CANNABIS SATIVA , MARIJUANA ... NOT ONLY SMOKE !!!

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I'm not talking about recreational use, but just the medical properties of CANABIS SATIVA  L. ( more than 100 species)

Indeed, this plant unfairly blacklisted, is revealed to be most useful

Sativa

Indica

The botany of Cannabis sativa L.

Hemp is a weed that is characterized more by what is ignores of its biology, than what we know. Adaptable to many climates, there is little that the North Pole or in the humid tropics that hemp refuses to grow. Species not stabilized, highly traveling, enjoying an amazing ecological flexibility.

the Chinese expression for hemp,

 is a pictograph of two plants under a shelter

. The use of cannabis, has been shown to go back at least 

10,000 years in Taiwan

Leaves and dried flowers are what is marijuana, but they were also used, with roots in the preparation of many drugs. The oldest known book of pharmacology (the Pên ts'ao-Ching) written 4000 years ago in China, prescribe marijuana preparations for the treatment of malaria, beriberi, constipation, rheumatic pains, the concern, and "female disorders" 
(probably menstrual cramps). For thousands of years, doctors and healers worldwide Cannabis preparations prescribed for various diseases until the 19th century when the Cannabis began to be replaced by aspirin. Legal text of 1937 outlawed Cannabis and ended the ability of doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes in the USA. (Note: remember the date and 1935 presidential  campaign !)

Non therapeutics uses

It was used as ... weapon

Cannabis was used as a truth serum by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a US government  intelligence agency formed during World War II. In the early 1940s, it was the most effective truth drug developed at the OSS labs at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; it caused a subject "to be loquacious and free in his impartation of information."

It may be one of the reasons it is blacklisted by our politicians ...

Therapeutics uses

To date, given the evolution of scientific knowledge in the field of cannabinoids, the medical use of cannabis becomes increasingly tolerated and even legal in a growing number of countries, Canada, Belgium, Australia the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain ..

Cannabinoids include many related chemicals: cannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabivarin, cannabicyclol and 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC. Numerous behavioral responses observed suggest the existence of a variety of central and peripheral targets.

THC acts on the human body by activating a receptor carried by the cells (CB1 or CB2). The CB1 receptor is found primarily in the brain, whereas CB2 receptors are present on immune cells.

The effectiveness mainly attributed to Cannabidiol CBD, which aims CB2 receptors involved in the modulation of the immune system. The intestines are known to contain a high density of CB2 receptors.

Cancers

Breast cancer

CB2 receptor

  THC and a synthetic CB2 receptor agonist (JWH-133) reduced the development of a tumor and the number of lung metastases of a certain type of breast CANCER mice (ErbB2-positive breast CANCER) . This type of breast CANCER is very aggressive and does not respond well to existing therapies. The researchers concluded that "these results provide a strong preclinical evidence for the use of cannabinoid-based therapies in cases of breast ErbB2-cancer.

Caffarel MM, et al. Mol CANCER 2010, 9 (1): 196. http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/9/1/196/

Colon cancer:

According to a study conducted at the Institute for Digestive Diseases of Bari, Italy, the endocannabinoid anandamide reduced the level of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) in colon cancer cells and stops the growth of cancer cells. These effects were observed via CB1 receptors. Polyamines are compounds that play an important role in cell proliferation.

 Effects of anandamide on polyamine levels and cell growth in human colon cancer cells.Linsalata M, et al. Anticancer Res 2010 30 (7) :2583-9.). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20682986

Cancer of the bile duct

An experiment conducted on cells at Rangsit University in Patumthani, Thailand, showed that THC inhibits effects on cancer cells of the bile duct. This natural cannabinoid inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and induces apoptosis of cancer cells. It reduced tumor cell survival. The cells were taken from patients and had cancer by cannabinoid receptors.

(Source: Leelawat S, et al. CANCER Invest 2010; 28 (4) :357-63.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19916793

Oral cancer

  Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, investigated the effects of cannabinoids on pain associated with oral cancer and tumors in cases of cancer in mice. Selective CB1 cannabinoid receptor (ACEA), the selective CB2 cannabinoid receptor (AM1241) and a non-selective cannabinoid (WIN,212-2) reduced the proliferation of cancer cells in a dose-dependent during the experiment cell. All reduced the pain related to cancer (mechanical allodynia). The tumor growth was reduced by the selective activation of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor

(Source: Saghafi N, et al. Neurosci Lett. November 18, 2010.)

