cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Can Control Epilepsy, VCU Study Finds Marijuana Can Control Epilepsy, VCU Study Finds Posted by CN Staff on September 30, 2003 at 12:48:31 PT News Story Source: Richmond.com Ingredients in marijuana and the cannabinoid receptor protein, which is produced naturally in the body to regulate the central nervous system and other bodily functions, play a critical role in controlling spontaneous seizures in epilepsy, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The study, the first to look at marijuana and the brain's cannabinoid system in live animals with spontaneous, recurrent seizures, suggests new avenues that researchers can explore in their search for more-effective drugs to treat epileptic patients who don't respond to today's anticonvulsant medications or surgery. The results appear in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. "Although marijuana is illegal in the United States, individuals both here and abroad report that marijuana has been therapeutic for them in the treatment of a variety of ailments, including epilepsy," Dr. Robert J. DeLorenzo, professor of neurology in the VCU School of Medicine, said in a statement. "But the psychoactive side effects of marijuana make its use impractical in the treatment of epilepsy," said DeLorenzo, who was the lead author on the article. "If we can understand how marijuana works to end seizures, we may be able to develop novel drugs that might do a better job of treating epileptic seizures." Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions, characterized by spontaneously recurrent seizures. Approximately 1 percent of Americans have epilepsy, and 30 percent of those patients are resistant to conventional anticonvulsant drug treatments. Cannabinoids have been used as a natural remedy for seizures for thousands of years, and studies since at least 1974 have found that the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana displays anticonvulsant properties. DeLorenzo and his colleagues in the VCU Department of Neurology and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology have been studying the therapeutic effects of marijuana on epilepsy and other illnesses for more than a decade. They were the first to show that cannabinoids work at controlling seizures by activating a protein known as the CB1 receptor that is found in the memory-related area of the brain, the nervous system and other tissues and organs in the body. Research has shown that the CB1 receptor is responsible for the psychoactive effects of marijuana. It also is responsible for controlling excitability and regulating relaxation. The current study was designed to evaluate the role of the CB1 receptor and function of the body’s cannabinoid system in regulating seizures. DeLorenzo’s team is now assessing the dosage requirements and evaluating the long-term effects of using cannabinoids for epilepsy in animals. Complete Title: Marijuana and Its Receptor Protein in The Brain Can Control Epilepsy, VCU Study FindsSource: Richmond.com (VA)Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 Copyright: 2003 by Richmond.com Contact: news richmond.comWebsite: http://www.richmond.com/Related Articles:Medical Marijuana Slowly Gains Ground http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17239.shtmlMarijuana-Like Chemical Blamed in Seizureshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17102.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by E_Johnson on September 30, 2003 at 22:09:24 PT Ummmmm Tea Bag Tandy? Oooh we could be naughty and call her that I spose.I wonder if she had to do that to be hazed into her job? [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on September 30, 2003 at 21:41:46 PT GPH I really like the Galilleo excerpt! In particular, I like their specific beef with his science: the universe does not rotate around the Earth! Those idiots really believed that the sun, planets, and stars all rotated around the Earth. Blind arrogance. Remind you of any country's philosophy these days?Poor old Galilleo. Seventy years old, half blind from studying sunspots, and then the crazy priests came after him. Kind of like Tommy Chong, come to think of it.EJ, I think the proper term is "tea-bagging". Gross! I've never understood why anyone would allow themselves to be hazed, I'd walk right out the door. They could find another drunk Mountie for the Joint Task Force. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on September 30, 2003 at 21:20:15 PT Remember the DEA's genital-rubbing complaint? Does anyone remember that complaint filed in Canada by that Mountie over the DEA's behavior during an initiation into some joint Canadian-US drug task force?The Mountie said he was forced to drink alcohol and then stripped and tied down and the male DEA agents rubbed their naked genitals in his face.This is a kind of cult initiation they are practicing. If this is what they do in Canada, then I'm sure there must be far more shocking stories from America that nobody outside the DEA has ever heard.It's a cult.Why else would they go after HEMP?It's a cult. They're all nuts. And now they have a big nutty woman in charge who's even more nuts than they are.This would be fun to watch if it hadn't already hurt people I care about. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by E_Johnson on September 30, 2003 at 21:13:58 PT The DEA is a cult beyond the reach of science We're dealing with a cult. Articles like this have no impact whatsoever on them.Not one little itty bitty bit.Science and reason appeal to people who can use logic.Cults don't allow anyone to use logic. The only tool that their followers are allowed to use to interpret the world around them is faith in the dogma of the cult. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by ekim on September 30, 2003 at 20:26:49 PT studying med effects for more than a decade DeLorenzo and his colleagues in the VCU Department of Neurology and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology have been studying the therapeutic effects of marijuana on epilepsy and other illnesses for more than a decade. They were the first to show that cannabinoids work at controlling seizures by activating a protein known as the CB1 receptor that is found in the memory-related area of the brain, the nervous system and other tissues and organs in the body. Research has shown that the CB1 receptor is responsible for the psychoactive effects of marijuana. It also is responsible for controlling excitability and regulating relaxation. --will someone please tell Tandy the facts of life. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Gary Storck on September 30, 2003 at 18:31:38 PT psychoactive effects? "But the psychoactive side effects of marijuana make its use impractical in the treatment of epilepsy," said DeLorenzo[snip]And the psychoactive effects of phenobarbital and other even nastier drugs make them practical? Cannabis should be the first choice for epileptics. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on September 30, 2003 at 18:00:29 PT Think, it's not that hard to do These scientists had better be careful. John Ashcroft, the Grand Inquistor, may charge them with heresy and force them to recant their findings. The human body is not a machine that can be fine tuned so it can function perfectly. Not that it must be said, but it is a live organism; the mind is an organ, and sometimes, it does not function properly. Many years ago, I worked with mentally challenged people. Not all, but most were pretty dim bulbs, but sentient nonetheless. Some knew they couldn't function like a normal person, and needed care to live. Their brains were dysfunctional, period. Some were prone to violence and definitely needed medication to control their behavior. I made sure those who had violent tendencies received their medications without fail for my own protection. Others were gentle as lambs. For some, counting to twenty was a difficult task. At times, they would go from uproarious laughter to the most dismal depressing group behavior you can imagine. They would all stand together to wail and cry, holding and hugging each other. It was a moving experience. It baffled me. Funny how the brain functions as you go from one individual to the next. Though they were dysfunctional, were a complete liability to society, I maintain that their presence in the human family still makes a significant contribution. However small it seemed at the time, it did make an indelible effect on my character. I felt humbled and lucky that I could walk and talk among the crowd. Even if they were as addled as addled could be, it was good to know them, too.Compare them to an individual such as John Ashcroft, and I would seek their company before his. I would know who I could trust first and foremost. Sorry to say, but I cannot trust John Ashcroft one iota. He is blinded by dogma and intransigence. Poor guy. His uncompromising position has him in a real bind. He can't see the forest for the trees. I will recommend that he visit those who cannot function in society because of their genetic frailities. It would humble him and he might then come to his senses. Presently, his actions and behavior may lead him to despair. He can avoid it, and learn a little upon the way. The desperation will vanish if this desperado government reaches out to its citizens instead of pointing with pride and viewing with alarm. There is still time. All is not lost. Their brains can regain their proper functioning. All that needs to be done is open their minds.At this stage, I am jaded by it all. A good government is a terrible thing to waste. A corrupt government is not. The one we have has been taken to the limit. Too bad. This is where I'll stop. Some food for thought and a whisper of hope. Have a good tomorrow. The Crime of Galileo Whereas you, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei, of Florence, aged seventy years, were denounced in 1615, to this Holy Office, for holding as true a false doctrine taught by many, namely, that the sun is immovable in the center of the world, and that the earth moves, and also with a diurnal motion; also, for having pupils whom you instructed in the same opinions; also, for maintaining a correspondence on the same with some German mathematicians; also for publishing certain letters on the sun-spots, in which you developed the same doctrine as true; also, for answering the objections which were continually produced from the Holy Scriptures, by glozing the said Scriptures according to your own meaning; and whereas thereupon was produced the copy of a writing, in form of a letter professedly written by you to a person formerly your pupil, in which, following the hypothesis of Copernicus, you include several propositions contrary to the true sense and authority of the Holy Scriptures; therefore (this Holy Tribunal being desirous of providing against the disorder and mischief which were thence proceeding and increasing to the detriment of the Holy Faith) by the desire of his Holiness and the Most Emminent Lords, Cardinals of this supreme and universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the sun, and the motion of the earth, were qualified by the Theological Qualifiers as follows: 1. The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures. 2. The proposition that the earth is not the center of the world, nor immovable, but that it moves, and also with a diurnal action, is also absurd, philosophically false, and, theologically considered, at least erroneous in faith. Therefore . . . , invoking the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His Most Glorious Mother Mary, We pronounce this Our final sentence: We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo . . . have rendered yourself vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy, that is, of having believed and held the doctrine (which is false and contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures) that the sun is the center of the world, and that it does not move from east to west, and that the earth does move, and is not the center of the world; also, that an opinion can be held and supported as probable, after it has been declared and finally decreed contrary to the Holy Scripture, and, consequently, that you have incurred all the censures and penalties enjoined and promulgated in the sacred canons and other general and particular constituents against delinquents of this description. From which it is Our pleasure that you be absolved, provided that with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, in Our presence, you abjure, curse, and detest, the said error and heresies, and every other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome.1630 A.D.http://www.deoxy.org/galileoc.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 30, 2003 at 16:54:54 PT Today's "La Cucaracha" Meanwhile, in the funny pages... http://www.ucomics.com/lacucaracha/2003/09/30/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on September 30, 2003 at 16:04:06 PT Richmond, VA? Isn't that a kind of government/military/intelligence sort of community?This work on the neuroprotective properties of cannabinoidshttp://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/14/8268was done at Bethesda, which is where the President usually gets his medical care, no?He may run, but he cannot hide, from the scientific support for medical marijuana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Kegan on September 30, 2003 at 15:42:10 PT The proof lives here with me My room mate was having 4-5 grand mal seizures a week!!!! That is one every day and a half on average.....Then she quit eating junk food and bread and sugar and red meat, quit EGGS...... quit all her poison pills, smokes 2 grams of pot a day, and has only had 8 seizures in 273 days (1 seizure every 34 days, on average...)argue with that. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by 420toker on September 30, 2003 at 14:48:44 PT Ha! "But the psychoactive side effects of marijuana make its use impractical in the treatment of epilepsy," said DeLorenzoSo how "impractical" is a seizure [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 30, 2003 at 12:50:31 PT Marijuana is Medicine One more article for those who still might need more proof. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment