cannabisnews.com: Chill Man, This Chemical Helps You Breathe Deep


cannabisnews.com: Chill Man, This Chemical Helps You Breathe Deep





Chill Man, This Chemical Helps You Breathe Deep
Posted by FoM on November 02, 2000 at 06:08:03 PT
By Williiam Heisel, The Orange County Register 
Source: Orange County Register
The '70s rock song "Sweet Leaf," a homage to marijuana, begins with the singer coughing repeatedly. It's a given: You smoke pot, you cough. Now researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and elsewhere have found a way that a marijuanalike chemical in the lungs actually stops people from coughing. Their work appears today in the journal Nature. 
Dig this: The chemical is a neurotransmitter, a little messenger that occurs naturally in your body and tells your nerves what to do. It's one of a group of neurotransmitters called anandamides. The anandamide acts like tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Despite its nickname - "the bliss molecule" - anandamide doesn't get you high. Instead, it helps regulate your appetite, memory and feelings of pain. The Nature study explains that it also appears to stop you from coughing, or, if you smoke something that doesn't agree with you, forces you to cough."It's kind of a jack of all trades depending on what you need," said Dr. Daniele Piomelli, a UCI pharmacologist.Other researchers say the study should give hope to cancer patients and others who suffer from a persistent cough. Instead of ineffective inhalers or cough syrups, the drugs of the future could trigger these anandamides. You'd start to cough, and the anandamide would tell your lungs and airways connected to them: "Chill." "I consider this to be an important finding, if nothing else to figure out what this endogenous cannabinoid system is doing," said Dr. Billy Martin, a pharmacologist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. "It will be intriguing to see what happens in a pathological system." In other words, far out, man. HEALTH: UCI scientists say a neurotransmitter in the body that works much like marijuana helps ease coughing. Source: Orange County Register (CA)Author: Williiam HeiselPublished: November 2, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Orange County RegisterAddress: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711Fax: (714) 565-3657Contact: letters link.freedom.comWebsite: http://www.ocregister.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Nature Journalhttp://www.nature.com/nature/Marijuana-Like Chemical May Control Coughinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7522.shtmlMarijuana-Like Chemical Helps Relieve Coughshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7521.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on March 30, 2001 at 05:27:03 PT:
Sorry, It will be a Long Time
Judy, this study is what's known as "basic science," or in other words, an attempt to figure out how the basic mechanisms of our own physiology work. Anandamide is an endogenous cannabinoid. That means that every one of us has internal natural chemicals that resemble the THC of cannabis, and that they are intimately involved in the modulation of pain, memory, breathing, blood vessel size, gut movement, muscle function, and to a lesser extent, the immune system.Since anandamide is a natural product, it cannot be patented. Additionally, it is in constant flux in the body, being broken down very rapidly. It would not make a practical drug unless there were a way to make it last longer or act selectively in the areas desired. For example, it could be hooked to other molecules and dripped in the eye to control glaucoma. It will be years before any delivery system such as this could negotiate the labyrinth of regulation.In contrast, cannabis is a synergistic blend of cannabinoids that affect the same receptors and functions as anandamide. In someone with lung cancer, smoking is not advisable, but vaporization or other alternative delivery systems may be of value for a variety of symptoms. No one can prescribe it, but if you live in a "legal state," it may be possible to get a physician letter of recommendation for its use that will offer some protection against subsequent prosecution for possession, cultivation or alleged distribution.You can search for info on anandamide or articles on therapeutic cannabis at PubMed:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
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Comment #1 posted by judy clearwater on March 29, 2001 at 21:47:35 PT:
anandamide
if any way possible please let me know more about this drug it is very important to me. my husband had lung cancer 5 1/2 years ago. the treatments of chemo and radiation has left him with a very violent cough to the point where he almost passes out and a couple of times he has passed out, i called 911 last thurs.night because of him passing out. if there is any way we can get him into a clincal trial or get the anandamide as a prescription drug please let me know as soon as possible. i also have fibromyalgia and i'm in constant pain. after reading the news release i feel there may be some for me also with this drug. thank you so much for your time and i really hope that you will let me know back on this.
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