cannabisnews.com: Put Medicinal Pot in Health Department
Put Medicinal Pot in Health Department
Posted by CN Staff on March 23, 2004 at 08:07:54 PT
Editorial Opinion
Source: Star-Bulletin
Acceptance of marijuana as an effective medicine for easing pain from numerous diseases is increasing, but Hawaii remains the only state where the program facilitating its medicinal use is directed by a law enforcement agency. The state Senate has approved a bill to move its administration to the Department of Health, where it belongs, and the change should be embraced by the House and the Lingle administration.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is fiercely opposed to medicinal marijuana, but his arguments have been rejected at every turn. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused in the past six months to overturn two rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Hawaii, that protect doctors who recommend marijuana and their patients from prosecution for violation of federal drug laws.Marijuana has been shown to be effective in easing pain for sufferers of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses. Hawaii is among eight states that allow use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The programs are administered by health departments in six of the states, by the agriculture department in Nevada and by the Narcotics Enforcement Division in Hawaii's Department of Public Safety."It's terribly intimidating," says Pamela Lichty, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii. "The mandate of the Narcotics Enforcement Division is to enforce the narcotics law and to prevent people from obtaining and using schedule (illegal) substances."Rep. Ken Ito, chairman of the House Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee, says he has no plans to hold a hearing on the Senate-passed bill because of opposition by the Lingle administration, through the directors of the affected departments. Ito said the Department of Public Safety feels "they're better equipped and qualified to enforce it," and the Department of Health lacks the funds or enforcement powers, so Gov. Lingle probably would veto the bill.Such opposition is simplistic. In other states, departments of health "work in conjunction with their departments of public safety, allowing access to the patient registry if verification becomes necessary," the Senate Ways and Means Committee noted. Nothing is complicated about a patient showing a certificate from the Department of Health to a police officer to justify possession of marijuana.The Senate-passed bill also would require that the doctor who recommends medicinal marijuana has examined and assessed the patient's medical history. Current law allows a doctor to simply examine medical records before certifying that the patient has a debilitating condition warranting medical use of marijuana.The judgment about whether a physician has met even the current requirement is in the hands of a narcotics enforcer rather than a health expert. That anomaly should be enough to make clear that administration of the program belongs in the Department of Health.Note: The Issue: A bill to move the state's medicinal marijuana program from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health stalls in the House.Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Honolulu Star-BulletinContact: letters starbulletin.comWebsite: http://www.starbulletin.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiihttp://www.dpfhi.org/Medical Marijuana Bill Appears Stalledhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18532.shtmlPot Bill Hits Legislature http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18302.shtml1,039 Register for Isle Pot Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17545.shtml
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Comment #24 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on March 28, 2004 at 22:23:19 PT:
Fish Oil aside, I prefer Bud!
Dr. Ethan Russo has the science, we have the phyto-sanitary material. Where is the NEXUS!? Please contact us Ethan asap to update and prepare for US domestic policy changes that allow us to benefit each others work. Visit us anytime!
808-982-7640 or 808-345-3411. Funny how my BILLS HB2669 and SB3139 allowing legal distribution under religious authority; were NOT supported or assisted by PAM LICHTY and DPFH/Hawaii. Are they saying control of the Program was more important than a legal source of the allegedly legal medicine? Ask any patient, they need medicine, not interference by bureaucrats or a 4 month wait for their own harvest.The Star-Bulletin did not even report my bills even though they would reduce prescription drug costs and provide methamphetamine addicts treatment with cannabis.
