cannabisnews.com: Marijuana-Like Chemicals May Treat Epilepsy





Marijuana-Like Chemicals May Treat Epilepsy
Posted by CN Staff on October 02, 2003 at 13:26:43 PT
By Drew Conaway, HealthDay Reporter
Source: HealthDay.com
Researchers have found naturally occurring proteins in humans that are similar to the active ingredient in marijuana may protect the brain against epileptic seizures.The research, which appears in the Oct. 3 issue of Science, found the substances produced by the body, called cannabinoids, may play a role in keeping excitable neurons in the brain from becoming fatally overstimulated.
Dr. Giovanni Marsicano, of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, and his German, Italian and Spanish team, used kainic acid to induce seizures in mice and found a certain set of the brain's CB1 receptors, which bind with the "endocannabinoid" compounds produced in the brain, helped protect against the induced seizures.They found this signaling system might be a useful target for treating epilepsy or some neurodegenerative diseases, in which this sort of neuron damage, or "excitotoxicity," plays a key role."Our research shows that the cannabinoids act as a brake on the brain," says Dr. Beat Lutz, a co-researcher from the Max Planck Institute. "It's incredible; in something like within 10 and 15 minutes the brain reacts. This is very important. It shows that when you need them, when you have problems, they react."But if you flood your brain with external cannabinoids and activate receptors over a fairly broad period of time, you can exacerbate the problem and make it worse in some types of seizures, Lutz adds. "I think that it's an important line of research to look at manipulating our indigenous cannabinoids and not to simply flood the brain with them."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 drugs.New findings by U.S. researchers seem to back the European discovery.In that study, a team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University injected chronically epileptic rats with different combinations of drugs, including an extract of marijuana and two synthetic drugs that include THC, the key psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.Additionally, the common anticonvulsant drugs phenobarbital and phenytoin were administered, as was a drug that blocks the absorption of cannabinoids by the brain.The marijuana extract and synthetic marijuana drugs completely eliminated the rats' seizures, which had averaged three over a 10-hour period, while the phenobarbital and phenytoin failed to completely eliminate the seizures.Injection of the CB1 antagonist significantly increased both the duration and frequency of seizures, in some cases to a level consistent with a severe, prolonged form of epilepsy known as status epilepticus."This study indicates that cannabinoids may offer unique advantages in treating seizures compared with currently prescribed anticonvulsants," Dr. Robert J. DeLorenzo, a professor of neurology in Virginia Commonwealth's School of Medicine, says in a statement. "It shows not only the anticonvulsant activity of exogenously applied cannabinoids, but also suggests that the brain's cannabinoid system works to limit seizure duration by activating the CB1 receptor. Understanding the factors that contribute to seizure initiation and termination has important implications for our ability to treat epilepsy and for the potential development of novel anticonvulsant agents.""But the psychoactive side effects of marijuana make its use impractical in the treatment of epilepsy," adds DeLorenzo. "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."DeLorenzo's team is currently assessing dosage requirements and evaluating the long-term effects of using cannabinoids for epilepsy in animals.That study appears in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.The European researchers point out that cannabinoids have been used as a natural remedy for seizures for thousands of years, and studies since at least 1974 have found the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana displays anticonvulsant properties.An article accompanying the Planck piece added that the use of cannabis in epilepsy can be traced at least as far back to a 15th century treatise on hashish by an Arab writer named Ibn al-Badri.Although the recreational use of cannabis is illegal in the United States, its use in medicine has been controversial. Several states have allowed it, but this has put them in potential conflict with the federal government, which has not completely recognized its use.In Europe and Canada, however, recreational use of marijuana has been tolerated for years in several counties and its use in medicine has been legalized in many others, and in some cases, even produced by health authorities.More information:Read more about the use of medicinal marijuana from the Institute of Medicine, while you can get a primer on seizures from the Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed/http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/About-Epilepsy.cfm(SOURCES: Beat Lutz, M.D., Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany; Virginia Commonwealth University news release; Oct. 1, 2003, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; Oct. 3, 2003, Science)Source: HealthDay.comAuthor: Drew Conaway, HealthDay ReporterPublished: October 2, 2003Copyright: 2003 ScoutNews, LLC.Contact: editors healthday.com Website: http://www.healthday.com/Related Articles:Marijuana Can Control Epilepsy, VCU Study http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17440.shtmlMedical Marijuana Slowly Gains Ground http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17239.shtmlMarijuana-Like Chemical Blamed in Seizureshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17102.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 03, 2003 at 09:07:02 PT
gloovins
I do my best to avoid bust stories when a name is mentioned unless they are high profile cases. I just wanted to mention to you why I don't post some articles.
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Comment #7 posted by gloovins on October 02, 2003 at 22:04:30 PT
So i'm on the toilet, and it just popped out??????
