Cannabis chemical "helps heart" (BBC News)

[Up2Late]

(How much you want to bet the Fundies will still try to link this as the first step toward illegal drug use?)

Cannabis chemical "helps heart"

A chemical in cannabis can help ward off strokes and heart disease, scientists believe.

Wednesday, 6 April, 2005, 17:18 GMT 18:18 UK

Swiss researchers found THC, one of 60 cannabinoids in the drug, helped stop the narrowing of arteries to the brain and heart in a study of mice. But the team, from Geneva University Hospital, said smoking cannabis did not produce the same effect. However UK experts warned more research was needed before firm conclusions could be drawn.

Deaths

Blocked arteries - a condition known as atherosclerosis - are estimated to be responsible for up to 50% stroke and heart disease deaths in developing countries each year. In the study, published in the Nature journal, mice were fed a high cholesterol diet to make them develop atherosclerosis and then given THC, which causes the high during cannabis use.

The Swiss researchers found THC stopped inflammation of blood vessels, which is largely responsible for blocking arteries. The chemical worked by suppressing the immune system's response to a protein which is responsible for inflammation. Lead researcher Francois Mach said while drugs such as statins which lower blood pressure and cholesterol had proved extremely effective the findings were still of "great medical interest". And he added: "The dose is lower than the dose usually associated with psychotropic effects of THC."

THC is being tested by GW Pharmaceuticals, the firm granted a UK licence to create cannabis-based drugs, in a number of treatments for pain relief and multiple sclerosis under development. However, a study published last week in BMC Psychiatry found THC medicines could lead to psychosis.

(more at link above)

[MuseRider]

1. I wonder if this would

hold true for other autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis? I would be willing to be a test subject....:)

Interesting.

[havocmom]

6. Me too! The pain and weakness is interfering with getting anything done!`

Never could try pot as the smell made me ill, but if they isolate the compounds and I don't have to smoke...

Wonder how the 'do anything to prolong life' crew is gonna justify keeping it illegal if it would be such a help to so many.

[Zhade]

19. It's possible you are allergic.

My roomie is.

[Cornczech]

22. one doesn't have

to smoke marijuana to get the THC..one could also eat it (much better anyway...) expensive....but so are pharmaceuticals.......

I don't know about heart benefits...but I used to take narcotics (for chronic pain) SRRI's (like Prozac and Zoloft) for "mood disorders"...and TONS of Ambien to sleep (I am ONE high strung chic) and when I was introduced to smoke in 1996...I was able to STOP all of those medications.....sure...pot is illegal...but I don't exactly want to kill my body with pills either...pot is "natural"...from the various NSAIDS, narcotics and other meds...I have TONS of GI "problems"..ulcers in the bowel (small and large..but the only side effects from pot have been: I get bronchitis a little more often than before I smoked (I smoke daily). I AM a little more "unmotivated"..but I am lazy by nature anyways...and yes...I forget things sometimes..(I am 38...so maybe I am feeling the first effects of aging...but probably the pot)..but in light of the horror I went through to get off Vicodin..and the pain and suffering I went through with gastritis and ulcers and SEVERE CRIPPLING PAIN from GI problems as a result of NSAIDS and narcotics for chronic pain...I would gladly suffer the minor side effects of being a "pothead"....

peace ya'll

[tridim]

2. It's a miracle drug

How much proof does the DEA need?

I have Alzheimer's in my family and it's recently been discovered that it helps delay or stop the onset. Yet it's still illegal and will probably always be so.

[Up2Late]

9. Here's the BBC News Article: "Marijuana may block Alzheimer's"

Marijuana may block Alzheimer's

The active ingredient in marijuana may stall decline from Alzheimer's disease, research suggests.

Tuesday, 22 February, 2005, 23:52 GMT

Scientists showed a synthetic version of the compound may reduce inflammation associated with Alzheimer's and thus help to prevent mental decline. They hope the cannabinoid may be used to developed new drug therapies. The research, by Madrid's Complutense University and the Cajal Institute, is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The scientists first compared the brain tissue of patients who died from Alzheimer's disease with that of healthy people who had died at a similar age. They looked closely at brain cell receptors to which cannabinoids bind, allowing their effects to be felt. They also studied structures called microglia, which activate the brain's immune response.

Microglia collect near the plaque deposits associated with Alzheimer's disease and, when active, cause inflammation. The researchers found a dramatically reduced functioning of cannabinoid receptors in diseased brain tissue. This was an indication that patients had lost the capacity to experience cannabinoids' protective effects.

The next step was to test the effect of cannabinoids on rats injected with the amyloid protein that forms Alzheimer's plaques. Those animals who were also given a dose of a cannabinoid performed much better in tests of their mental functioning. The researchers found that the presence of amyloid protein in the rats' brains activated immune cells. However, rats that also received the cannabinoid showed no sign of microglia activation. Using cell cultures, the researchers confirmed that cannabinoids counteracted the activation of microglia and thus reduced inflammation.