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #23 posted by Patrick on March 24, 2004 at 22:19:49 PT
Dr. Russo
Thanks for the fascinating read from The Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs! It is very timely information for anyone interested in healthier living and life extension. You're offering a possible explanation for the solution to one of the great mysteries of modern medicine? Is the mystery the key to a healthy happy life? My thoughts on these three parts that you posted first bring to mind that naturally diet and environment will effect overall health. I am intrigued that the science here clearly points out the health benefits of cannabis seed as a source of very essential fatty acids and yet it remains Schedule 1. Imagine if the hemp seed oil flowed like the Saudi crude, perhaps then we wouldn't be confronting record anti-depressant drug sales and childhood obesity? The last 30 years of intense drug war should be enough to convince anyone and everyone of the need for some serious changes to our laws regarding drugs.I am certainly convinced that I should eat more fish, take my vitamins, & continue reading your posts!Pretending that an abuse of liberties is legal so long as it's directed at "bad" people is a recipe for disaster and only leads to the complete destruction of all liberties. As Tim Freeman said, "When they took the fourth amendment, I was silent because I don't deal drugs. When they took the sixth amendment, I kept quiet because I know I'm innocent. When they took the second amendment, I said nothing because I don't own a gun. Now they've come for the first amendment and I can't say anything at all.Information such as this can only aid in turning prohibition on its ugly head. It's no mystery that the Marijuana Tax Act sowed the seeds of the nutritionally unhealthy and increasingly depressed populace we have today. To outlaw its cultivation should be illegal and not the other way around. On this basis, some have called for prohibition of hemp seeds in the USA, where importation of sterilized hemp seed is still legal. Sterilization prevents seed sprouting, which not only disallows the possibility of hemp cultivation, but also the provision of an additional beneficial protein and EFA source.The ban on hemp is a direct threat to everyone's health, welfare, and melancholy.
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Comment #22 posted by E_Johnson on March 24, 2004 at 19:08:34 PT
This opens up a lot of interesting topics
Diet, mood, wealth, environment, trauma and oppression.Gorbachev is in LA tonight picking up an environmental award, speaking of environment.
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Comment #21 posted by E_Johnson on March 24, 2004 at 18:56:04 PT
Wow very interesting
And so maybe we can draw some conclusions by the fact that Jesus grew up in Galilee, where everyone either fished or dried fish for a living.Fish are fairly prominent in the New Testament.
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Comment #20 posted by ekim on March 24, 2004 at 18:00:31 PT
Ethan do you think this is the same Woodward
Comment #17 posted by Ethan Russo MD In this catalogue, borage and bugloss [another boraginaceous plant] may challenge the chiefest place, whether in substance, juice, root, seeds, flowers, leaves, decoctions, distilled waters, extracts, oils, &c., for such kind of herbs be diversely varied. Shortly before this in 1597, Gerard had also endorsed the herb as worthy (Gerard and Woodward 1931):"Did Anyone Consult the AMA?"
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter04.html
However, even within his controlled Committee hearings, many expert witnesses spoke out against the passage of these unusual tax laws. Dr. William G. Woodward, for instance, who was both a physician and an attorney for the American Medical Association, testified on behalf of the AMA. He said, in effect, the entire fabric of federal testimony was tabloid sensationalism! No real testimony had been heard! This law, passed in ignorance, could possibly deny the world a potential medicine, especially now that the medical world was just beginning to find which ingredients in cannabis were active. Woodward told the committee that the only reason the AMA hadn't come out against the marijuana tax law sooner was that marijuana had been described in the press for 20 years as "killer weed from Mexico."The AMA doctors had just realized "two days before" these spring 1937 hearings, that the plant Congress intended to outlaw was known medically as cannabis, the benign substance used in America with perfect safety in scores of illnesses for over one hundred years. "We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman," Woodward protested, "why this bill should have been prepared in secret for two years without any intimation, even to the profession, that it was being prepared." He and the AMA" were quickly denounced by Anslinger and the entire congressional committee, and curtly excused.3 *The AMA and the Roosevelt Administration were strong antagonists in 1937. When the Marijuana Tax Act bill came up for oral report, discussion, and vote on the floor of Congress, only one pertinent question was asked from the floor: "Did anyone consult with the AMA and get their opinion?"Representative Vinson, answering for the Ways and Means Committee replied, "Yes, we have. A Dr. Wharton [mistaken pronunciation of Woodward?] and {the AMA} are in complete agreement!"With this memorable lie, the bill passed, and became law in December 1937. Federal and state police forces were created, which have incarcerated hundreds of thousands of Americans, adding up to more than 14 million wasted years in jails and prisons - even contributing to their deaths - all for the sake of poisonous, polluting industries, prison guard unions and to reinforce some white politicians' policies of racial hatred. (Mikuriya, Tod, M.C., Marijuana Medical Papers, 1972; Sloman, Larry, Reefer Madness, Grove Press, 1979; Lindsmith, Alfred, The Addict and the Law, Indiana U. Press; Bonnie & Whitebread; The Marijuana Conviction, U. of VA Press; U.S. Cong. Records; et al.)
http://www.mmdetroit.org
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Comment #19 posted by Ethan Russo MD on March 24, 2004 at 13:56:51 PT
Handbook Selection, Part III
Practical Considerations
It is clear from the above discussion that there is at least a compelling argument that modern diets are deficient in n-3 PUFA. It is certainly arguable that this is the reason for the explosive incidence of depression in modern cultures. Certainly, an increase in fish intake would be advisable, particularly if coupled with reductions of n-6 intake. The FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Fats and Oils in Human Nutrition in 1994 recommended an n-6:n-3 ratio of 6:1 to 4:1 (Galli and Marangoni 1997). This certainly represents an improvement upon current societal norms, but other authorities would recommend a ratio of 3:1 (Erasmus 1993), while the Paleolithic norm might even be 1:1.
Unfortunately, fish stocks around the world are already depleted, through a combination of over-fishing, oblivious netting techniques, and industrial pollution. Aquaculture may represent a partial solution, although environmental concerns remain apparent in that industry. Few modern people will rely on game meat to supply their missing n-3 FA, but buffalo ranching could be a viable alternative, as long as grazing is the norm, and not grain supplementation in feedlots.
More germane to this volume would be the issue of whether an herbal nutritional solution to depression treatment is possible. We know that flaxseed contains about 58% LNA, and at a conversion rate of 5% to DHA in healthy individuals, 15 g of daily intake would provide a net of 435 mg of DHA. The experiments cited above employed dosages of DHA from 1000 to 1600 mg, with effective increases seen in tissue measures in 3 weeks. It is certainly possible that these lower levels of LNA intake would lead to significant elevation of tissue DHA levels over time, and amelioration of depression.
Flaxseed oil is extremely perishable once it is pressed, and is considered unpalatable by many (Conrad 1997; Wirtshafter 1997). Cognoscenti of flaxseed supplementation frequently recommend that the fresh seed be ground before each use, or the purchased flaxseed oil be kept frozen.
Other alternatives exist. Hemp seeds have been human fodder since ancient times and were one of the seven basic grains of the early Chinese culture (Li 1974). Hemp seed represents the single most complete food on the planet, with its 35% content of highly digestible protein, and 35% oil content. The latter is the most highly unsaturated of the world’s known vegetable oils, and almost exactly fits the 3:1 ratio of n-6:n-3 FA. Up to 25% of hemp oil is LNA, and up to 9% is GLA, which has also been advocated in treatment of inflammatory conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, MS). As noted above, GLA promotes formation of anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, while inhibiting AA promotion of inflammation (Wagner and Nootbaar-Wagner 1997).
Compared to flax, hemp seed and its oil are quite palatable. 100 g of hemp seeds provides 8750 mg of LNA, which might provide 435 mg of DHA. Similarly, 15 g of hemp seed oil might lead to 188 mg of accumulated DHA.
Hemp seeds are illegal in many countries, although THC content is negligible. Some cases of positive drug tests for THC metabolites have occurred in individuals eating the seeds (Callaway et al. 1997). On this basis, some have called for prohibition of hemp seeds in the USA, where importation of sterilized hemp seed is still legal. Sterilization prevents seed sprouting, which not only disallows the possibility of hemp cultivation, but also the provision of an additional beneficial protein and EFA source.
For the more politically cautious, pumpkin seed may represent an alternative to hemp seed nutrition. Oil content is 50%, with high vitamin E content (Murkovic et al. 1996). 15% of the oil is LNA with, about 42% LA. As an added bonus, pumpkin seed is a rich source of magnesium, a mineral which is a cofactor in the enzymatic pathways leading to serotonin synthesis, and a substance of purported antidepressant activity in its own right. Similarly, it is rich in tryptophan, and this was advanced as a primary factor in a case study in which depression was successfully treated with pumpkin seed supplementation (Eagles 1990).
Ultimately, we return to borage. Its seed oil is the richest known source of GLA, some 19%. Since GLA inhibits conversion of AA to pro-inflammatory substances, it may support hypothetical claims of efficacy in nutritional prophylaxis of depression. Although legitimate safety concerns have been raised due to the presence of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in fresh borage seed (Foster and Tyler 1998), these have not been detected in most commercial sources of borage seed oil supplements. The appropriately wary customer may inquire of their supplements’ manufacturer in this regard, and should receive a reassuring response, or look elsewhere.
Perhaps Burton had wise solutions in mind when he recommended brains, fish and borage as dietary remedies to melancholy.
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Comment #18 posted by Ethan Russo MD on March 24, 2004 at 13:56:07 PT
Handbook Selection, Part II
EFA: A Review of Studies of Pertinence to their Role in Human Mood
Mantzioris et al. (Mantzioris et al. 1994) demonstrated experimentally that flaxseed (linseed) oil, the richest known source of the n-3 EFA linoleic acid, when added to the diet, increased levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) significantly. This result is important because, while EPA is a component of fish and game meats, it is not present in vegetable matter. EPA promotes formation of anti-inflammatory prostaglandins while inhibiting AA formation and subsequent inflammatory prostaglandin E-2 synthesis (Wagner and Nootbaar-Wagner 1997) (see Figure 1).
Smith advanced a theory that excessive secretion of monokines by macrophages is a, or the, cause of human depression (Smith 1991). This might explain the association of depression with coronary disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. It was posited that the low incidence of depression in Japan relates to suppressive effects on macrophages of EPA in the fish-rich diet of that country.
Schubert and Foliart demonstrated an increased morbidity of depression in multiple sclerosis patients that can not be accounted for in comparison of their disease burden that in other chronic degenerative neurological conditions (Schubert and Foliart 1993).
Insulin resistance has been offered as an explanation for treatment-resistant obesity, depression and other disorders. Borkman et al. (Borkman et al. 1993) demonstrated that insulin sensitivity was associated with concentrations of PUFA in muscle phospholipids. Increased dietary intake of n-3 fatty acids increased membrane fluidity and number of insulin receptors. These actions might modulate insulin activity with resultant importance with respect to depression.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is widely acknowledged as being essential to proper development of the retina and brain, where it is a key component of neuronal membranes. When DHA is unavailable in deficiency states, it is replaced by n-3 components (Hibbeln and Salem 1995).
DHA is found, once again, in generous amounts in fish and game, and in eggs to a modest degree (Sanders and Reddy 1994). It can be generated by humans de novo from linolenic acid (LNA), but is competitively inhibited by linoleic acid (LA) as the two compete for enzyme systems (see Figure 1) (Sanders and Reddy 1994). The authors recommended that vegetarians preferentially employ soy or canola (rapeseed) oil in their diets in place of corn, sunflower or safflower oil to lower ratios of LA to LNA intake.
Mantzioris and her colleagues confirmed experimentally that vegans, vegetarians who strictly eschew animal and fish products, could increase EPA and DHA content in their bodies with flaxseed supplementation, especially if LA intake was limited (Mantzioris et al. 1995).
In healthy adults, the efficiency of conversion of LNA to DHA is estimated at about 5% (Conquer and Holub 1996). Strict vegans who wish to supplement their DHA intake may do so with commercially available algal sources. However, this is a very expensive proposition, some $50 for a month’s supply of a commercial preparation providing 1500 mg of DHA per day.
Hansen (Hansen 1994) indicated that the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide (arachidonylethanolamide) may be synthesized from n-3 fatty acid precursors, especially AA. Anandamide is a neuromodulator with presumed activity on anxiety, memory, and pain mechanisms in the CNS (see cannabis chapter). It was recently demonstrated that anandamide and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) inhibit tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a mediator of inflammation (Cabral et al. 1995). Caughey et al. were able to demonstrate that flaxseed oil supplementation also inhibited TNF (Caughey et al. 1996).
Salem and Niebylski have hypothesized that phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine must contain DHA for optimal CNS function, and that AA and other n-6 fatty acids do not adequately substitute for that component in its synthesis (Salem and Niebylski 1995).
Stevens et al. demonstrated a significantly lower complement of AA, EPA, and DHA in plasma and blood cell lipids in 53 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to normal controls (Stevens et al. 1995). The following year, the same team demonstrated a greater incidence of behavior problems on Conners’ Rating Scale in boys with lower total n-3 fatty acid concentrations (Stevens et al. 1996). These studies certainly point out a putative nutritional factor in ADHD, and possible therapeutic approaches worthy of consideration on an individual case basis.
