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Last week there was some pretty hot pre-clinical science news pre-published on-line in the journal, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Cannabidiol (CBD; note the benzene ring contained within the molecular structure), is one biochemical constituent in the cannabis ("marijuana") plant of which "only THC [Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol] is psychoactive." "At least 66 other cannabinoids are also present in cannabis, including cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN) and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) among many others, which are believed to result in different effects from those of THC alone.[7]" ("Marijuana," accessed Sept. 28, 2010).
In the pre-clinical study conducted under lead researcher, Sean McAllister, PhD at The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, cannabidiol (CBD) was delivered directly to cells and found to inhibit tumor mass size, proliferation and invasion of human cancer cells. Also, it was demonstrated that treatment with CBD significantly reduces primary tumor mass as well as the size and number. For more than ten years, McAllister and his scientific team have been investigating the genes responsible for the spread of cancer. Cannibadiol was found in 2007 to inhibit the gene that controls the spread of cancer:
According to cancer researcher Yvez Desprez, Ph.D., "The problem is not the cancer itself, the problem is the spread of the cancer. When this type of gene [Id-1] is expressed, the cells basically go crazy and they’re very aggressive and they metastasize everywhere in the body." Dr. McAllister says, "We could expect that if we create really effective inhibitors against it, we could potentially treat many types of aggressive cancers." (from "Marijuana compound could help fight breast cancer," Nov. 19, 2007, ABC’s KGO-TV San Francisco).
One of the most exciting aspects of this announcement is that CBD may provide one of the only low- or non-toxic therapeutic alternatives to conventional chemotherapy and its associated adverse effects:
Invasion and metastasis of aggressive breast cancer cells are the final and fatal steps during cancer progression. Clinically, there are still limited therapeutic interventions for aggressive and metastatic breast cancers available. Therefore, effective, targeted, and non-toxic therapies are urgently required. Id-1 [..] has recently been shown to be a key regulator of the metastatic potential of breast and additional cancers. We previously reported that cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid with a low toxicity profile, down-regulated Id-1 gene expression in aggressive human breast cancer cells in culture. [.. W]e determined pathways leading to the down-regulation of Id-1 expression by CBD and consequently to the inhibition of the proliferative and invasive phenotype of human breast cancer cells. [.. T]wo different syngeneic models of tumor metastasis to the lungs were chosen to determine whether treatment with CBD would reduce metastasis in vivo. We show that CBD inhibits human breast cancer cell proliferation and invasion [..]. Moreover, [..] we then show that treatment with CBD significantly reduces primary tumor mass as well as the size and number of lung metastatic foci in two models of metastasis. Our data demonstrate the efficacy of CBD in pre-clinical models of breast cancer. The results have the potential to lead to the development of novel non-toxic compounds for the treatment of breast cancer metastasis, and the information gained from these experiments broaden our knowledge of both Id-1 and cannabinoid biology as it pertains to cancer progression. (from "Pathways mediating the effects of cannabidiol on the reduction of breast cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis," Sept. 22, 2010)
Although this is the very careful, conditional language of the bench scientist, this is a pretty big deal– even for research considered at an early stage.
Cancer Research UK investigator, Dr. Joanna Owens, says:
[.. t]he findings will need to be followed up with clinical trials in humans to see if the CBD is safe, and whether the beneficial effects can be replicated. Several cancer drugs based on plant chemicals are already used widely, such as vincristine – which is derived from a type of flower called Madagascar Periwinkle and is used to treat breast and lung cancer. It will be interesting to see whether CBD will join them. (from "Cannabis compound ‘halts cancer’" Nov. 19, 2007, BBC News)
50 Comments
Thanks for this post.
I’m going to edit the title/headline on it, though, to make it tweetable. It’s 177 characters as posted, well over 140 character minimum — and we do want this one to be retweeted.
Thank you, Rayne! Please do as this is AWESOME news!! I’ll hang out here in the comments and field questions if folks would like to ask them.
