cannabisnews.com: Keep Your Brain From Going To Pot 





Keep Your Brain From Going To Pot 
Posted by CN Staff on November 17, 2003 at 08:05:19 PT
By Kristen Philipkoski 
Source: Wired Magazine 
The active chemical in marijuana can do more for your head than give you a high -- it could protect your brain in emergency situations. An altered version of cannabis could be the first drug ever to shield the brain from the cascade of injury that follows head trauma. When the brain is injured in a fall or car accident, the damage does not stop after the impact. When cells in the brain die, they send signals to nearby cells to die also, causing continued, uncontrollable injury. Researchers have been trying to find a way to stop this domino effect for decades, but nothing has worked well yet.
Researchers at Pharmos, a pharmaceutical company in Iselin, New Jersey, are seeing promising results with their injectable synthetic cannabis drug. While pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Bayer have failed at developing emergency treatments for head trauma, Pharmos scientists say theirs will be the one to succeed. The drug, called Dexanabinol, is a synthetic version of the active chemical in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, known commonly as THC. The researchers flip its molecules around to form a mirror image of THC. In this form it doesn't cause some of the potential negative effects of hashish or marijuana, such as low blood pressure or impairment of motor function. "If you ask me 'Is hashish good for health?' well, maybe, but the results are very controversial," said Gad Riesenfeld, president and COO of Pharmos. "We have selected Dexanabinol because of its mechanism of action and efficacy in animal models, and the way it worked in the phase 2 study." It's now in phase 3 of testing; drugs must undergo three phases of trials to be considered for approval by the FDA. He added that THC at this dosage would cause serious low blood pressure, which can be particularly problematic when coupled with a brain injury. Other attempts have focused on just one aspect of brain trauma, such as inflammation. But three basic processes contribute to damaging the brain when injury occurs, and the cannabis-derived drug acts on all of them: inflammation, neuron death and the breakdown of communication between neurons called "excitotoxicity." In Pharmos' phase 2 study of 100 patients with severe traumatic brain trauma, about 30 percent were completely recovered or had just moderate disability six months after their injury when treated with the drug -- compared with 15 percent of those who received a placebo. "We think the FDA will give approval to a drug that has even 10 percent more patients achieving good outcomes on the Glasgow scale," Riesenfeld said. Pharmos' phase 3 study will include 900 severe traumatic brain injury patients at 80 clinics around the world. Fifteen of the clinics are in the United States, and 750 patients have been recruited so far. Performing the trial is complicated by the fact that emergency workers must inject Dexanabinol no more than six hours after the injury. While that seems like a good chunk of time, it can fly by in a triage situation, especially when doctors must get informed-consent documents signed before using an experimental drug, one doctor said. "Six hours seems long, but when you're doing 'ABC' (a routine check of airway, breathing and circulation), then you begin finding the next of kin -- since many will be unconscious -- the time slips away quickly," said David Bonovich, fellowship program director in neurocritical care at the University of California at San Francisco. Still, Bonovich said it's a reasonable window of time in which to administer a drug -- it might not do any good if administered later. About 1.5 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Riesenfeld said about 150,000 of those could be candidates for the drug. That's not a huge market, but each treatment would cost between $4,000 and $7,000, he said. Researchers previously hoped that inducing hypothermia might slow the progress of brain injury, because lowering body temperature slows all of the body's processes. They had high hopes for a large study called the National Acute Brain Injury Study using Hypothermia, known as the NABISH trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. But the treatment ultimately failed to show a significant improvement. However, researchers saw some evidence that the treatment could benefit patients who already have a low temperature when they receive hypothermia treatment, so researchers are continuing with a NABISH 2 trial focusing on only those patients. Pharmos researchers think they have a good chance to do better. They say they have taken great care to learn from past failed trials, to identify the patients who are most likely to benefit from the drug, and to find the proper dosage and time frame in which to administer it. They hope to have approval of the drug in late 2004, and to put it on the market in early 2005. The researchers are also testing the drug to prevent brain damage that can occur after cardiac surgery, Cook said. Surgeons would give the injection prophylactically. Source: Wired Magazine (CA)Author: Kristen PhilipkoskiPublished: November 17, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Wired Digital Inc.Website: http://www.wired.com/Contact: newsfeedback wired.comRelated Articles:Marijuana-Based Drug Could Curb Brain Damage http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16741.shtmlMarijuana Ingredient Helps Head Injuries http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11046.shtmlCompound May Reduce Brain Trauma Damagehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11033.shtml 
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Comment #6 posted by Petard on November 17, 2003 at 16:57:32 PT
Wrong interpretation of statement
I may have not chosen the wording carefully enough, no intention to paint the good Dr. Mechoulum in a negative light. He is a prodigous researcher who speaks about his research, I would suppose, to all who will listen. Much like many researchers and inventors would. I seem to have gotten the name of the Univ. wrong, it appears he has been at Jerusalem all along, and the patent by Pharmos was June of this year not last. http://cannabismd.org/news/anandamides.php 
Quotes the Dr. as emphatically stating ..."and we neglected to patent it!!!", referring to urine testing for THC metabolites (the author used 2 or 3 exclamation points in the quote).http://www.drugabuse.gov/MeetSum/MarijuanaAgenda.html 
Shows him listed as a speaker at a NIDA function a year or 2 ago.http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,50762,00.html 
Refers to Pharmos as an Israeli Corporation, possibly only liscensed to use the Dr. product, HU-211, or synthetic CBD derivative. Several other links from a quick Google search of Dr. Raphael Mechoulum (returning over 1600 references) show him as a consultant to GW. Again, I stated he consulted governments, not that he told them how to apply his knowledge. Kind of like Einstein and nuclear energy, good, useful, practical, knowledge can used for harm when governments get involved, left in private hands we got nuclear medicine and improved medical imaging. To his credit, I read a quote from the Dr. on another website where he stated something about keeping himself clear of the legal/illegal nature of the issue of medical cannabis. And I don't fault the guy for patenting his work. If anyone should profit from it he should, he did it. Plus a patent would give him at least some control over the usage (to wit he could say "no" to a potentially harmful use).
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 17, 2003 at 15:04:37 PT
Check Your Facts!
Your characterization of Dr. Mechoulam is all wrong. Do your homework instead of posting propaganda.
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Comment #4 posted by Petard on November 17, 2003 at 14:49:24 PT
Pharmos already has patented it
Check their website, they patented their synthetic version of CBD a year or more ago. Pharmos of NJ is a subsidiary of Pharmos of Israel, headed up by Dr, Raphael Mechoulum (sp?), the guy that 1st isolated THC in 1964, and was the first to synthesize THC, and also the creator of the EMIT urine test for the metabolites. He's also a consultant to GW Pharma and still employed by Tel Aviv Univ. in Israel. He got tired of everyone else getting rich off his work and has learned to patent his findings apparently. His son is also a researcher with him, a 2nd Dr. Mechoulum. Check him out thoroughly and you'll find LOTS of the med cann findings revolve around him, unfortunately, so do a LOT of the repressive ideas of world politics regarding cannabis as he consults with law encroachment too.
Pharmos Corp
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Comment #3 posted by BigDawg on November 17, 2003 at 11:09:28 PT
RasAric
Good point.I never realized the safety factor involved in the patent program. Glad to know they are looking out for my health./sarcasm
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Comment #2 posted by Shishaldin on November 17, 2003 at 10:23:27 PT
$$$
"...but each treatment would cost between $4,000 and $7,000, he said." Green money GOOD. Green plant BAD...
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Comment #1 posted by RasAric on November 17, 2003 at 09:01:00 PT
Pharma-seudo-kills
Paragraph 6 reads: He added that THC at this dosage would cause serious low blood pressure, which can be particularly problematic when coupled with a brain injury. -What he didn't mention is that in the plant itself, THC is not the only active ingredient. Moreover, since Dexanabinol is a synthesized version, the Pharmos Corporation will be able to patent it(making it far less dangerous than THC). Coincidently, it would also be a great candidate for approval from the non-biased FDA.Anything but a plant. 
Eric Knudsen
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