(more at link above)

[tridim]

15. Yep, that's the article I read

What the hell are they waiting for? It's not like cannabis is a dangerous synthetic drug that needs lots of testing. The side effects are not dangerous (Oooh scary.. it makes you feel good), and the other side benefits are profound.

I'll say it again, it's a miracle drug. I've also read studies that say it acts as a generalized brain tonic, helping to heal cells and clean up synapses. It does NOT kill brain cells, unlike the legal drug alcohol. It can cause lung cancer, but does nowhere near the damage as the other legal drug, nicotine. If it were legal and cheap, more people would take it orally to avoid the chance of cancer.

[Selteri]

20. You're right, it's part of what can make people much more healthy.

It's not a miracle drug, but it is a drug that is proving to be more and more one that has a symbiotic relation to humanity. With the broad capabaility of it's close relative, hemp, it would be capable or fueling the world and allowing for colonization of Luna inside of dones for the level of oxygen if can produce while cleaning the air better than any scrubber and being capable of 24-7 light cycles to create huge bush-trees. (And that's just with earth levels of sunlight, with the right work hemp can grow anywhere up to the edge of the permafrost zone.

The whole family is a solution to more problems than we can count, yet we are warned to fear them with questionable scientific studies that have been called much worse than questionable by the scientific community including unethical for the reeces monkey study. Even the recent brazilian 'psychosis' study has been called into question due to their choice of using baited questions over the complete survey.

Either way, their conclusion was that stoners are 'paranoid' and suffer from 'social alienation from thier peers'. AKA Stoners think that someone is out to get them, or arrest them and stoners think that they can't talk about what they do with thier friends and it feels strange to them. I have but one obvious monosylabic responce for that asseesment, "DUH!" If you are smoking something that is illegal you are afraid you're going to be arrested and you can't talk about it with everyone because you can be arrested if you say something to the wrong person. Those aren't signs of psychosis, those are signs of being aware of a societal situation and expressing it honestly.

There will always be disgusting disreputable pseudoscientists who will say anything they want to say by intentionally framing a study to prove something that they wish, regardless of the facts that that are intentionally shaping their results by using bad science.

[GHOSTDANCER]

28. I'd say it's pretty miraculous!!!!

<>

[Up2Late]

37. That's amazing, I wonder if anyones ever done an unbiased...

...investigation into the True reason that it was vilified.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Makes you wonder if this find might not have been made years

earlier, if soulless puritan idiots hadn't shut down 99% of all research on cannabis for the past fifty years.

It is a plant with a multitude of very complex chemical properties, most of which we do not understand because we're not allowed to do the research.

Duh.

[whistle]

4. You mean my 35 year battle with high blood pressure could be...

..cured by taking in THC orally and avoiding all of the negative side effects and high costs of blood pressure medications now on the market? As for the psychosis, what kind of psychosis are they seeing in test subjects I wonder? Reefer madness?

<The study researchers> added: "The dose is lower than the dose usually associated with psychotropic effects of THC."

[tridim]

5. There are no negative side effects

None.

[jmowreader]

31. Well, sudden and easily-explainable weight gain

Which in the case of a chemo patient is a Good Thing, y'know?

This is what I can't figure out: the alcohol companies don't want legalized cannabis because it would Damage Their Alcohol Sales. Mark my words, grass will be legalized the day after Seagram figures out that they can sell marijuana too--and they're one step ahead of the game because they already know how to sell recreational drugs. If you can sell booze to every socioeconomic group, you can sell reefer too.

[Up2Late]

36. Back in the mid 90's, I worked at one of the digital photo re-touching...

...studios that did some of the cigarette ads for Camel, Salem, etc., and I can tell you from direct experience, all the Tobacco Companies already have their brand names pick out and the package designs ready to go to the printers, if the Government ever legalizes it.:smoke:

[Geo55]

7. IT'S A DRUG FOLKS !

The "REEFER MADNESS" bit has kept it out of most legit research.
(helped , no doubt by the alcohol industry..and no, I have no proof at hand).

[Up2Late]

12. I think you are right, Alcohol and Tobacco Industries, and the Tax Man

It's much easier to Tax Tobacco (it needs nutrient rich soil and will exhaust a field in a matter of years) and Alcohol, which, if made wrong, can be very dangerous. Marijuana, though it does take some knowledge, is not very difficult to grow.:hippie:

[Cornczech]

24. caffeine is a drug

so are a MULTITUDE of things one might put "healthily" (is that a word?) into ones body..but 'cauxse the guvment says pot is illegal..than you say, "IT'S A DRUG!!!" like that's a bad thing?

define drug? a chemical? there are LOTS of chemicals naturally produced in ones body that help keep you in homeostasis...so does pot work for me...it keeps me "balanced" without the terrible side-effects of MAN-MADE drugs

peace

[Geo55]

33. whoa !

slow down sparky.

