Sugar overload may be a recipe for long-term problems
A new study on the impact of sugar supports World Health Organization recommendations
June 8, 2021
Science Daily/Queensland University of Technology
Children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired, as adults, according to the results of a new study of mice led by QUT and published by Frontiers in Neuroscience.
The study resulted in a reduced risk of sugar-induced weight gain and other health problems when the mice were given a much smaller daily dose of sucrose, supporting World Health Organisation calls for a reduction in sugar intake by humans.
One of the lead authors, QUT neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett, says many children, adolescents, and adults in more than 60 countries, including Australia, have a diet consisting of more than four times the sugar (100g) recommended by the World Health Organisation (25g per person per day).
"More work needs to be done in the investigation of the long-term effects of sugar on adolescents and adults but our results with the mouse model are very promising," said Professor Bartlett.
"Recent evidence shows obesity and impulsive behaviours caused by poor dietary habits leads to further overconsumption of processed food and beverages but the long-term effects on cognitive processes and hyperactivity from sugar overconsumption, beginning at adolescence, are not known," said Professor Bartlett.
"Our study found long-term sugar consumption (a 12-week period with the mice which started the trial at five weeks of age) at a level that significantly boosts weight gain, elicits an abnormal and excessive stimulation of the nervous system in response to novelty. It also alters both episodic and spatial memory. These results are like those reported in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
"Human trials would need to be done but it suggests a link to the long-term overconsumption of sugar, beginning at a young age, which occurs more commonly in the Western Diet and an increased risk of developing persistent hyperactivity and neurocognitive deficits in adulthood."
Professor Bartlett said while the concept of 'sugar addiction' and the classification of sugar as a substance of abuse were still being debated, there is increasing evidence of overlap in the brain circuitry and molecular signalling pathways involved in sugar consumption and drug abuse.
"People consume sugar and food to regulate energy balance, but also for pleasure and comfort. This hedonistic desire for palatable food is reward-driven and overeating can impact upon and even override our ability to regulate," Professor Bartlett said.
"It is increasingly considered that unrestricted consumption of high-sugar food and beverages within the Western Diet might be linked to the increased obesity epidemic. A strong association between attention-deficits/hyperactivity disorders and being overweight or obese have also been revealed.
"Taken together, these data suggest that sugar-induced obesity may participate to the developing pathogenesis of ADHD-like symptoms in western countries. In children, high sugar consumption correlates with hyperactivity and in adults, with inattention and impulsivity.
"What has been unclear though, is whether chronic overconsumption of sucrose -- starting from childhood -- would have the same negative impact on our nervous system, emotions or cognition throughout adulthood as other addictive drugs.
"This study on mice goes a long way to resolving that question. Our results show for the first time that long-term consumption of sucrose leads to significant weight gain and produces persistent hyperactivity and learning impairments."
Co-lead author Dr Arnauld Belmer added that while the overall sugar consumption has dropped since the mid-1990s, obesity rates have climbed.
"This rise in obesity rates could result from a delayed effect of excess sugar, suggesting that adult obesity may be driven by high sugar intake over a life span," Dr Belmer said.
"Interestingly, our investigation with the mice found reducing the daily sucrose intake four-fold did prevent sugar-induced increase in weight gain, supporting the WHO's recommendation to restrict sugar intake by this amount would be effective. It could also limit the other negative consequences including hyperactivity and cognitive impairment."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210608092239.htm
Prenatal cannabis exposure linked to cognitive deficits, altered behavior
October 14, 2020
Science Daily/Washington State University
Regular cannabis exposure in rats during pregnancy may cause their offspring to have long-term cognitive deficiencies, asocial behavior, and anxiety later in adulthood.
That's according to a new study by neuroscientists in Washington State University's Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience unit that provides a rare look at the effects of using cannabis during pregnancy.
"The reality of cannabis research is there's not a lot of it," said Halle Weimar, first author on the paper and graduate student in the neuroscience program. "This research helps get information out to women so they can make an educated decision that is best for them."
Weimar and her colleagues found the offspring of pregnant rats exposed to cannabis vapor were more likely to make regressive errors after they were trained new methods to receive sugar pellets. They were also less social and more anxious when placed in new environments.
Weimar said the research is especially significant as recreational and medicinal cannabis use continues to increase among pregnant women as well as the general population.
The study, recently published in the journal Neuropharmacology, utilized a first-of-its-kind e-cigarette technology to deliver cannabis vapor to pregnant female rats before and throughout their entire gestation period.
"The idea was to use a more clinically relevant model to mirror how humans use cannabis, specifically how pregnant women use cannabis," Weimar said.
Researchers also delivered propylene glycol vegetable glycerol mixture, commonly found in vape juice, to explore its effects in rats. A control group was left in their home cage and not exposed to any vapor.
