cannabisnews.com: Cannabinoids For Treating Neuropathic Pain





Cannabinoids For Treating Neuropathic Pain
Posted by CN Staff on June 21, 2006 at 08:10:19 PT
Press Release
Source: PRNewswire 
Cambridge, Mass. -- Cannabinoids, chemical agents found in the marijuana plant and endogenous to the human body, are the most promising approach to treating a common type of pain, according to an elite group of pain specialists convened by MedPanel to discuss the challenges and future of treating neuropathic (nerve injury) pain. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the inadequacy of current therapies for this type of pain, the specialists view Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a cannabinoid drug as a thorny process that will be hampered by politics, prejudice and a lack of education on the part of the FDA, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and general public concerning the nature of cannabinoid agents.
While it is difficult to estimate the number of people suffering from neuropathic pain, the condition is frequently seen in patients with diabetes, cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome, HIV, diseases of the central nervous system such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, and in certain post-surgical populations. "During the summit we asked the group to respond to data pertaining to several novel drug therapies and classes of agents under study, and at the conclusion of the meeting they told us that cannabinoids' potential for a strong analgesic affect, broad action on the central nervous system, reduced side effects and use in combination with other therapies is more exciting to them than several other investigational approaches," said Matt Fearer, Senior Vice President, Content Development for MedPanel. "It appears, however, that an unfortunate sociopolitical climate could delay or prevent the approval of potentially valuable therapies for millions of people suffering from neuropathic pain," he added. To facilitate a cannabinoid drug approval process, some of the specialists recommended that manufacturers develop drug therapies that act selectively -- that is, on a few specific rather than on several -- cannabinoid receptors in the body. The group agreed that it would be important to involve FDA in clinical trial design, share early trial data, and engage in education with DEA and the general public to overcome the perception that cannabinoids are the same as marijuana. The summit participants concurred that if approved for prescription use in the United States, a cannabinoid agent would likely be regulated ("scheduled") by the DEA, as are opioids and certain anti-convulsants -- two of the most commonly used types of neuropathic pain therapies. In considering challenges to developing therapies for and treating neuropathic pain, the group frequently noted the need for more effective therapies, better animal models of pain, new diagnostic tools, and improved clinical trial design -- including selection of an appropriate study population and new methods to address bias such as the placebo effect. MedPanel, Inc., a global organization based in Cambridge, MA, offers a powerful online research platform providing clients greater strategic direction for investment decisions, product development, and marketing. By leveraging its proprietary methodology and vast network of medical experts, MedPanel is uniquely positioned to provide fast, accurate, unbiased market data and information to clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, and financial industries.Complete Title: In MedPanel Summit, Leading Pain Experts Name Cannabinoids Among Most Promising Approaches to Treating Neuropathic Pain, Assert that Sociopolitical Climate Will Hamper Drug Approvals Source: MedPanel, Inc.Related Link: http://www.medpanel.com Source: PRNewswire (Wire)Published: June 21, 2006Copyright 2006 PRNewswire Website: http://www.prnewswire.com Contact: http://www.prnewswire.com/news/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #7 posted by Toker00 on June 21, 2006 at 14:54:40 PT
See what so many are missing, Max?