Hibbeln and Salem reviewed the subject of PUFA and depression in detail (Hibbeln and Salem 1995), pointing out many salient features. As mentioned, inadequate n-3 FA intake has been implicated as etiologic for both coronary disease and depression. It follows that the two might be co-morbid conditions. In fact, this is the case, and to a remarkable degree (P
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Comment #17 posted by Ethan Russo MD on March 24, 2004 at 13:54:40 PT
A selection from: Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs
Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) The author would like to introduce this entry with three separate threads of information. While this may result in a prolonged tangent from the topic of psychotropic herbs, the convergence, and hopefully the integration, of these concepts provides a likely explanation and possible solution to one of the great mysteries of modern medicine.Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy
In 1621, the life’s work of scholar Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, was printed (Burton 1907). Its subject was depression, seemingly one without mass appeal before our modern age of rampant mental illness and self-absorption (and resultant self-help guides). Despite that, Samuel Johnson, author of the Dictionary of the English Language of 1755, called it a “valuable book” of “great spirit and great power.” According to his biographer (Boswell 1960): “Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, he said, was the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise.”
Burton’s treatise examined the subject of depression exhaustively and suggested legion cures. Paramount among them was herbs, such as cannabis (see cannabis chapter), and specific foods. He suggested a diet rich in brains as one cure for depression, but also servings of fish and borage. He said (Burton 1907):In this catalogue, borage and bugloss [another boraginaceous plant] may challenge the chiefest place, whether in substance, juice, root, seeds, flowers, leaves, decoctions, distilled waters, extracts, oils, &c., for such kind of herbs be diversely varied.
Shortly before this in 1597, Gerard had also endorsed the herb as worthy (Gerard and Woodward 1931):Borage is called in shops Borago: Pliny calleth it Euphrosinum, because it makes a man merry and joyfull: which thing also the old verse concerning Borage doth testifie:
Ego Borago gaudia semper ago.
I Borage bring alwaies courage.Those of our time do use the floures in sallads, to exhilerate and make the minde glad. There be also many things made of them, used for the comfort of the heart, to drive away sorrow, & increase the joy of the minde.
The leaves and floures of Borrage put into wine make men and women glad and merry, driving away all sadnesse, dulnesse, and melancholy.
Syrrup made of the floures of Borrage comfortheth the heart, purgeth melancholy, and quieteth the phrenticke or lunaticke person. Culpeper also endorsed borage and bugloss as “great strengtheners of nature.” He stated of borage (Culpeper ), “The leaves, flowers, and seed, all or any of them, are good to expel pensiveness and melancholy ---.”
Grieve added additional endorsements (Grieve 1971), attributing to borage the “absolute forgetfulness” of Nepenthe. John Evelyn said at the end of the 17th century, “Sprigs of Borage are of known virtue to revive the hypochrondriac [sic] and cheer the hard student.” Bacon indicated it “hath an excellent spirit to repress the fuliginous vapour of dusky melancholie.”
What is the secret then of this almost forgotten herb, so precious to our forebears?The Changing Incidence of Depression
In 1930, near the end of his career, Sigmund Freud wrote a disparaging tome titled Civilization and its Discontents (Freud and Riviere 1930), in which he expounded on the deterioration he had observed in the mental health of society over two previous generations. He placed the bulk of the blame on the demands of modern life, its preoccupation with technology, and similar factors.
Although the etiology of depression in modern times may prove otherwise, Freud was certainly correct about its increasing incidence and prevalence. Modern research has confirmed the trend in a striking fashion.
Klerman et al. reviewed a variety of epidemiological studies, and demonstrated an increased prevalence of depression in children and young adults, along with greater rates of alcoholism, other drug abuse, suicide attempts and completions (Klerman and Weissman 1989). Average age of incidence of depression has declined in this century, while the incidence has progressively risen. Using one point on a curve of graphed data, the cumulative probability of developing an affective disorder for a 30 year old was calculated as about 4% for a person born before 1915, but 40% for those born 1945-55, a ten-fold difference. The authors examined a multitude of factors that might explain an ascertainment bias: differential mortality or institutionalization, selective migration, changing diagnostic criteria, changes in attitude of physicians and psychologists, liberalization in societal opinions on depression, reporting bias, memory problems in older patients, etc. All these were subsequently rejected as accounting for the rise in the prevalence of depression. Additionally, they posited 8 environmental factors that might contribute to the trend, but it now seems likely that none of these are etiologically linked.