Vapor was administered twice daily to rats in one-hour sessions during mating and pregnancy.
The research team found significant behavioral changes and cognitive deficits that persisted into adulthood in the offspring of the pregnant rats exposed to cannabis.
Using different levers and a cue light, researchers trained and rewarded rats with sugar pellets for pressing a lever paired with the cue light. The rats were then required to change their strategy during test day and instead ignore the cue, which was used as a measure of cognitive flexibility.
"While rats eventually caught on, those whose mothers were exposed to cannabis were more likely to revert to the old pattern and make regressive errors," Weimar said. "They also took more trials to learn the rules."
Male and female juvenile rats whose mothers were exposed to cannabis also engaged in far fewer play behaviors. The male rats were especially hesitant to engage with other rats in their initial social introductions.
Moreover, adult rats whose mothers were exposed to cannabis exhibited anxiety-like behavior in new environments.When placed in a large, elevated maze with open and closed arms, the rats were more likely to stay in the closed arms of the maze and explore the open, exposed arms less.
"They tend to feel safer in closed arms as opposed to rats that are less anxious and willing to venture into open spaces and take more risks," Weimar said.
She said the finding is significant because it shows cannabis vapor administered to a rat during pregnancy may cause its offspring to have age-dependent effects well into adulthood, noting the observation wasn't noted in rats when they were juveniles.
The researchers noticed changes in the rats' behavior as pups as well.
Weimar said rats whose mothers were exposed to cannabis made more than 100 more ultrasonic vocalizations, or cries for their mother, compared to the control group, days after birth.
"It's pretty noteworthy because this is one of the only tests you can do that looks at emotional reactivity in neonates and they were far more reactive than the other groups," Weimar said.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201014095130.htm
Fighting intestinal infections with the body's own endocannabinoids
October 7, 2020
Science Daily/UT Southwestern Medical Center
Endocannabinoids, signaling molecules produced in the body that share features with chemicals found in marijuana, can shut down genes needed for some pathogenic intestinal bacteria to colonize, multiply, and cause disease, new research led by UT Southwestern scientists shows.
The findings, published online today in Cell, could help explain why the cannabis plant -- the most potent part of which is marijuana -- can lessen the symptoms of various bowel conditions and may eventually lead to new ways to fight gastrointestinal infections.
Discovered in 1992, endocannabinoids are lipid-based neurotransmitters that play a variety of roles in the body, including regulating immunity, appetite, and mood. Cannabis and its derivatives have long been used to relieve chronic gastrointestinal conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Studies have shown that dysregulation of the body's endocannabinoid system can lead to intestinal inflammation and affect the makeup of gut microbiota, the population of different bacterial species that inhabit the digestive tract.
However, study leader Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and biochemistry at UTSW, says it's been unknown whether endocannabinoids affect susceptibility to pathogenic gastrointestinal infections.
To help answer this question, Sperandio and her colleagues worked with mice genetically altered to overproduce the potent mammalian endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) in various organs, including the intestines. When the researchers infected these animals and their unmodified littermates with Citrobacter rodentium, a bacterial pathogen that attacks the colon and causes marked inflammation and diarrhea, the mutant mice developed only mild symptoms compared with the more extreme gastrointestinal distress exhibited by their littermates. Examination of the mutant animals' colons showed far lower inflammation and signs of infection. These mice also had significantly lower fecal loads of C. rodentium bacteria and cleared their infection days faster than their unmodified littermates. Treating genetically unmodified animals with a drug that raised levels of 2-AG in the intestines produced similar positive effects.
Sperandio's team found that increased levels of 2-AG could also attenuate Salmonella typhimurium infections in mice and impede enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli -- a particularly dangerous gastrointestinal bacteria that infects humans -- in order to express the virulence traits needed for a successful infection.
Conversely, when the researchers treated mammalian cells in petri dishes with tetrahydrolipstatin, a Food and Drug Administration-approved compound sold commercially as Alli that inhibits 2-AG production, they became more susceptible to the bacterial pathogens.
Further experiments showed that 2-AG exerted these effects on C. rodentium, S. typhimurium, and E. coli by blocking a bacterial receptor known as QseC. When this receptor senses the host signaling molecules epinephrine and norepinephrine, it triggers a molecular cascade necessary to establish infection. Plugging this receptor with 2-AG prevents this virulence program from activating, Sperandio explains, helping to protect against infection.
Sperandio notes that these findings could help explain some of the effects of cannabis use on inflammatory bowel conditions. Although studies have shown that cannabis can lower inflammation, recent research has shown that these conditions also tend to have a bacterial component that might be positively affected by plant cannabinoids.