 

 Promising results have been achieved in clinical trials for the cannabis extract Sativex for the treatment of pain associated with advanced cancer who undergo due to inadequate analgesia opiates. This test was conducted by Otsuka Pharmaceutical. The lead researcher, Dr. Russell K. Portenoy, Chairman, Department of Palliative Care and drugs against pain at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. Preliminary results show that this study meets the key objectives and it provides information about the effectiveness and safety in Phase III clinical trials.

 

Bone Disorders

A number of recent preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential role of cannabinoids and their receptors in bone metabolism. Pharmacological and genetic modulation of cannabinoid receptors indicate that cannabinoid ligands may provide attractive and novel agents for the treatment of bone diseases.

The role of cannabinoid receptors in regulating bone mass, bone loss and bone cell function in health and disease. cannabinoid receptor ligands show a great promise in the treatment of bone diseases associated with accelerated osteoclastic bone resorption including osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and bone metastasis

Role of Cannabinoid Receptors in Bone Disorders: Alternatives for Treatment http://journals.prous.com/journals/servlet/xmlxsl/pk_journals.xml_summary_pr?p_JournalId=3&p_RefId=4314&p_IsPs=Y

psychiatric symptoms

Improvement of mood in reactive depression has been observed in several clinical studies with THC. There are other case reports claiming benefit of cannabinoids in other psychiatric symptoms and diseases, such as sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, and dysthymia

Addictions treatment (alcohol, opiates, benzodiazepines)

 Historically case reports of cannabis as a good remedy to fight against the removal of dependence on benzodiazepines, opiates and alcohol. For this reason, some have described as a gateway to stop their addiction. In this context, the reduction of physical withdrawal symptoms and stress-related suppression of drug abuse may play a role in the observed benefits.

Attention Deficit Disorder / Hyperactivity

Hyper-impulsivity (agitation, stress adrenaline, crazy legs syndrome): THC is a agonist of the cannabinoid amandamine. It binds to the CB1 receptors present in large numbers in the brain. It stimulates and retrograde signal inhibitor in the synapses. The consequences are a reduction and modulation of neuronal activity, thus having a powerful calming effect

Anorexia nervosa, cachexia (extreme thinness)

In a long-term study of 94 AIDS patients, the appetite stimulating effect with THC continued for months, THC doubled appetite on a visual analogue scale compared with placebo. Patients tend to maintain a stable weight for seven months. A positive influence on the weight has also been reported disk 15 patients with Alzheimer's disease, which previously refused to food ...

Spastic disorders, multiple sclerosis and paraplegia

In many clinical trials with cannabis flowers, a beneficial effect was observed in spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis or with spinal cord injury. Other symptoms include pain, paresthesia, tremor and ataxia, there is a positive influence of Cannabis. In some studies, improved bladder control was observed. There is also empirical evidence of a virtue of cannabis in spasticity due to brain damage

glaucoma

in decenie 70, during a systematic investigation of its effects in healthy cannabis users, it has been observed that cannabis reduces intraocular pressure. In the following years, a number of studies in healthy individuals and patients with glaucoma cannabis and several natural and synthetic cannabinoids have been conducted. Cannabis reduces intraocular pressure by an average of 25-30%, sometimes up to 50%. Non-psychotropic cannabinoid, and to a lesser extent, some non-cannabinoid components of cannabis may reduce intraocular pressure

Epilepsy

The use in epilepsy is among the oldest indications of cannabis. Experiments on animals have provided evidence of the effects of some cannabinoids contrary. THC has the potential to have an anticonvulsant effect for phenytoin and diazepam. However, cannabis occasionally may precipitate seizures.

asthma

Experiences of the anti-asthmatic effect of THC or cannabis date primarily from the 1970s, and are extensively studied. The effects of a cannabis cigarette (2% THC) or oral THC (15 mg), respectively, approximately correspond to those obtained with therapeutic doses of bronchodilator drugs (salbutamol, isoprenaline).

Autoimmune Diseases and Inflammation

In a number of pain syndromes secondary to inflammatory processes (for example, ulcerative colitis, arthritis), cannabis may act as a product not only analgesic, but also anti-inflammatory.

Various other symptoms

Cannabis products often show very good effects in diseases with multiple symptoms that cover the spectrum of THC effects, for example, in harsh conditions that have an inflammatory origin (eg, arthritis), or be accompanied by increased muscle tone (eg, menstrual cramps, spinal cord), or diseases with nausea and anorexia accompanied by pain, anxiety and depression, respectively (eg, AIDS, cancer, hepatitis C) ..

There are a number of reports of patients on medical conditions that can not be easily attributed to these categories, such as itching, hiccups, hypertension, tinnitus, chronic fatigue syndrome, restless legs syndrome, and others. Hundreds of possible indications for cannabis and THC have been described by different authors.