Key words for broader range of readers are marijuana and cancer — hence the use of “marijuana compound” in head versus cannabidiol. Readers will see the citation once they begin reading your post.
I’m going to tweet this, hope other readers will do the same!
Good edit! I want folks to know that the cannabis plant is the subject of intense interest by the Pharmaceutical Industry for what may be the real gold within– cannabidiol (CBD) and the other 66 other cannabinoids. See “Cannabinoid System in Neuroprotection, Raphael Mechoulam, PhD,” May 22, 2007.
The human body has a internal system for the use of “naturally occuring within” (“endogenous”) cannabinoids: “Exploring the Endocannabinoid System” (from Jan. 26, 2010). Check out a fascinating look at the evolution of the cannabinoid receptor in an excerpt from BBC’s 2009 film, “Cannabis: Evil Weed?” (from Feb. 14, 2009). Next, view the intriguing report, “BBC Horizon: A Look At Medicinal Cannabis & Sativex UK” (from Sept. 14, 2009).
More on the fascinating human medical science story of the cannabis plant and what researchers now know about memory as a result: “The Botany Of Cannabis,” Nov. 19, 2009.
tweeted and recommended
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dayum, this is remarkable
I’d like to remind everybody cannabis is prohibited purely for religious reasons, a clear violation of the first amendment of the US constitution.
Sister Lauren
THC Ministry
I dedicate this song to my sister Kaiti, she doesn’t speak to me anymore ever since I figured out how to legalize pot. It was an argument about religion. She is a ‘Christian’. You know, the kind who burn witches.
The Byrds – The Christian Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBAz7iwPPdg
Free Roger Christie!
http://www.thc-ministry.org/?page_id=453
I was tortured for my religion. It was a conspiracy and I plan to sue for damages.
Fox News Blog On Prop. 19 – Marijuana Legalization
http://www.bakedlife.com/2010/09/fox-news-blog-on-proposition-19.html#ixzz10vh8t2lY
You bring up a good point but I think this is a flawed approach in the US. I think that Sweden at its apex had the right idea– I’d prefer to see the separation of church in state actually occur in this country such that we have a secular, ethical state and the religious groups are relegated to the status of a “hobby clubs” not running any aspects of the country’s infrastructure.
Next, based upon everything I have researched, I would like to see the cartels busted up who have created this Prohibition 2.0 and are controlling available affordable medicines and cures under the hypocritical arguments of “religion” which is no more than legalized hate and racketeering.
A most important post, mzchief, thank you, and this comment puts much of what your post, necessarily, does not and cannot go into, in true and useful historical (as well as manufactured hysterical and deliberately calculated) perspective.
Well done in every regard.
Highly recommended.
DW
Thank you.
There’s much material to review in detail for possible comment or expanding upon for greater insight here. I’d like to start with “BBC Horizon: A Look At Medicinal Cannabis & Sativex UK” (from Sept. 14, 2009) introduced in mzchief @ 5.
The following is a transcript I have produced for this video segment with the notation of the video time point before each transcription segment:
0:02 {John the Interviewer & Narrator} It’s a surprising situation for a plant that’s been with us so long. Other plant-based drugs with medical uses such as aspirin, cocaine and heroin, have all been exploited for their full benefits. But cannabis lags behind.
0:17 {John} In fact only now is the world’s first legal medicine based on the cannabis plant being produced deep in the English countryside. I’m going there for a rare glimpse.
0:28 {John} Even though it’s all done completely legally with the permission of the Home Office the security arrangements means that the exact location has to remain a secret and that means that we’re going to have to turn the camera off.
0:42 {Dr. Philip Robson, GW Pharmaceuticals} Come on through John. {John} Thank you. So this is it?
0:46 {Philip Robson} This is it. You can see here one of our growing areas and a fairly wide selection of plants. Come, come on in and have a look. {John} Thank you. Gosh there are loads of it. {Shots of different variations of the cannabis plant or the plant in stages of maturation}
1:02 {John} How many plants have you got here?
1:04 {Philip Robson} There are about 5000 plants here and every year we grow about 30,000. {John} And how much … eh … sort of volume of cannabis would this produce per year?
1:12 {Philip Robson} Well, the pay load, the botanical raw materials it’s called– about a ton. {john} Gosh.
1:18 {John} To turn it into a sale-able pain relief medicine, cannabis is first dried.
1:24 {John} Each and every plant is a clone so that the exact properties are known and consistent.
1:29 {shot of the plants being hung up to dry out} {Philip Robson} That’s how we hang out our washing.
1:32 {Philip Robson} Let’s go in here now. {John opens door to new laboratory section} That’s it? {Philip Robson} Thank you very much. We need to get into the kit I’m afraid sir. {Both men put on clean room jackets and hair nets before proceeding into another area} {John} OK.
1:46 {John} Next, it is milled and heated. {Philip Robson} So we see the raw material there … botanical raw material. It will be put into the mill and it’s ground down to particles about a millimeter.
2:01 {John} But at this stage nothing is wasted … it all goes in. {Philip Robson} it all goes in there … exactly.
2:06 {John} the plant material is reduce to a concentrate. {Philip Robson} Ten it ends up in here… {John} Yeah? {John} … spinning down at 60 degrees … and all the ethanol just evaporates away.
2:17 {Philip Robson} To give you and idea of the sort of material it is, you can see that it is sort of treacle like. {John} Yeah, it is quite sticky isn’t it? {Philip Robson} It really is quite sticky and that .. that really makes it quit hard to work with therefore. {John} Let’s have a look at that? {Philip Robson} Oh go ahead. {John} Oh gosh …
2:31 {John} “The final product is a liquid which the patient sprays into their mouth so removing the need for harmful smoking”
2:39 {John} Yet despite this meticulous processing it’s still not widely available.
2:43 {John} it’s not exactly taking its place in the pharmaceuticals across the country. Is that because the effects are quite weak?
2:50 {Philip Robson} I don’t think … no, no, they are not weak at all. I think that um cannabis would not have survived over the millennia as a … uh, uh … medicinal entity if it had been weak. And cannabis-based medicines aren’t weak. It’s simply that we are dealing– I think– with with a group of patients who, first of all, have tried all the standard medicines and have not responded before having come to the conclusion with … with this particular drug. We’re dealing with outcomes measures with are rather vague. So pain and spasticity are very difficult to quantify in a research situation.
3:20 Despite this, so far the only available product is a treatment for pain caused by Multiple Sclerosis. And this is licensed only in Canada.
3:30 {John} But there’s the possibility of treating many more ailments thanks to an unexpected property of the plant.
3:36 {Philip Robson} If you look in the … the microscope then you’ll see sort of some glistening golf ball like structures.
3:49 {Philip Robson} And, um, those are the glandular tricombs in the inflorescence of the plant which contain all the chemicals that we are interested in for making medicine.
3:57 {John} It’s not just THC. These tricombs contain CBD– another valuable chemical.
4:03 {Philip Robson} There’s quite a lot of CBD in that particular one as well, cannabidiol, which is another cannabinoid– a non-psychoactive cannabinoid … which we think is actually a very important component of the medicine.
4:12 {John} So from your point of view in terms of development medications … cannabidiol, CBD, what role does that have?
4:19 {Philip Robson} Well we hope it’s going to … we, we are fascinated by the stuff which you know has potential as an anti-inflammatory– {John} yes– {Philip Robson} but also rather surprisingly, is an anti-psychotic.
4:28 {John} So hold on. Do you .. You’re telling me that CBD could be treatment for psychosis?
4:31 {Philip Robson} This is .. isn’t this ironic with all the sort of .. uh .. tremendous publicity around the link with cannabis smoking and the potential for increasing the risk of psychosis.
4:39 {Philip Robson} Here we have a component of the plant which itself is anti-psychotic.
4:44 {John} And we’re saying that the same plant … {Philip Robson} Within the same plant, you’ve got a chemical which actually has a completely opposite effect and which therefore be protective to some extent.