Many people live their whole life not doing what most people used to do without a second thought. We have become so intensely capitalistic, that our humanity has suffered greatly. This earth is ours. It has everything we all need to survive and be happy. It shouldn't cost a thing. We should all wake up and just wonder, what can I learn and share today? Not how much money can I make. I realize we are all slaves to the paycheck, but it's not just that. We honestly believe that we have ADVANCED socially, but I say we have regressed, with great damage to Humanity as a whole. While some of us actually do live the most technically, labor free, easy lifestyle, in the end, many more will pay for that lifestyle than will ever be able to live it. The destruction of our planet, and the endless lives we have wasted in war to ensure this lifestyle, is not a very good trade-off for "Modern Society".Stop the World and let me off, please.Hope, it's so very sad to know that millions more will suffer the damage of alcoholism, brainwashed to hate and demonize the very plant that could give them relief from their demon drug. No, I'm not calling you demonic if you drink alcohol. Just that when alcohol takes over your life, it can become a living hell. Please don't blame your father, Max. He was blinded by what he and too many million others of us think is the right way. The right thing. So many people continue this nightmare without even realizing it's only a dream, and will surely end some day. Then, you better know how to escape, evade, and live off the earth. It's coming soon to a reality near you. Maybe not that extreme, but it could get bad if the worst happens.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Hope on June 21, 2006 at 10:39:39 PT
That's beautiful, Max. It brings tears to my eyes
"Imagine living with that feeling, and be even twice as grateful as you already are for what you have. Do it for me."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on June 21, 2006 at 10:36:02 PT
Toker
I envy your childhood, and who you had as your father. By contrast, my own dad was a business executive for TRW, a huge defense and aerospace contractor in southern California. He was a pencil-pusher, without an entrepreneurial bone in his body. A total slave to the system. To this day he doesn't understand that cannabis is not some evil "drug" that Anslinger, Hoover, Nixon, etc told him it was. He was/is an alcoholic too, albeit a very functional low-key one. Sadly, he became the personification of everything I did NOT want to be. Our relationship is so nonexistent that we can't communicate beyond shallow niceties. Lately I have really come to realize what a devastating impact this has had on my life. Where other people, like you, have a warm, proud feeling about their fathers, I have this gaping hole, an empty wound. Imagine living with that feeling, and be even twice as grateful as you already are for what you have. Do it for me.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Hope on June 21, 2006 at 09:57:08 PT
Toker
"Ever had the feeling of being in Prison without bars?"Pretty much all the time!Free? Sure you are "free". Just don't dare touch that plant or taste it or use it. You can't possess it...but you're "free" people. Yeah. Right.Toker, I'm sorry about the loss of your Dad. I wish my Dad could have been a cannabist instead of alcoholic, too.His life, and ours, would have been so much better, I think. Of course it would have had to be legal for life to be better...or I would have worried awfully about him getting caught, as I'm sure children today do.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Hope on June 21, 2006 at 09:49:57 PT
Making tinctures.
Imagine making your own tinctures. I love to make my own cosmetics and treatments. It would be nice to add a bit of cannabis tincture and vitamin E to witch hazel for a nice and beneficial skin toner.I wonder if a few drops of tincture in a sun block would add to it's cancer preventative qualities.Would it help wounds heal faster added to bit of antibiotic cream?There are so many intrigueing GOOD possibilities...yet we aren't allowed to try them. It's an amazing plant and it was meant for the use of the people. It's ours. Give it back you prohibitionist tyrants and thieves!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Toker00 on June 21, 2006 at 09:48:51 PT
We are SO civilized.
We've had farming and ranching washed from our brains. There are stores now, aren't we civilized? We've had booze brewing and cannabis growing washed from our brains. There are liquor stores and pharma-poisons available now, aren't we an advanced society? Only one form of recreational substance allowed, and self medication is (or probably soon will be) illegal. Ever had the feeling of being in Prison without bars? I remember as a child, before all these "conveniences" came along, how I dreaded getting up at 5:00 o'clock at the age of ten and feeding a very large kennel of hunting dogs. At the age of 11 and 12, it was interesting to me, but farming vegetables is very hard work. Before school, I would harvest okra, beans, or peas, corn, eggplants or peanuts, before the bus came to take me to school. The tomatoes, water melons, cantaloupe, snow peas, and English peas, potatoes, celery, radishes, and carrots, could wait til after school, and full time in the summer. I sold my fathers truck full of vegetables all over our county, and when we went to Nashville Arkansas to pick and re-sell peaches and plums, I would set on the town square and "peddle". I helped prepare the soil and made the rows for all of these wonderful plants. At thirteen, I had been liberated from all this, by the New Generation, because Things Go Better With Coke. Could our children, today, even begin to understand the hard work of generations past, just to survive? We have made their lives so labor free, how can we fuss at them for being lazy? I am so very glad for all the hard work, torn hands, ripped clothing and sore muscles my father showed me in order to prepare me for the REAL world. I loved him and so wish he had had an alternative to a life ruined by alcohol. He wasn't an alcoholist, he was and alcoholic. I smoked cannabis with my father three times before he died of liver damage. The third time was by HIS request. Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 21, 2006 at 08:15:38 PT
Money
It's all about how to keep this very helpful herbal medicine out of everyones hands so it can be made into a drug and sold for a lot of money. Once again people who don't have much money will lose.A simple tincture would eliminate the smoking issue and that isn't expensive either.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment