Binky
05-27-2005, 12:27 PM
Pot Compound Protects Against Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage
May 26, 2005 - Bethesda, MD, USA
Bethesda, MD: Administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) protects against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in rats, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the co-administration of CBD with ethanol reduced alcohol-induced cell death in the hippocampus and etorhinal cortex of the brain in a dose-dependent manner by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," authors wrote.
Researchers hypothesized that CBD is neuroprotective because it possesses anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, are believed to help the body protect against the deleterious effects of free radicals (unstable atoms that can damage cells and may accelerate the progression of cancer and age-related diseases).
Previous research performed by NIMH researchers demonstrated that both THC and CBD protect rat brain cells against glutamate toxicity (a neurochemical that is released at toxic levels during a stroke or severe head trauma). An Italian research team has also demonstrated CBD to protect against the brain damage caused by ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).
Researchers have also noted that CBD and THC can induce tumor regression, including brain cancer, in rodents and human cells.
US federal law prohibits the medical use of cannabinoids except for synthetic THC.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity," appears in the May issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6538
UK To Fund Three-Year Study On Role Of THC In MS Treatment
May 26, 2005 - Plymouth, United Kingdom
Plymouth, United Kingdom: Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) has agreed to fund a three-year clinical trial to examine the long-term benefits of cannabinoids on multiple sclerosis-related disability.
The trial, which will involve 500 patients, is a follow up to a 2003 study that found MS patients gained significantly greater relief from disabling symptoms after one year of cannabinoid therapy (either oral THC or a cannabis extract) than they did after 15 weeks.
"Currently very few medicines are effective in treating MS and none have been shown to have any effect in the later stages of the disease," said John Zajicek of the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, who will oversee the trial. "If [this] study demonstrates that cannabinoids do have a longer term effect on the progression of disability, there are potentially far-reaching implications, not only for the health of people with MS, but also for those with other neurodegenerative conditions."
In addition to symptom management, recent clinical data indicates that cannabinoids may slow down the neurodegenerative processes that lead to MS and similar chronic diseases. A review of this literature appears in the current issue of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.
DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6539
Source: NORML Foundation (DC)
Published: May 26, 2005
Copyright: 2005 NORML
Contact: norml@norml.org
Website: http://www.norml.org/
May 26, 2005 - Bethesda, MD, USA
Bethesda, MD: Administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) protects against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in rats, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the co-administration of CBD with ethanol reduced alcohol-induced cell death in the hippocampus and etorhinal cortex of the brain in a dose-dependent manner by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," authors wrote.
Researchers hypothesized that CBD is neuroprotective because it possesses anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, are believed to help the body protect against the deleterious effects of free radicals (unstable atoms that can damage cells and may accelerate the progression of cancer and age-related diseases).
Previous research performed by NIMH researchers demonstrated that both THC and CBD protect rat brain cells against glutamate toxicity (a neurochemical that is released at toxic levels during a stroke or severe head trauma). An Italian research team has also demonstrated CBD to protect against the brain damage caused by ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).
Researchers have also noted that CBD and THC can induce tumor regression, including brain cancer, in rodents and human cells.
US federal law prohibits the medical use of cannabinoids except for synthetic THC.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity," appears in the May issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6538
UK To Fund Three-Year Study On Role Of THC In MS Treatment
May 26, 2005 - Plymouth, United Kingdom
Plymouth, United Kingdom: Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) has agreed to fund a three-year clinical trial to examine the long-term benefits of cannabinoids on multiple sclerosis-related disability.
The trial, which will involve 500 patients, is a follow up to a 2003 study that found MS patients gained significantly greater relief from disabling symptoms after one year of cannabinoid therapy (either oral THC or a cannabis extract) than they did after 15 weeks.
"Currently very few medicines are effective in treating MS and none have been shown to have any effect in the later stages of the disease," said John Zajicek of the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, who will oversee the trial. "If [this] study demonstrates that cannabinoids do have a longer term effect on the progression of disability, there are potentially far-reaching implications, not only for the health of people with MS, but also for those with other neurodegenerative conditions."
In addition to symptom management, recent clinical data indicates that cannabinoids may slow down the neurodegenerative processes that lead to MS and similar chronic diseases. A review of this literature appears in the current issue of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.
DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6539
Source: NORML Foundation (DC)
Published: May 26, 2005
Copyright: 2005 NORML
Contact: norml@norml.org
Website: http://www.norml.org/