Main Entry: 1drug
Pronunciation: 'dr&g
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English drogge
1 a obsolete : a substance used in dyeing or chemical operations b : a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication c according to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1) : a substance recognized in an official pharmacopoeia or formulary (2) : a substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease (3) : a substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body (4) : a substance intended for use as a component of a medicine but not a device or a component, part, or accessory of a device
2 : a commodity that is not salable or for which there is no demand -- used in the phrase drug on the market
3 : something and often an illegal substance that causes addiction, habituation, or a marked change in consciousness
- drug·gy also drug·gie /'dr&-gE/ adjective

"than you say, "IT'S A DRUG!!!" like that's a bad thing?"
no, I didn't.

"it keeps me "balanced"
By all means , stay balanced.....BTW , they make counterweights for that condition.

[Catchawave]

8. Should Governments Legalize and Tax Marijuana?

http://economics.about.com/od/incometaxestaxcuts/a/marijuana.htm


From Mike Moffatt,
Your Guide to Economics.

Examining a Recent Study on Legalization
The war on drugs is an expensive battle, as a great deal of resources go into catching those who buy or sell illegal drugs on the black market, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. These costs seem particularly exorbitant when dealing with the drug marijuana, as it is widely used, and is likely no more harmful than currently legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. There's another cost to the war on drugs, however, which is the revenue lost by governments who cannot collect taxes on illegal drugs. In a recent study for the Fraser Institute, Economist Stephen T. Sponsored Links
Easton attempted to calculate how much tax revenue the Canadian government could gain by legalizing marijuana.

more....

[Up2Late]

29. What I heard was, the reason the U.S. Government made ...

Pot Illegal (it WAS legal during the 1920's Prohibition) was that Mexican Migrate Farm workers were mostly Pot smokers. So during the Republican Caused, 1930's Great Depression, The U.S. Government made it illegal so that they had a legal reason to round up, and mass deport the Mexicans, so that the Americans could have the jobs the Mexicans were currently doing.

[shadowknows69]

10. Volunteering to be a test subject

You can safely give me unsafe levels of pot smoke. Wait did that make any sense? What was I talking about. Wow my hand is huuuuge.....

[Up2Late]

13. LOL That was good

Thanks!:rofl:

[whistle]

16. Where did you get the rolling head?

[Up2Late]

27. I think it's a German web site that I found it at, here's the link

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/lachen/laughing-smiley-018 .gif
I moved the .gif over one space so that you can see the link, they have several different colors (I have the Yellow and the Red), plus hundreds of other smilies.


|

[whistle]

30. Thanks

|

[Geo55]

14. Put down that doob , dude.....

an' get yerself to a hand doc , like , NOW !

[Selteri]

21. LOL Excellent!

I'm sure it made sense to me... which is all the scarrier because half the time I'm only aware of what I've been saying when I look up from my typing. :freak: :shrug: :rant: :rofl: :smoke:

[stanwyck]

23. and I'm hungry

but my heart is very healthy.

[aquart]

11. Tell Cheney.

[shadowknows69]

17. Cheney already gets to smoke the good shit

Frist writes him a scrip for it.

[Selteri]

18. Great example, BMC comment is based on questionable evidence - N/T

[byronius]

25. I remember the Reader's Digest articles --

that listed ten harmful side effects, like male breasts, short-term memory loss, all the standard charges -- and cited as its source the Wolff(?) study, apparently a grad student's plagiarized version of yet another study that had put several baboons in a glass chamber and bombarded them with the equivalent of a thousand joints a day for months. Oh, and it was financed by Big Tobacco.

I can't drink. So --

3.14159265358979323846. That means I can still puff.

All right, I confess. I blew the 16th digit when I checked it on the PI -page. Didn't want to post malinformation to DU. And now I have to learn how to drink. Damn the DU Truth-Code!! Damn!!!!

http://www.angio.net/pi/piquery

:silly:

[havocmom]

32. man boobies & memory loss?

Shit, sounds like middle age to me!

Really odd. I have never done pot (or even smoked a regular cigerette) but of late, I have been almost having a craving for the stuff. So happens, I am having bad problems with arthritis and showing all the signs of heart disease, which runs in the family. So if I am craving something I have never ingested or inhaled, is my body actually speaking some truth to me? Jeeze, I can't walk across the room without being winded all the sudden.

[Geo55]

34. "I can't walk across the room without being winded all the sudden."

Then tokin' ain't such a great idea....smokin' ANYTHING isn't such a great idea, but ,
Brownies are good , no ?

[havocmom]

35. Brownies are great.

but I am too friggin exhusted to chew.

[Megahurtz]

26. Well hey!

Fire up!:smoke: