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12-09-2014, 09:45 AM
Therapeutic Cannabis and Depression
December 9, 2014
By Becky DeKeuster
In 1621, British clergyman Robert Burton recommended a variety of treatments for depression (what he then referred to as the Chaos of Melancholy) in his book The Anatomy of Melancholy, including prayer, good company, exercise and various tinctures and herbs including marijuana.
Today, when faced with the myriad symptoms of a depressive episode, patients and their physicians are more likely to turn to a plethora of prescription pills.
Pharmaceuticals are undoubtedly helpful for many patients. However, each comes with its own list of side effects including nightmares, fatigue, dizziness, irritability, even sexual dysfunction. Additionally, pharmaceutical treatments carry varying levels of risk for addiction and liver or kidney toxicity.
However, the expansion of access to regulated medical cannabis in the U.S. provides millions of patients an alternative to what we have come to think of as traditional pharmaceutical treatments. Almost 400 years after Burton recommended it, patients and health care providers are again turning to marijuana as a natural alternative to pharmaceutical antidepressants, and part of a holistic approach to mental health care.
In 1988, researchers discovered a complex receptor system in humans, the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are found throughout our bodies, and interact both with the active compounds in the cannabis plant and with analogues of these compounds which our bodies produce naturally. We know that in our brains, these receptors play an important role in modulating mood and emotion, including both anxiety and depression. Genetically engineered mice whose CB1 receptors have been knocked out may soon be used as models in preclinical studies of depression. Furthermore, the scarcity of cannabinoid receptors in the brain stem means that lethal overdose is essentially impossible with marijuana.
Can I use cannabis for depression in Maine?
It is important to remember that depression itself is not a qualifying condition for the medical use of marijuana in Maine. Maine recently added Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to our list of qualifying conditions; in the summer of 2014, the Wellness Connection of Maine surveyed 526 of our members, and nearly 25 percent of respondents listed PTSD as one of their qualifying conditions.
The same survey asked members if they had also found that their cannabis use for a qualifying condition also helped them with another condition that is not currently approved in Maine. 19.6 percent of respondents agreed that it had, and depression was among the most frequently listed of these conditions. Because depression so often accompanies serious illness, we frequently hear anecdotal evidence that patients who use cannabis for a qualifying ailment also find that it improves their co-morbid depression.
But doesnt cannabis cause depression?
There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana use alone causes depression. This does not preclude the existence of competing studies and various interpretations of data on the part of the scientific community. Dr. Daniel Hall-Flavin of the Mayo Clinic summarizes the topic thus: Marijuana use and depression accompany each other more often than you might expect by chance, but theres no clear evidence that marijuana directly causes depression. In other words, correlation does not prove causation.
Some of the correlation may be due to,........................
http://cannabistoday.bangordailynews.com...epression/
December 9, 2014
By Becky DeKeuster
In 1621, British clergyman Robert Burton recommended a variety of treatments for depression (what he then referred to as the Chaos of Melancholy) in his book The Anatomy of Melancholy, including prayer, good company, exercise and various tinctures and herbs including marijuana.
Today, when faced with the myriad symptoms of a depressive episode, patients and their physicians are more likely to turn to a plethora of prescription pills.
Pharmaceuticals are undoubtedly helpful for many patients. However, each comes with its own list of side effects including nightmares, fatigue, dizziness, irritability, even sexual dysfunction. Additionally, pharmaceutical treatments carry varying levels of risk for addiction and liver or kidney toxicity.
However, the expansion of access to regulated medical cannabis in the U.S. provides millions of patients an alternative to what we have come to think of as traditional pharmaceutical treatments. Almost 400 years after Burton recommended it, patients and health care providers are again turning to marijuana as a natural alternative to pharmaceutical antidepressants, and part of a holistic approach to mental health care.
In 1988, researchers discovered a complex receptor system in humans, the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are found throughout our bodies, and interact both with the active compounds in the cannabis plant and with analogues of these compounds which our bodies produce naturally. We know that in our brains, these receptors play an important role in modulating mood and emotion, including both anxiety and depression. Genetically engineered mice whose CB1 receptors have been knocked out may soon be used as models in preclinical studies of depression. Furthermore, the scarcity of cannabinoid receptors in the brain stem means that lethal overdose is essentially impossible with marijuana.
Can I use cannabis for depression in Maine?
It is important to remember that depression itself is not a qualifying condition for the medical use of marijuana in Maine. Maine recently added Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to our list of qualifying conditions; in the summer of 2014, the Wellness Connection of Maine surveyed 526 of our members, and nearly 25 percent of respondents listed PTSD as one of their qualifying conditions.
The same survey asked members if they had also found that their cannabis use for a qualifying condition also helped them with another condition that is not currently approved in Maine. 19.6 percent of respondents agreed that it had, and depression was among the most frequently listed of these conditions. Because depression so often accompanies serious illness, we frequently hear anecdotal evidence that patients who use cannabis for a qualifying ailment also find that it improves their co-morbid depression.
But doesnt cannabis cause depression?
There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana use alone causes depression. This does not preclude the existence of competing studies and various interpretations of data on the part of the scientific community. Dr. Daniel Hall-Flavin of the Mayo Clinic summarizes the topic thus: Marijuana use and depression accompany each other more often than you might expect by chance, but theres no clear evidence that marijuana directly causes depression. In other words, correlation does not prove causation.
Some of the correlation may be due to,........................
http://cannabistoday.bangordailynews.com...epression/