4:51 {Philip Robson} And so I think its a level of concern that some of the recreational cannabises out there contains no CBD at all … and that is a modern phenomenon.
5:00 {Philip Robson} Um, previously, you know, it was much more usual for people to be smoking some cannabis with some CBD in it at least.
5:07 {Zoom out from Philip Robson while he says “not just THC” and is still talking. John is doing a voice over so you can’t hear what Philip Robson is saying up through time point 5:21}
5:08 {John} As recreational cannabis plants a are grown for higher THC content– so their CBD content falls– simply because the plant isn’t able to produce high levels of both.
5:21 {cut back to Philip Robson} {John} So your trick as a developer of medication is to .. I supposes .. change the relative balance of THC and CBD– cannabidiol.
5:28 {Philip Robson} Exactly. Getting that proportion right for different conditions is going to be absolutely key. So we think for for pain and spasticity a roughly equal balance of THC and CBD is good because each has their own type of pharmacology, quite separate mechanisms of action, and they interact together in a helpful way … Probably along with other plant constituents too.
5:48 {Philip Robson} But for other conditions, like perhaps inflammation or psychosis, you wouldn’t want probably any THC at all. {John} Right. {Philip Robson} You’d want some of the other plant components but you’d want the CBD mainly along side those other components.
6:04 {John} For a plant that’s been know and used medicinally for almost over 3000 years, its surprising that new chemicals and uses are still being discovered.
6:13 {John} What I find even more surprising is that the medicinal use of cannabis is so far from being widely accepted.
This is an important point– therapeutic agent delivery of the packaged dose via inhaler is a packaging you can only typically get from an industrially produced product. It ensures a very clean delivery to lung tissue for metabolism. Smoking is less efficient and delivers chemical compounds directly to lung tissue. Those compounds may be harmful, inert or may be compounds now made toxic by the often incomplete combustion process.
Brilliant response by Dr. Robson that cuts through any hysteria-based, non-scientific objections that could be used to terminate this important research.
I fixed my errors in the transcription here and the reader knows John is talking.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has many variations classified and, in general, is a very debilitating, painful, irreversible-as-yet and terminal disease:
(from “Respiratory muscle involvement in multiple sclerosis,” European Respiratory Journal (1999)
It’s a shame that at the time of this video, only Canada is the only country that has made this therapeutic agent available to those suffering MS. It would be useful for an update in this area, country by country.
As I work through your sane and rational, even inspiring links, mzchief, I cannot help but consider the time lost in understanding a collection of compounds which, without doubt, will ultimately have profound implications for the health and well-being of human beings. Time lost to ignorance and moral turpitude, to violent repression, to racial scapegoating, and to un-Constitutional, unreasonable, and inhuman incarceration of human beings who presented no genuine threat to anyone or anything but a perceived “norm” which was, and remains, based upon nothing but the expedient exercise of brute, unthinking and uncaring power; nothing more, nothing less.
Thank you, once again, mzchief, for this post and for your dedication to truth and understanding.
DW
Well in the US freedom of religion is a birth right that our ancestors fought and died for. Federal marijuana prohibition is a fully unconstitutional religious prohibition based on Exodus 22:18 Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.
Here is a nice book on the history, I highly recommend you read it,
Marijuana – The First Twelve Thousand Years
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/abel.htm
Marijuana is completely harmless and a very useful medicine. From FOXN,
Are You Cannabis Deficient?
http://health.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/10/are-you-cannabis-deficient/
It is a states rights issue. From our constitution,
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
From my church,
Cultivation and enjoyment of Cannabis sacrament is a fundamental human right provided by God and protected by the first Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It is our opinion that Cannabis is the original sacrament of Hebrew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist, Rasta and more, and fulfills the prophesies to ‘raise up for them a plant of renown…’
http://www.thc-ministry.org/
Reverend Lauren Unruh
THC Ministry
Pleasant Hill, Ca
A Native American Church
psst How’s your recovery, DW?
please forgive the OT on your great thread, mzchief.
I am so digging the “glandular tricombs in the inflorescence of the plant” at this juncture in the video. The viewer is getting data on very important physical chemical properties of some of the cannabinoids as well as the heavy hint from Philip Robson that the CBD is what the research team is focusing on (not the THC). Clearly, they will want to know everything about the rest of the other 66 heretofore identified compounds in the plant tissues.
DWBartoo @ 19: !De nada!
Elliot @ 21: !No problema!
KindGSL @ 20: You pose very good points. I should clarify the context of my previous comment to you– I define “religion” as “an institutionalized faith not requiring a scientific basis or such proofs” versus “spirituality” which I define as “an non-institutionalized faith not requiring a scientific basis or such proofs.” Also, law– a branch of philosophy as is science– its promulgation and enforcement seemed to have been blunted and/or distorted by religion used as a clever political vehicle for some folks to accrue more rights and protections for themselves without consideration for the same equal rights and protections of the others. I know that many racial/ethic/spiritual “minority” groups have attempted to protect themselves through an official religious designation. That worked briefly but I think that strategy backfired in a systemic way. American Indians that are affiliated with a legally recognized tribe are sovereignties with inconsistent legal treatment and have the added problem that their treaties have been violated. This has been a complicating issue as clearly not every one in the United States has equal treatment under the laws (don’t forget the situation of US and all its weird different kinds of legal jurisdictions).
4:12 – 4:28 + 4:39 + 4:44: This is textbook Pharmacology/Toxicology.
4:31 Dr. Robson diplomatically acknowledges and points out the difficult political environment of the UK regarding cannabis medical research.
This section of the conversation is textbook as to why there needs to be biodiversity: Mother Nature’s Kitchen is very complex in a way humans still do not understand it and needs to be left alone to do what it does best– evolve and create. It’s better for humans to study it than try to engineer it or lock-box its systems for profit as profit-motivations are now exclusive to keeping the systems intact and functioning (e.g. BP oil volcano as case-in-point).
Another point I think needs to be explored is that there should not be the lock-boxing of the naturally occurring and changing plant by private entities (e.g. corporate patents on components of Mother Nature seems ridiculous). On the other hand, humans need to have a sensible and egalitarian approach to preserving and management what’s left of the Earth flora, fauna and environs.
Mending well, if more slowly than I’d like, Elliott, being, as I am, a grumpy old curmudgeon … “another three weeks”, the doc says, then I’ll … “be right as rain” …
(beggin’ your pardon, mzchief for continuing this OT)
DW
{waving; on fly-by} I’m in the home stretch on this …
Glad to hear it!
Your second paragraph is profoundly important, mzchief, as it is the true path of wisdom.
One hopes that our understanding which may be compared to a mud-puddle is not overwhelmed by our ignorance which may be compared to all the seas and oceans of the world, combined.
DW
I’ve slighted corrected my edit in the above without any change in meaning as here we have some real meat– isolating and completely characterizing the plant compounds that are seen by and acted upon by the human biochemical system (once they are effectively presented to the body). Dr. Robson is giving big hints on what is already stably known (strongly substantiated by the research). Now if the viewer goes back and reviews the whole of the BBC’s 2009 film, “Cannabis: Evil Weed?” (from Feb. 14, 2009), the viewer will have a better understanding of the sad plight of the UK gentleman who looks to me like he is trying to medicate himself by smoking cannabis (he’s predominately receiving THC) when he has a deeper issue of a biochemical imbalance that needs compassion and very insightful medical treatment (in part the sorting out of habituation versus a biochemical dysfunction).
Nope. Earth systems evolve (change). Scientists observe and study those changes. Every once in awhile something new to the scientific observer pops up or remains right in front of their noses for later “discovery” (e.g. the correct structure of the Bohr atomic model). Even the double-blind study model had to be updated (by the 1990s) to properly take into account the effect on a study of the subject’s perception of being studied (the quantum physics reality).
Already covered by Dr. Robson’s comment at time point 4:31.
Thank you.
Our children and their children will wonder why we didn’t call it
the miracle plant.
I rather suspect, doremus35, that our children and their children will have a number of questions that we would really prefer not to answer … as the answers will not reflect well upon us.
DW
doremus35 @ 33: Yes, naturally occurring therapeutic agents are known to typically have no or fewer side-effects and toxicities than those isolated, synthesized and produced (often using petrochemical precursors or chemical constituents that are otherwise considered “waste” from other industrial processes). It can’t be helped that the synthetics have some toxic impurities as they are created in high-volume, industrial chemical plants.
DWBartoo @ 34: This would be the time to act and, therefore, do our best not to burden our children’s future like that.
Something important to talk about is the fact that sensations that aren’t classically defined as “pain” do lead to tip-offs that there may be an imbalance, injury or disease with respect to a person’s composite health state:
A variety of cultural “scripts” encouraging individuals to ignore or dismiss sensations of discomfort and pain. At least three, not-necessarily mutually-exclusive possible outcomes result:
1) those individuals ignore early warning signs and do not obtain the proper, usually less expensive and medically risky preventative treatment. Instead, those individuals go for medical treatment either after it is too late for a successful treatment outcome and/or only very high-risk (for the patient) and expensive (more likely unaffordable for the patient) options are left.
2) a whole class of patients are dismissed for preventative and acute, necessary treatment
3) over time, a negative, institutional medicalization of every aspect of normal living (e.g. book review by John Hopkins University Press of “The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders,” by Peter Conrad).
Dr. Robson definitely refers to 2) and appears to think society can do a better, compassion job of addressing those people’s needs and does not invalidate them.
Frankly, mzchief, we shall have to spend the rest of our lives repairing and caring for the world that, already, belongs to our children …
DW
The following excepts point to symptoms that patients may only be able to identify as “discomfort” or an unusual health state change:
- from “Extrapyramidal symptoms,” Wikipedia.Org, accessed Sept. 29, 2010
The findings regarding CBD should stimulate further researcher as pharmaceutical aids to mental health treatment hit with conventionally available therapeutic agents hit a wall during in the 1990s, less-that-desireable current treatment procedures are happily obsoleted and side-effects are lowered:
- from “Limbic System: Functions,” Wikipedia.Org, Sept. 29, 2010
- from “Cannabidiol: Medicinal Use,” Wikipedia.Org, accessed Sept. 29, 2010
- from “Cannabidiol: Medicinal Uses,” Wikipedia.Org, accessed Sept. 29, 2010
While we’re at it, let’s forever ban the barbaric practice of electrocuting patients as “medical treatment.”
“Electro-Shock Therapy” is barbaric and “ham-handed”, and its devastating effects on memory are dismissed as “minor” by those who administer or prescribe such treatment, but who have no personal idea, not the slightest, of the “nature” of the “experience”, having never experienced the “treatment” themselves.
(Short rant, over)
DW
DWBartoo
I am voting a big yes on Prop. 19, and whenever the opportunity arises, I freely discuss with others the reasons why the decriminalization and unfettered use of marijuana is so important to our society.
And with mzchief’s great post, now I really can add a powerful new arrow to my quiver of arguments for the legal use of this amazing little plant. Back to nature never sounded so good.
I will not have to hang my head in shame, for I will tell my daughter with pride that I was working in the trenches of democracy for a freer society to make her and her children’s lives of better quality and longer duration.
This fight is the good fight and we will win this one.
I think this area harbors some outright torturers. I received several stories. The happiest one was first-hand of a personal who had a medical emergency and was administered this as “treatment.” The individual was lucky– they only lost 4 years of their life. During that lost 4 years, they lost the person to which they were previously engaged. The person was lucky enough to have enjoyed some recovery of their health state but had to completely redo a very arduous undergraduate professional program.
IMHO the shaming is a big-time smoke screen to hide the behind-the-scenes full-court press to keep the present command and control structures in place and in charge. The scientific research I am talking about could level the status quo when folks realize what is being withheld from them.
Dear Rayne/Moderator, can you update the tags for this article to include “Proposition 203″ (see “Arizona’s Prop 203: Pledge to Vote for Medical Marijuana,” by Michael Whitney, Sept. 29, 2010)? Thank You!
Public Service Announcement: Please go visit JustSayNow.Com for updates, see how you can get involved including registering to vote on a compassionate medical marijuana legalization initiative for your state, shop ethically produced and distributed eco-friendly American-made items to support the JustSayNow! campaign and learn more about associated issues. Tweet/re-tweet, email and FaceBook links to JustSayNow.Com articles to get out the word! Thank You in Advance!!
So to recap, the skillful medical use of select cannabinoid compounds has positive implications for:
+ pain relief without conventional side-effects (toxicities) or the rebound effect
+ the alleviation or cure of large variety of cancers, autoimmune diseases, nervous system degenerative diseases and neurological disorders concurrent with longer extension of life after cure/remission, reduction of cancer re-occurrence rates, and greater post-cure/post-treatment health state and quality of life
+ a low- to non-toxic biochemical therapy that obsoletes toxic and painful chemotherapeutic procedures, painful or permanently debilitating surgical procedures, health-affecting nuclear medical or radiation procedures and less need for prostheses/medical devices
+ an effective, non-addictive, low- to non-toxic co-therapy for elevating mental wellness onto an equal playing field with “physical health” to …
o assist in the healing of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (children and adults in civilian life can suffer from this for a number of reasons; not just combat soldiers)
o assist the mentally ill in leading more independent, functional lives within our communities with better, non-toxic non-psychosis-inducing alternatives
Correction: “BBC Horizon: A Look At Medicinal Cannabis & Sativex UK” (from Sept. 14, 2009) doesn’t explicitly give pharmacokinetics of Sativex (TM). Initially it occurred to me that the target was the mouth’s mucous membranes but I second-guessed myself and went for delivery to the lungs. Well, upon additional searching as inquiring minds want to know, I found that “Respectable Reefer” (from Nov. 14, 2005) tells all (the bold in the following is my emphasis):
“Respectable Reefer” (from Nov. 14, 2005) is an excellent read and you will want to finish the whole article. Note some more compelling details (my bold):
{snip}
{snip}
{snip}
There’s more … please read this article in its entirety: “Respectable Reefer” (from Nov. 14, 2005)
A whole other constellation of business activity that I think is really off the public’s radar issues from a fact of the drug development research, development and marketization processes– if it’s good enough for animals, it’s often considered good enough for humans (after validation in human clinical trials).
To begin with, human researchers typically study drug effects in “animal models” in order to extrapolate to humans.
and
- Amelia Eisch, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas
from “Marijuana may make your brain grow: Cannabinoid injections sprout new neurons in mice.” Published online 13 October 2005, Nature, doi:10.1038/news051010-12
Another example (from Pharmacokinetics of cannabidiol in dogs.):
A non-exhaustive list includes mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, horses and primates. Drugs marketed for people are often concurrently marketed for veterinarian use in animals. As drugs “age” in a marketplace (make less money) when marketed to people– something with great variable within and without countries– they find new financial life being prescribed to animals. Also, drug research is used to develop lucrative drug detection or delivery methods not only for humans but for animals.
For example:
Gabapentin in Horses: Validation of an Analytical Method for Gabapentin Quantitation,” Journal of Analytical Toxicology, November/December 2007, Volume 31, Number 9, pages 555–565.
And (from “FCR 37. PATENT ASSIGNMENT REPORT,” University of Kentucky, June 9, 2009):
People realize that food development for humans is lucrative but often it is even more so for animal as it is well known that good nutrition is one of the most important components of animal health (aside from genetic problems caused by over-breeding) and, therefore, market price.
For example, this Saskatchewan, Canada article published online (from “Hemp for Horses – Part 2,” accessed Sept. 30, 2010):
So, not only is there a significant implication for human health, there’s also an implication for animal health.