Woman Charged After Baby Tests Positive For Marijuana, MethamphetaminePOSTED: 8:43 a.m. EDT October 2, 2003DEMING, N.M. -- A Deming woman is facing child abuse charges after giving birth in a toilet to a baby who tested positive for drugs. Deming police said the 4-pound baby girl of Frances Campa, 25, tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine. Campa was charged with abandonment or abuse of a child. The mother told police she had been having pains but didn't realize she was going into labor until she was on the toilet. Family members called for an ambulance after the delivery. Authorities said the baby had a seizure at the hospital and remained hospitalized Wednesday. The baby girl and Campa's two other young children have been taken into the state's custody. This is crazy, what has the world come to FoM I'm shocked you didn't post this. The meth part really bugs me though, the seizure was a result of this, no doubt.
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Comment #6 posted by ekim on October 02, 2003 at 19:36:35 PT
Confference ck out who will be there--------------
http://www.dpfmi.org/conf.htmOctober 3rd & 4th
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan Speakers List 
 Conference Schedule 
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2003
Bernath Auditorium, David Adamany Undergraduate Library, 5155 Gullen Mall - map (096) 
11:30 -11:45 Continental Breakfast and Registration 
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on October 02, 2003 at 19:12:02 PT
Bush is getting around... (off subject)
Let the music playhttp://www.boulderweekly.com/uncensored.htmlby Pamela White
(letters boulderweekly.com) If there’s one thing George W knows how to do well, it’s make enemies. He’s turned most of the world against the United States, even our allies. And recently he angered an entirely new segment of the international community.They’re salsa dancers, and, boy, are they pissed.Fans of Cuban salsa have long been justifiably irritated with the United States for its fruitless and unjust boycott of Cuba. In general, these folks are apolitical, preferring late nights on the dance floor to confrontational debate. They tend to be more concerned about their enchufla than the actions of their elected officials. But since Sept. 11–that’s Sept. 11, 2003–they’ve been in a state of outrage over the treatment of Cuban musicians by the U.S. state department.Ten Latin Grammy nominees were denied visas by the state department, preventing them from attending the award ceremony, held in Miami on Sept. 11. Although the state department at first tried to blame the musicians themselves, claiming the artists were tardy in applying for visas, documents later revealed George W blocked the entry of at least two performers by invoking section 212(f) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. That section allows the White House to prevent the entry into the United States of anyone whose presence would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States."Excluded on these grounds were legendary bandleader Juan Formell of Los Van Van and Muñequitos de Matanzas director Diosdado Ramos.The elderly Formell toured the U.S. with Los Van Van this past summer, while Ramos played to a standing-room-only crowd in Miami last year. Yet somehow in the intervening months these artists have become risks to U.S. security."The only weapons the Muñequitos possess are our four tumbas to start a rumba," Ramos quipped to the Miami New Times.The other artists likewise responded with disgusted humor."I’m only dangerous when I’m holding a guitar, making music," Eliades Ochoa, a prominent folk singer, told the press. It’s understandable that Miami should be a sensitive spot when it comes to national security issues. It was Miami immigration authorities, after all, who allowed Sept. 11 terrorist-in-waiting Mohammed Atta into the country.But there’s a universe of difference between admitting people who want to blow up skyscrapers and those who want to play music but just happen to be from a county the United States doesn’t like.So why the sudden change in status for Formell and Ramos?It has nothing to do with the musicians themselves and everything to do with the Bush’s lust for re-election. The Latin Grammys had become a flash point for anti-Castro Cuban immigrants, who had planned a mass protest had musicians from their homeland been allowed to attend the ceremony. This is the same group of voters who helped George and Jeb to win their respective elections.It’s a well-established fact that the Bush family has close ties to the Cuban exile community, even convicted anti-Castro terrorists. Yes, terrorists. People who kill civilians.There’s Orlando Bosch, who was convicted in 1968 of firing a bazooka at a Cuba-bound ship waiting in Miami harbor and is suspected of an attack on a civilian Cuban airliner that killed all 73 people on board. Bush the elder blocked Bosch’s deportation, enabling him to live free in the United States. George W gave a speech in Florida while Bosch sat on the dais behind him–next to "El Chino" Aquit, who was caught red-handed by the FBI trying to firebomb the Miami warehouse of Pastors for Peace, a humanitarian group that sends medicine and food to Cuba.Then there’s Virgilio Paz and Jose Dionisio Suarez, who served time in prison for a fatal car bombing in Washington, D.C., that killed an American and a Chilean. George W blocked their deportation.So much for his vow to make no distinction between terrorists and those who shelter them. The true distinction is between terrorists who serve the interests of the U.S. power elite–those ones are called "freedom fighters"–and those who do not.Given these ties, it’s plain to see that Bush’s decision to invoke the 1985 law against the Cuban Grammy nominees was nothing more than a plan to pander to the Cuban exile vote. "George Duh-bya Bush is a menace," wrote one American lover of Cuban salsa on a European salsa bulletin board. "He is the big idiot puppet of the new