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05-13-2012, 12:31 PM
Does Cannabis help with Parkinson's?
Answer: Improve YES,
Nearly half of Parkinson's disease patients who
have tried marijuana say the drug helped relieve their symptoms, according
to a survey of patients with the degenerative neurological disorder.
Dr. Evzin Ruzicka, an attending neurologist at Charles University in Prague
in the Czech Republic, reported the findings here at the Movement Disorders
Society's Seventh International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and
Movement Disorders. Ruzicka is also a consultant at the Prague Movement
Disorders Center.
"It's difficult to directly study the medical effects of cannabis in the
Czech Republic, where we conducted our research, because of its illegal
status," Ruzicka told Reuters Health. "Therefore, we had to conduct
anonymous surveys. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the
effect of cannabis on Parkinson's disease, and our findings suggest it may
alleviate some symptoms."
Ruzicka and his colleagues chose to investigate marijuana's effects on
Parkinson's disease after hearing from several patients that they had tried
the drug and it had helped them.
The investigators asked all patients who were treated for Parkinson's
disease at their center to complete a questionnaire that asked about
cannabis use and about several Parkinson's disease symptoms, including
overall symptoms; tremor while at rest; bradykinesia, or slow movement;
muscle rigidity; and dyskinesias, or involuntary movements. Dyskinesias are
caused by levodopa, the mainstay medication in Parkinson's treatment.
Among the 630 patients to whom the investigators sent questionnaires, 339
(54%) returned them. The responders' average age was about 66, and they had
had Parkinson's disease for an average of roughly 9 years. Among the
responders, 25% reported that they had used cannabis. Most had used it
orally, either as fresh or dried leaves.
Within this group, 39 patients (46%) reported that their Parkinson's
disease symptoms in general were relieved after they started using
cannabis. In terms of specific symptoms, 26 (31%) reported an improvement
in tremor while at rest, and 38 (45%) experienced a relief of bradykinesia.
Relief of muscle rigidity was reported by 32 (38%), and 12 (14%) said they
had an improvement in levodopa-induced dyskinesias.
The respondents reported that the improvement in symptoms occurred an
average of 1.7 months after they had started using cannabis. Patients who
used it for at least three months were more likely to experience symptom
relief than those with shorter experience, the investigators reported.
This delay between the beginning of cannabis use and the relief of symptoms
made it unlikely that the respondents were having a placebo effect, Ruzicka
said. A placebo effect can occur when the individual taking a treatment
experiences a benefit even if the "treatment," such as a sugar pill,
contains no active ingredients.
They found no relationship between the length of cannabis use and the
effect on involuntary movements. However, daily marijuana users reported
more improvement in their dyskinesias than those using it less often.
The investigators speculated that the effect of cannabis on Parkinson's
disease symptoms may be due to interaction among cannabis, certain brain
receptors that respond to cannabis and endogenous cannabinoids or
cannabis-like substances within the body.
He and colleagues plan to investigate a relationship between cannabis use
and relief of Parkinson's disease symptoms by collaborating in further
studies with investigators in the United Kingdom, Ruzicka told Reuters Health.
Read more: http://wiki.answers....e#ixzz1umRR3dgN
![[Image: pg-26-Cannabis-EPA.jpeg]](http://www.independent.co.uk/migration_catalog/article5155064.ece/ALTERNATES/w380/pg-26-Cannabis-EPA.jpeg)
Parkinsons Disease and the THCV in cannabis.
New British and Spanish research on one of cannabis cannabinoids show its great potential for treating Parkinsons disease. The cannabinoid is the lesser known but hugely interesting THCV, aka Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin. The molecule is present to varying decrees in different strains of cannabis, from trace amounts to a hefty proportion.
Unlike your own bodys cannabinoid anandamide, or its phyto(plant based)-cannabinoid cousin, THC, THCV does not activate CB1 receptors in your endocannbinoid regulatory system. Activation of these CB1 receptors, found mainly on nerve cells, is responsible for most of THCs psychoactive effects and medical benefits. THC also activates CB2 receptors, found more on immune cells and thought responsible for some of cannabis beneficial effects on some autoimmune disorders. Like THC, THCV also binds with and activates these CB2 receptors. Like THC, THCV is a powerful antioxidant, capable of sopping up cell-killing free radicals. Unlike THC, THCV does not activate CB1 receptors. Instead, it blocks (serves as an antagonist to) the activation of the CB1 system. It may play a major role in future treatments of cardiometabolic diseases and obesity.