This study was subsequently expanded to examine a worldwide population by the Cross-National Collaborative Group (1992). The results were similarly compelling. An increase in cumulative lifetime rates of major depression was seen in successive generations in the 20th century in every country examined.
The Paleolithic Diet
Eaton and his colleagues have examined in detailed fashion the manner in which early humans lived, in a book titled The Paleolithic Prescription (Eaton, Shostak, and Konner 1988), and in a series of articles with similar themes (Eaton 1990; Eaton, Eaton, and Konner 1997; Eaton et al. 1998; Eaton and Konner 1985). In essence, our forebears were an extremely aerobically active bunch of hunter-gatherers whose diet bore little resemblance to that of modern man with our reliance on complex carbohydrates, sugar, saturated and hydrogenated fats. Rather, ancient humans ate game meat in large quantities, along with a wide variety of seeds, nuts and berries. At a certain point, the skills of fishing were acquired, and seasonally, huge stores of salmon, herring, and other anadromous fish were collected. Fossil records indicate that although our forebears suffered the ravages of infectious disease, they were as tall as modern humans. They had thick, healthy bones, lacked dental caries, and seemed to be in topnotch general condition. Based on surveys of contemporary vestiges of hunter-gatherer cultures pursuing similar lifestyles, their mental health was probably excellent as well. The modern scourges of arteriosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, and many cancers remain rare in such populations, as they were in industrialized Western cultures before the last century.
While culinary mores and nutritional content have changed over the ages, our genetic attributes have not. One may postulate that our genes today reflect the same basic design for living of our Paleolithic ancestors, including our dietary requirements. For them, caloric intake was about equally divided between plant and game sources. Their meat was five times richer in polyunsaturated fat than modern supplies, especially in eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, which are essentially absent in contemporary beef (Eaton and Konner 1985). Before the agricultural revolution, grains and starch were scarce commodities, and vegetables in the Paleolithic diet were relatively richer in protein, and especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).
The balance of those fatty acids has also changed remarkably. The latter are named by their chain length in carbon atoms, the number and location of their double bonds, and the distance of the latter from the terminal methyl group. Thus, arachidonic acid is labeled C20:4n-6 because it has 20 carbon atoms, 4 double bonds, with the last of those being 6 carbon atoms away from the methyl group. Two major divisions of PUFA are recognized, the n-3 and n-6, or omega-3, and omega-6 fatty acids. Their metabolic pathways are outlined in Figure 1 (modified and adapted after Borkman et al. (Borkman et al. 1993)).
Linoleic acid or LA, and linolenic acid or LNA (sometimes labeled ALA or alpha linolenic acid) are essential fatty acids because humans are not able to synthesize them from other precursors.
Arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in cellular membranes are substrates for conversion via lipooxygenase (LO) and cyclooxygenase to form eicosanoids. These include leukotrienes, prostaglandins, and thomboxane, which possess crucial physiological effects. Eicosanoids from AA are stimulators of inflammation and platelet aggregation, while those from EPA have anti-inflammatory and platelet inhibitory effects (Mantzioris et al. 1995). It is widely held that modern humans exhibit far too much inflammatory tendency, and require stimulation of the alternative pathways.
Synaptic membranes are composed of up to 45% EFA’s, especially arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Mammals are incapable of inter-converting n-3 and n-6 series fatty acids (Hibbeln and Salem 1995). Omega-6 Fatty Acids Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Linoleic acid (LA) Linolenic acid(LNA)
C18:2n-6 C18:3n-3
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Gamma linolenic acid* Stearidonic acid
C18:3n-6 C18:4n-3
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Eicosatrienoic acid Eicosatetraenoic acid
C20:3n-6 C20:4n-3
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Arachidonic acid* Eicosapentaenoic acid**
C20:4n-6 C20:5n-3
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Docosatetraenoic acid Docosapentaenoic acid
C22:4n-6 C22:5n-3
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Docosapentaenoic acid Docosahexaenoic acid
C22:5n-6 C22:6n-3
*AA->Inflammatory eicosanoids.|**GLA/EPA->Anti-inflammatory
Platelet aggregation |eicosanoids.