American Taliban, the oil pigs led by Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld, who have embarked upon a campaign to terrorize the world… AND NOW THEY’RE FUCKING WITH MY MUSIC!" George W has said the embargo of Cuba will only be lifted after the Cuban government allows free, democratic elections and respects the human rights of all Cubans. Applying those standards, why aren’t we deep in an embargo against Saudi Arabia, China, Burma and a dozen other places on this troubled planet?It’s not that lovers of Latin music are blind to the abuses of Fidel Castro’s regime. In fact, fans of Cuban salsa are often better educated to the oppression faced by Cuban artists and others than either the American left, which praises Castro’s achievements while ignoring his abuses, or the right, which wants to deny the achievements of Castro’s government, such as universal health care.Salsa lovers just want to dance. And Formell and Ramos simply want to perform. International politics–particularly the cynical, violent and manipulative politics of George W’s re-election–have no place in the expression or enjoyment of music or any other art form. To stop this idiocy, contact your senator and representative and demand an end to the embargo against Cuba. Respond: letters boulderweekly.com 
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on October 02, 2003 at 18:14:30 PT
back when it was legal
The following is a letter found by John Lupien and contained in his volumnious archives of hemp-related materials from Washington DC.July 7, 1913.Mr. F. 0. Bennett, Route 1, Box 95, Georgiana, AlabamaDear Sir:This office is in receipt of your note of July first, requesting information in regard to the culture of Cannabis indica [underlined in original].The name Cannabis americana has been applied to hemp grown in this country for the production of the active principle used in medicine. Of course, the seed of this hemp was obtained originally from India or other Oriental regions, the Indian hemp being known as Cannabis indica. Botanically both American and Indian hemp are known as C. sativa. As a matter of fact the United States Pharmacopoeia recognizes the drug as official only when "grown in the East Indies," but American-grown Cannabis possessing the desired physiological properties finds a place in the drug market, its value being determined by test of active principle content.I would suggest that in planting hemp it would be well to wait until the season is fairly well settled. Drill the seeds into rows five or six feet apart, bearing in mind the fact that one-half of them will be males which p. 2. will have to be pulled out if it is desired to make the drug out of the product. It is desirable that the female plants remaining shall not be more than three feet apart when the stand is ready to develop. Seed every two or three inches will probably be more than abundant, allowing for usual germination. If the seeds are planted an inch in the ground I think it will be deep enough, especially if the ground is well mellowed below. The richer the soil the better. The male plants will be recognized by a paler green color, by a less dense foliage, and as they begin to open, by the presence of stamens. The development of stamens should be stopped, it being necessary to prevent the formation of seed.In general, medicinally active hemp of acceptable quality is produced only in regions having long hot summers. Hemp grown in the northern States is usually not acceptable. Hemp seed can probably be obtained from J.M. Thorburn & Co., 33 Barclay Street, New York City. Cannabis indica tops are quoted in the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter for July 7, 1913, at from $1.40 to $1.55 per pound.Trusting this information may be of interest,I am,Yours very truly,
WW Stockberger
Physiologist in Charge of Drug Plant Investigations http://www.gametec.com/hemp/stockbergerltr.html
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Comment #3 posted by Petard on October 02, 2003 at 15:17:07 PT
All well and good
Just remember, MJ has no medicinal value, absolutely none. Don't forget either, it's a gateway drug to Rush Limbaugh like addictions. Just ask any self-hating DEA agent or any other delusions of grandeur type prohibitionist. Only synthetic chemical mimics are real medicine that can pass through the Federal Denial of Authenticity (FDA) process.Remember parents, if your kid says they're just going out to do "the Limbaugh", you've got trouble. Or if you overhear some kids saying, "Man, we got Limbaughed last night", it's too late, they're already Right Wing Conservative Prohibitionist hypocrites.
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on October 02, 2003 at 15:03:18 PT
Oh yeah, almost forgot...
we DEFINITELY can't have people running around curing themselves before we torture, poison, mutilate and kill a whole bunch of mice, rats, and monkeys! it's blasphemy I tell you!
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on October 02, 2003 at 15:01:38 PT
history
"An article accompanying the Planck piece added that the use of cannabis in epilepsy can be traced at least as far back to a 15th century treatise on hashish by an Arab writer named Ibn al-Badri."15th century? You might want to check the Bible, pal. Jesus was using high-powered cannabis annointing oil to cast out the demons long before HealthDay reporters typed up Big Pharm propaganda.Given that marijuana is supposed to have no medical value and is controversial, isn't the real news here "Cannabis works better on epilepsy than prescription medicines"?? oh, sorry, I guess that ventures too close to the truth for modern Western medicine. I mean, we can't just have epilepsy patients curing themselves now, can we? Without doctor's supervision, and Big Pharms's thousand-dollar toxic drug cocktails?  Without teaching hospitals, ass-kissing residents, policies & procedures, HIPAA billing forms and referrals? Oh heavens, what we will do?
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