Posted by Don Fitch under anandamide, cannabinoids, phytocannabinoids
Parkinsons disease
Spanish and British researchers investigated the effects of Delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) in an animal model of Parkinsons
disease. They concluded that given its antioxidant properties and
its ability to activate CB2 but to block CB1 receptors, Delta-9-THCV
has a promising pharmacological profile for delaying disease
progression in PD and also for ameliorating parkinsonian symptoms.
(Source: Garca C, et al. Br J Pharmacol. 2011 Feb 16. [in press]).
What is THCv?
![[Image: thcv_image.jpg]](http://buymarijuanaseeds.com/sites/default/files/styles/blog/public/blog_images/thcv_image.jpg)
Tetrahydrocannabivarin abbreviated in THCv is a cannabinoid substance that occurs in the plant known to the scientific community as Cannabis Sativa, from which marijuana is made. THCv originally grew in Central Asia and on the Indian Subcontinent, where it may have been a component in the drug known as soma; an archeologist discovered traces of it in a Zoroastrian temple. (The drug of the same name in "Brave New World" is quite different.) Then, as now, the medicinal potential of cannabis was was widely recognized.
THCV is what scientists call a CB1 receptor antagonist that is, it inhibits the release of the psychoactive THC, which is a partial agonist on the CB1 and CB2 receptors on the central nervous and immune systems respectively. CB1 contributes to certain types of hypotension and also plays a role in pain transmission. CB2 appears to have a part in the functions of white blood cells.
Another cannabinoid substance, called THCa (trans- 4- hydroxycrotonic acid), is commonly used for scientific research. Its molecular structure is considerably less complex than that of THCv. Raw cannabis consists primarily of this ingredient, which, like THCv, is being promoted for its medicinal properties: Some research has shown can be used to treat cancer by inhibiting the growth of tumorous cells. It can also be used as an antispasmodic. THCa is known, in fact, to be responsible for both the good and the bad effects that marihuana has on people-- it gives the drug its medicinawl value, but also causes its intense high. Both compounds are non- psychoactive. Hemp does not produce THCa.
THCV is what scientists call a CB1 receptor antagonist that is, it inhibits the release of the psychoactive THC, which is a partial agonist on the CB1 and CB2 receptors on the central nervous and immune systems respectively. CB1 contributes to certain types of hypotension and also plays a role in pain transmission. CB2 appears to have a part in the functions of white blood cells.
Another cannabinoid substance, called THCa (trans- 4- hydroxycrotonic acid), is commonly used for scientific research. Its molecular structure is considerably less complex than that of THCv. Raw cannabis consists primarily of this ingredient, which, like THCv, is being promoted for its medicinal properties: Some research has shown can be used to treat cancer by inhibiting the growth of tumorous cells. It can also be used as an antispasmodic. THCa is known, in fact, to be responsible for both the good and the bad effects that marihuana has on people-- it gives the drug its medicinawl value, but also causes its intense high. Both compounds are non- psychoactive. Hemp does not produce THCa.
My link
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."
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.
But Kreitzer and Malenka cautioned that their findings don't mean smoking marijuana could be therapeutic for Parkinson's disease.
This work was supported by a Ruth L. Kirchenstein Fellowship, the National Institutes of Health and the National Parkinson Foundation. Neither researcher has financial ties to Kadmus Pharmaceuticals.
Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu/.
Answer: Improve YES,
Nearly half of Parkinson's disease patients who
have tried marijuana say the drug helped relieve their symptoms, according
to a survey of patients with the degenerative neurological disorder.
Dr. Evzin Ruzicka, an attending neurologist at Charles University in Prague
in the Czech Republic, reported the findings here at the Movement Disorders
Society's Seventh International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and
Movement Disorders. Ruzicka is also a consultant at the Prague Movement
Disorders Center.
"It's difficult to directly study the medical effects of cannabis in the
Czech Republic, where we conducted our research, because of its illegal
status," Ruzicka told Reuters Health. "Therefore, we had to conduct
anonymous surveys. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the
effect of cannabis on Parkinson's disease, and our findings suggest it may
alleviate some symptoms."
Ruzicka and his colleagues chose to investigate marijuana's effects on
Parkinson's disease after hearing from several patients that they had tried
the drug and it had helped them.