First some definitions …
Apoptosis (pronounced /ˌæpəˈtoʊsɪs/ or /ˌæpəpˈtoʊsɪs/)[1][2] is the process of programmed cell death (PCD) that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes include blebbing, loss of cell membrane asymmetry and attachment, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation. (See also Apoptosis DNA fragmentation.) Apoptosis differs from necrosis, in which the cellular debris can damage the organism. In contrast to necrosis, which is a form of traumatic cell death that results from acute cellular injury, apoptosis, in general, confers advantages during an organism’s life cycle.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are chemically-reactive molecules containing oxygen. Examples include oxygen ions and peroxides. Reactive oxygen species are highly reactive due to the presence of unpaired valence shell electrons. ROS form as a natural byproduct of the normal metabolism of oxygen and have important roles in cell signaling. However, during times of environmental stress (e.g. UV or heat exposure), ROS levels can increase dramatically. This may result in significant damage to cell structures. This cumulates into a situation known as oxidative stress. ROS are also generated by exogenous sources such as ionizing radiation. [..] According to the Free-radical theory, oxidative damage initiated by reactive oxygen species is a major contributor to the functional decline that is characteristic of aging.
The free-radical theory of aging (FRTA) states that organisms age because cells accumulate free radical damage over time. A free radical is any atom or molecule that has a single unpaired electron in an outer shell.
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+, in older notation triphosphopyridine nucleotide, TPN) is used in anabolic reactions, such as lipid and nucleic acid synthesis, which require NADPH as a reducing agent. NADPH is the reduced form of NADP+. NADP+ differs from NAD+ by the presence of an additional phosphate group on the 2′ position of the ribose ring that carries the adenine moiety. [In animals] The oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway is the major source of NADPH in cells, producing approximately 60% of the NADPH required. NADPH provides the reducing equivalents for biosynthetic reactions and for oxidation-reduction involved in protection against the toxicity of ROS (reactive oxygen species), i.e., the regeneration of reduced glutathione, known as GSH. NADPH is also used for anabolic pathways, such as lipid synthesis, cholesterol synthesis, and fatty acid chain elongation. The NADPH system is also responsible for generating free radicals in immune cells. These radicals are used to destroy pathogens in a process termed the respiratory burst.[1] It is the source of reducing equivalents for cytochrome P450 hydroxylation of aromatic compounds, steroids, alcohols, and drugs.An oxidase is any enzyme that catalyzes an oxidation-reduction reaction involving molecular oxygen (O2) as the electron acceptor. In these reactions, oxygen is reduced to water (H2O) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The oxidases are a subclass of the oxidoreductases.
The NADPH oxidase (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase) is a membrane-bound enzyme complex. It can be found in the plasma membrane as well as in the membrane of phagosome.
LOX is 5-lipoxygenase (definition given in citation 16 in the below from “5-Lipoxygenase and anandamide hydrolase (FAAH) mediate the antitumor activity of cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid,”Journal of Neurochemistry, Volume 104, Issue 4, pages 1091–1100, February 2008)
Δ9-THC is commonly refered to as “THC”
Now the findings:
And, therefore, why CBD may be considered an anti-aging compound– not only because of it assistance in selectively targeting and killing cancer cells– but because of its protective action for normal cells.
For example (from “Neuroprotective effects of cannabidiol in endotoxin-induced uveitis: critical role of p38 MAPK activation,” Molecular Vision 2008; 14:2190-2203):
All of this a very big deal …
Update (the link is now included) …
Now the findings (from “Cannabidiol Enhances the Inhibitory Effects of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol on Human Glioblastoma Cell Proliferation and Survival,” Mol Cancer Ther January 2010 9:180-189; Published OnlineFirst January 12, 2010):
Please note the comments of Deputy Director of NORML and NORML Foundation, Paul Armentano:
“THC Kills Glioma Cancer Cells – Medical Miracles from Europe,” April 4, 2008
“Big Pharma-Backed Marijuana Spray As Medicine?,” June 24, 2010