-say-researchers.aspx

Medical Marijuana Is Safe for Children

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“Numerous cases show clinical cannabis is effective on illnesses in children”

By  William Courtney, M.D. is CEO of Cannabis International.

“The courage and fortitude of parents who have chosen cannabis compounds to treat their children facing life-threatening illness have raised eyebrows. Some live in terror that their government will take their child away, since medical marijuana is only legal in some states. However, there are numerous cases demonstrating the benefits of clinical cannabis, which happen to threaten a very profitable healthcare industry that relies on conventional drugs, as well as political agendas.

The cannabinoid acids in cannabis have been found to have anti-proliferative, anti-neoplastic, anti-inflammatory, anti-epileptic, anti-ischemic, anti-diabetic, anti-psychotic, anti-nausea, anti-spasmodic, antibiotic, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant functions. The anti-neoplastic action of cannabis—inhibiting development of malignant cells—was recognized in the 1970s and patented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2003.

Out of 7,000 patients, my youngest, an 8-month-old, was diagnosed with a massive midbrain tumor. Pediatric oncologists recommended chemotherapy and radiation. Instead, the parents applied a cannabinoid concentrate to their son’s pacifier twice a day, which resulted in a significant reduction in the size of the tumor in 30 days. The response prevented a million-dollar chemo-radiation hospitalization. The child’s oncologist calls the infant a ‘miracle baby,’ but most medical experts would discount the case as anecdotal, unacceptable in a peer-reviewed journal. But the real peers are other parents reluctant to consent to the devastation of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation—not those benefiting from the $2.6 trillion healthcare industry.

A 2-year-old spent a year in a pediatric oncology ward, endured 39 hours of brain surgery, received chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and radiation under general anesthesia for 42 days, only to be discharged home on hospice and morphine. The child’s local pediatrician started to treat her with juiced raw cannabis leaf. Two years later, she is still alive, now free of cancer and scar tissue.

A 6-year-old patient with a severe, intractable form of childhood epilepsy, was tried on 11 anti-epileptics, including experimental European drugs. He was finally placed on a drug commonly used to prevent seizures, but continued having 300-400 seizures a day. An ointment produced from cannabis with an increased amount of cannabidiol, a compound patented by HHS, has reduced his seizures to one every 3-4 days.

Several years ago, I proposed that cannabis be recognized as an essential nutrient in the diet of individuals in their 30s and older. Children were excluded out of fear of backlash but it is now my incontrovertible opinion that the immune system of the 8-month-old would never have allowed the tumor to gain a foothold if supported with dietary cannabis, or Vitamin F.

We know Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy and Vitamin D deficiency results in rickets. Vitamin F, the previous label for Omega-3 and -6 essential fatty acids, is an appropriate appellation for the cannabinoid acids found in cannabis. Vitamin F deficiency allows the cell proliferation found in tumors and cancer. Three studies of over 24,000 children have shown no adverse effects from use of cannabis in pregnancy.

There is no other area in medicine where the heavy hand of federal funding and political agenda compromise valid and reproducible findings to this extent. To advance disease prevention and benign therapy, we must re-examine our preconceptions.”

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/01/07/medical-marijuana-is-safe-for-children