The investigators asked all patients who were treated for Parkinson's
disease at their center to complete a questionnaire that asked about
cannabis use and about several Parkinson's disease symptoms, including
overall symptoms; tremor while at rest; bradykinesia, or slow movement;
muscle rigidity; and dyskinesias, or involuntary movements. Dyskinesias are
caused by levodopa, the mainstay medication in Parkinson's treatment.
Among the 630 patients to whom the investigators sent questionnaires, 339
(54%) returned them. The responders' average age was about 66, and they had
had Parkinson's disease for an average of roughly 9 years. Among the
responders, 25% reported that they had used cannabis. Most had used it
orally, either as fresh or dried leaves.
Within this group, 39 patients (46%) reported that their Parkinson's
disease symptoms in general were relieved after they started using
cannabis. In terms of specific symptoms, 26 (31%) reported an improvement
in tremor while at rest, and 38 (45%) experienced a relief of bradykinesia.
Relief of muscle rigidity was reported by 32 (38%), and 12 (14%) said they
had an improvement in levodopa-induced dyskinesias.
The respondents reported that the improvement in symptoms occurred an
average of 1.7 months after they had started using cannabis. Patients who
used it for at least three months were more likely to experience symptom
relief than those with shorter experience, the investigators reported.
This delay between the beginning of cannabis use and the relief of symptoms
made it unlikely that the respondents were having a placebo effect, Ruzicka
said. A placebo effect can occur when the individual taking a treatment
experiences a benefit even if the "treatment," such as a sugar pill,
contains no active ingredients.
They found no relationship between the length of cannabis use and the
effect on involuntary movements. However, daily marijuana users reported
more improvement in their dyskinesias than those using it less often.
The investigators speculated that the effect of cannabis on Parkinson's
disease symptoms may be due to interaction among cannabis, certain brain
receptors that respond to cannabis and endogenous cannabinoids or
cannabis-like substances within the body.
He and colleagues plan to investigate a relationship between cannabis use
and relief of Parkinson's disease symptoms by collaborating in further
studies with investigators in the United Kingdom, Ruzicka told Reuters Health.
Read more: http://wiki.answers....e#ixzz1umRR3dgN
Parkinsons Disease and the THCV in cannabis.
New British and Spanish research on one of cannabis cannabinoids show its great potential for treating Parkinsons disease. The cannabinoid is the lesser known but hugely interesting THCV, aka Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin. The molecule is present to varying decrees in different strains of cannabis, from trace amounts to a hefty proportion.
Unlike your own bodys cannabinoid anandamide, or its phyto(plant based)-cannabinoid cousin, THC, THCV does not activate CB1 receptors in your endocannbinoid regulatory system. Activation of these CB1 receptors, found mainly on nerve cells, is responsible for most of THCs psychoactive effects and medical benefits. THC also activates CB2 receptors, found more on immune cells and thought responsible for some of cannabis beneficial effects on some autoimmune disorders. Like THC, THCV also binds with and activates these CB2 receptors. Like THC, THCV is a powerful antioxidant, capable of sopping up cell-killing free radicals. Unlike THC, THCV does not activate CB1 receptors. Instead, it blocks (serves as an antagonist to) the activation of the CB1 system. It may play a major role in future treatments of cardiometabolic diseases and obesity.
Posted by Don Fitch under anandamide, cannabinoids, phytocannabinoids
Parkinsons disease
Spanish and British researchers investigated the effects of Delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) in an animal model of Parkinsons
disease. They concluded that given its antioxidant properties and
its ability to activate CB2 but to block CB1 receptors, Delta-9-THCV
has a promising pharmacological profile for delaying disease
progression in PD and also for ameliorating parkinsonian symptoms.
(Source: Garca C, et al. Br J Pharmacol. 2011 Feb 16. [in press]).
What is THCv?
Tetrahydrocannabivarin abbreviated in THCv is a cannabinoid substance that occurs in the plant known to the scientific community as Cannabis Sativa, from which marijuana is made. THCv originally grew in Central Asia and on the Indian Subcontinent, where it may have been a component in the drug known as soma; an archeologist discovered traces of it in a Zoroastrian temple. (The drug of the same name in "Brave New World" is quite different.) Then, as now, the medicinal potential of cannabis was was widely recognized.
THCV is what scientists call a CB1 receptor antagonist that is, it inhibits the release of the psychoactive THC, which is a partial agonist on the CB1 and CB2 receptors on the central nervous and immune systems respectively. CB1 contributes to certain types of hypotension and also plays a role in pain transmission. CB2 appears to have a part in the functions of white blood cells.