Increased |Platelet aggregation
|decreased
Whereas the modern diet with its reliance on corn and peanut oil provides a balance of n-6 to n-3 PUFA of some 50:1 in some individuals, estimates are that the Paleolithic diet yielded a ratio much lower, even approximating 1:1. Our current dietary life certainly seems to be out of synch with our nutritional history, and is likely highly incompatible with our genetic requirements.
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Comment #16 posted by Dankhank on March 24, 2004 at 13:42:21 PT
righton
GPH you got it ...I tried fish oil, was not impressed.Need a better way to ingest.Evening primrose ...?
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Comment #15 posted by goneposthole on March 24, 2004 at 13:23:38 PT
I won't eat rotten fish
no matter how much fish oil they have. I don't care how happy I can get from fish oil, eating lutefisk is depressing. I'm happy I don't have to eat lutefisk.
:~)
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Comment #14 posted by escapegoat on March 24, 2004 at 13:03:05 PT
Evening Primrose + fish oil = good results
Ethan can probably address this better, but thanks to a friend who introduced me to it, I've been taking evening primrose and fish oil in a 3:1 ratio for the past six months. I definitely notice a difference in my well-being, happiness and otehr factors. It's the essential fatty acids that do the trick, IIRC.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 24, 2004 at 11:15:34 PT
Dr. Russo
It's good to see you!
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Comment #12 posted by Ethan Russo MD on March 24, 2004 at 11:11:14 PT
Fish Oil and Depression
There is a whole section in my book, Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs, on this. Fish oil can be very effective for depression.Depression is 50 times more common in New Zealand than in Japan. In Japan, they eat 50 times more fish per capita than in NZ.In Africa there is an ethnic tribe where one band lives on a large lake, and another in the mountains. Diets are identical except that the lake-dwellers eat fish. Differences in depression were highly statistically significant.There is truth to the adage, "You are what you eat." Eat a fish, be a fish. Eat fish--- be happy.
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Comment #11 posted by E_Johnson on March 24, 2004 at 10:26:52 PT
How does fish oil work on mood Dr. Russo?
Does anyone know?My niece's doctor told her to use fish oil in addition to her psychiatric meds to reduce depression and anxiety, and it seems to work.It works so well that she can tell when she forgot to take her fish oil by her mood.
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Comment #10 posted by Ethan Russo MD on March 24, 2004 at 07:11:01 PT
Breeze
Start here:http://gwpharm.co.uk/research_depression.asp
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Comment #9 posted by breeze on March 24, 2004 at 06:42:55 PT
advertising marijuana on television
Considering that pharmaceutical companies advertised medications that have possibly caused persons to be driven to suicide (anti-depression meds) and others that can cause kidney damage, nervous system destruction, diahrea, nausea, and a host of other problems- isn't this possibly destructive behaviour more dangerous than marijuana? I have noticed that there aren't as many anti-drug ads in my area as there once were, has this policy changed or have I not been watching the right channel.The commercials I have been seeing though keep telling me to ask my doctor about a medication for which I do not have an ailment- except depression, which I treat with the occasional blunt- for which, my doctor hasn't mentioned marijuana as a possible med. Is there research being done on how marijuana can treat people like me with severe depression? Where could I find reliable information on this?
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Comment #8 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on March 23, 2004 at 13:12:47 PT
Throw your hands way up in the air, and wave 'em..
...if you live in a U.S. state that has decriminalized pot or allows medical cannabis! This is already something like 40% of the U.S. population currently living under some form of cannabis decriminalization/medical.Folks should be happy that we have at least come this far. But I know I personally won't be happy until cannabis is advertised (Northern Lights advertised on television), promoted, and sold everywhere like alcohol currently is.People can patent strains of cannabis just like they can patent alcohol beverages. It just hasn't happened yet [other than GW Pharm's medical spray "Sativex"].Anyhoo, I'm off to go smoke a joint...
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Comment #7 posted by drfistusa on March 23, 2004 at 11:01:41 PT
Please send E-mail to Rep ITO ! Help the cause!
do some good today! write a note to Rep. Ito requesting he release SB2641, for public hearing and a vote. We can not accept the cops intimidating medical Cannabis users. We need the program in the hand of the health dept. like all other states but Nev. which the ag. Dept. runs it. take a min. it could help.repito Capitol.hawaii.gov
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Comment #6 posted by Virgil on March 23, 2004 at 10:47:18 PT
Audio interview with Kucinich on Pot-tv
http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2575.html - The interview starts 14 minutes into the show. Kucinich is a voice of reason that we have been waiting for. He reminds me of a fox in the midst of a bunch of clucking chickens that dare not cluck in front of the fox that would eat them for lunch. DK breaks the prohibitionist master strategy of silence. He also does not adhere to lies being the only thing that breaks such a silence until silence can be resumed.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 10:45:18 PT
News Article from a Snipped Source
Grow Lights Always On, Investigators SayMarch 23, 2004 The utility bills gave them away.
When federal agents started investigating reports of a widespread marijuana cultivation ring that was growing pot inside rental homes throughout the county, they soon found utility bills for the houses were unusually high. "There was an excessive amount of electrical consumption," Michael S. Vigil, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego office, said yesterday. The usage was indicative of what's needed to power indoor marijuana farms, and drug agents on Friday culminated a six-month investigation by raiding 25 homes, arresting 24 people and seizing thousands of pot plants. Although word of the raids leaked as the searches were occurring, details of the investigation were not released until yesterday. DEA agent John Geison stated in court papers that the ring used rental homes in Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Poway and the San Diego neighborhoods of Rancho Peñasquitos, Mira Mesa, Mission Valley and Grantville throughout 2003 and into this year. Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040323-9999-news_1m23pot.html
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on March 23, 2004 at 10:13:52 PT
I just thought of a funny ad campaign
A guy in a jogging outfit running through the park really fast, with a voiceover talking about how running stimulates endocannabinoids and how the endocannabinoids have anti-cancer properties and so on, and how the endocannabinoids are related to marijuana and the medicinal properties of marijuana.Then the camera pulls away and you see the guy is running from the police and then they catch him, throw him on the ground, call him dirty names, handcuff him behind his back and haul him away for a few grams of pot in his pocket of his running shorts.
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Comment #3 posted by Nuevo Mexican on March 23, 2004 at 10:12:05 PT
What is Law Enforcement doing to MM?
Undermining the whole affair, period. Here are some photos, commentary, videos etc, of our Rumsfeld Toppling, if it looks like it was fun, it was!http://www.topplerummy.org/photos.htmlNow Donald is on the run for his statements regarding wanting to do in Iraq, BEFORE 911!Why are we always years ahead of the media, because they want it that way. There can be no other reason. We know the facts, and they seem to sift 'up', rather than down. Interesting, as I watch Scott McClellan, bushs spokesman, run from a newly energized press corp, asking hard questions, and recieving disrespect in return.The tide has turned, and is now 'tidal'.Bush ordered Sharon, or gave his 'okay' to assasinate the Sheik in Israel, and why? To shift attention away from the massive anti-war rallies, and the expose' from Richard Clarke. I suggest we all run out and buy his book, and encourage all others to do so. It is a way of letting publishers know we have an appetite for the truth!
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on March 23, 2004 at 10:09:47 PT
Broaden our advocacy to include exercise?
Gee now that we know that the runner's high is probably because exercise stimulates endocannabinoid production, maybe we should include exercise advocacy as part of the pro-cannabis message.One thing that really impacts the working poor is the lack of opportunity for exercise.Now that I know what endocannabinoids do to prevent cancer and heart disease and other problems, it seems almost like a crime to create obstacles to physical exercise in people's lives.American Endocannabinoid Awareness Week -- wouldn't that be interesting?
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on March 23, 2004 at 09:10:37 PT
You left out something
The federal government has committed a huge crime against humanity inside of even a larger crime against humanity when it prohibited herbal remedy and scientific research by calling for a total prohibion on cannabis when it should have never been illegal or slandered in the first place.Cannabis Prohibition is mass murder, a massive fraud, a massive waste, a massive transgression on unalienable rights and freedom, and a neglect of decades of failure, lies, and idiotcy.
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