Another cannabinoid substance, called THCa (trans- 4- hydroxycrotonic acid), is commonly used for scientific research. Its molecular structure is considerably less complex than that of THCv. Raw cannabis consists primarily of this ingredient, which, like THCv, is being promoted for its medicinal properties: Some research has shown can be used to treat cancer by inhibiting the growth of tumorous cells. It can also be used as an antispasmodic. THCa is known, in fact, to be responsible for both the good and the bad effects that marihuana has on people-- it gives the drug its medicinawl value, but also causes its intense high. Both compounds are non- psychoactive. Hemp does not produce THCa.
THCV is what scientists call a CB1 receptor antagonist that is, it inhibits the release of the psychoactive THC, which is a partial agonist on the CB1 and CB2 receptors on the central nervous and immune systems respectively. CB1 contributes to certain types of hypotension and also plays a role in pain transmission. CB2 appears to have a part in the functions of white blood cells.
Another cannabinoid substance, called THCa (trans- 4- hydroxycrotonic acid), is commonly used for scientific research. Its molecular structure is considerably less complex than that of THCv. Raw cannabis consists primarily of this ingredient, which, like THCv, is being promoted for its medicinal properties: Some research has shown can be used to treat cancer by inhibiting the growth of tumorous cells. It can also be used as an antispasmodic. THCa is known, in fact, to be responsible for both the good and the bad effects that marihuana has on people-- it gives the drug its medicinawl value, but also causes its intense high. Both compounds are non- psychoactive. Hemp does not produce THCa.
My link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvHTSAGqxXQ
Cannabis Use, Effect And Potential Therapy For Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinson's
ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2007) Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe. Its use increased in almost all EU countries during the 1990s, in particular among young people, including school students. Cannabis use is highest among 15- to 24-year-olds, with lifetime prevalence ranging for most countries from 20--40% (EMCDDA 2006)
Recently there has been a new surge in the level of concern about potential social and health outcomes of cannabis use, although the available evidence still does not provide a clear-cut understanding of the issues. Intensive cannabis use is correlated with non-drug-specific mental problems, but the question of co-morbidity is intertwined with the questions of cause and effect (EMCDDA 2006). Prevention is of importance in adolescents, which is underlined by evidence that early-onset cannabis-users (pre- to mid-adolescence) have a significantly higher risk of developing drug problems, including dependence (Von Sydow et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2005).
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 (Panikashvili et al., 2001; Pachter et al., 2006).
Cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are supposed to represent a medicinal treasure trove which waits to be discovered.
Raphael Mechoulam will tell the discovery story of the endocannabinoid system. His research has not only helped us to advance our understanding of cannabis use and its effects, but has also made key contributions with regard to understanding "neuroprotection," and has opened the door for the development of new drugs.
My link
Cannabis Use, Effect And Potential Therapy For Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinson's
ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2007) Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe. Its use increased in almost all EU countries during the 1990s, in particular among young people, including school students. Cannabis use is highest among 15- to 24-year-olds, with lifetime prevalence ranging for most countries from 20--40% (EMCDDA 2006)
Recently there has been a new surge in the level of concern about potential social and health outcomes of cannabis use, although the available evidence still does not provide a clear-cut understanding of the issues. Intensive cannabis use is correlated with non-drug-specific mental problems, but the question of co-morbidity is intertwined with the questions of cause and effect (EMCDDA 2006). Prevention is of importance in adolescents, which is underlined by evidence that early-onset cannabis-users (pre- to mid-adolescence) have a significantly higher risk of developing drug problems, including dependence (Von Sydow et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2005).
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 (Panikashvili et al., 2001; Pachter et al., 2006).
Cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are supposed to represent a medicinal treasure trove which waits to be discovered.
Raphael Mechoulam will tell the discovery story of the endocannabinoid system. His research has not only helped us to advance our understanding of cannabis use and its effects, but has also made key contributions with regard to understanding "neuroprotection," and has opened the door for the development of new drugs.
My link
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."
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.
But Kreitzer and Malenka cautioned that their findings don't mean smoking marijuana could be therapeutic for Parkinson's disease.
This work was supported by a Ruth L. Kirchenstein Fellowship, the National Institutes of Health and the National Parkinson Foundation. Neither researcher has financial ties to Kadmus Pharmaceuticals.
Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu/.