In addition, cannabis compounds or synthetic derivatives could eventually help patients kick intestinal bacterial infections without antibiotics. This could be particularly useful for infections caused by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Sperandio says, which produces a deadly toxin when it's treated with antibiotics, rendering these drugs not only counterproductive but extremely dangerous. Because many virulent bacteria that colonize areas elsewhere in the body also have the QseC receptor, she adds, this strategy could be used more broadly to fight a variety of infections.
"By harnessing the power of natural compounds produced in the body and in plants," she says, "we may eventually treat infections in a whole new way."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123119.htm
Older adults using cannabis to treat common health conditions
Data indicates 61 percent of patients who used cannabis began after age 60
October 7, 2020
Science Daily/University of California - San Diego
With growing interest in its potential health benefits and new legislation favoring legalization in more states, cannabis use is becoming more common among older adults.
University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that older adults use cannabis primarily for medical purposes to treat a variety of common health conditions, including pain, sleep disturbances and psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression.
The study, published online October 7, 2020 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that of 568 patients surveyed, 15 percent had used cannabis within the past three years, with half of users reporting using it regularly and mostly for medical purposes.
"Pain, insomnia and anxiety were the most common reasons for cannabis use and, for the most part, patients reported that cannabis was helping to address these issues, especially with insomnia and pain," said Christopher Kaufmann, PhD, co-first author of the study and assistant professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego.
Patients surveyed in the study were seen at the Medicine for Seniors Clinic at UC San Diego Health over a period of 10 weeks.
The researchers also found that 61 percent of the patients who used cannabis had initiated use after age 60.
"Surprisingly, we found that nearly three-fifths of cannabis users reported using cannabis for the first time as older adults. These individuals were a unique group compared to those who used cannabis in the past," said Kevin Yang, co-first author and third-year medical student at UC San Diego.
"New users were more likely to use cannabis for medical reasons than for recreation. The route of cannabis use also differed with new users more likely to use it topically as a lotion rather than by smoking or ingesting as edibles. Also, they were more likely to inform their doctor about their cannabis use, which reflects that cannabis use is no longer as stigmatized as it was previously."
Given the rise in availability of CBD-only products, which is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid in contrast to THC-containing products, the researchers said it is likely that future surveys will continue to document a larger proportion of older adults using cannabis or cannabis-based products for the first time.
"The findings demonstrate the need for the clinical workforce to become aware of cannabis use by seniors and to gain awareness of both the benefits and risks of cannabis use in their patient population," said Alison Moore, MD, senior author and chief of the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "Given the prevalence of use, it may be important to incorporate evidence-backed information about cannabis use into medical school and use screening questions about cannabis as a regular part of clinic visits."
The researchers said future studies are imperative to better understanding the efficacy and safety of different formulations of cannabis in treating common conditions in older adults, both to maximize benefit and minimize harm.
"There seems to be potential with cannabis, but we need more evidence-based research. We want to find out how cannabis compares to current medications available. Could cannabis be a safer alternative to treatments, such as opioids and benzodiazepines? Could cannabis help reduce the simultaneous use of multiple medications in older persons? We want to find out which conditions cannabis is most effective in treating. Only then can we better counsel older adults on cannabis use," said Kaufmann.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007152815.htm
Clinical Efficacy Of Essential Oils As Treatments
Guest posting by Liz Thomson, Health & Content Specialist
Since the advent of civilization, humankind has always turned towards the healing powers of the plants. Tribal and folk medicines mainly focused on deriving healing concoctions from the plants. One of the most popular among all is essential oils (EO).
EOs are immensely popular all over the world for their aroma-therapeutic properties. People have shown intense interest in EOs due to their benefits over mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
What are essential oils?
EOs are high concentrated extracts made from plants, seeds, flowers, roots, and barks. The liquid extracts are derived from various beneficial plants through different manufacturing processes. These oils have a much stronger aroma and bioactive chemical compounds than the plants they come from.
Bioactive components of essential oils
Generally, EOs parts into two groups of chemical components. They are hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds. The hydrocarbons are mostly terpenes, and oxygenated compounds are mainly aldehyde, ketones, esters, alcohols, phenols, and oxides. Here are examples of the most sought-after EOs and their clinical efficacy.
1. Lavender Oil (LEO)
Lavender has played a significant role in ancient medicine. The medical properties of the plant are studied specifically on mental and emotional well-being.
Highly studied properties –
● Anti-anxiety and anti-depression effects – The clinical trials investigated the several effects of oral lavender oil preparation (Silexan). Investigations suggest that LEO significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety disorders. Other clinical trials on depression disorders found that LEO was useful to alleviate mood and reduce psychological distress.
● Sedative effects – Since ancient times, lavender has thought to be an excellent natural remedy for insomnia and improving the quality of sleep. Randomized trials found that smelling LEO improved the sleep quality of individuals.
● Analgesic effects – There are reports suggesting lavender is useful for people with chronic pain. One such study with ICU patients found that massaging LEO on patients’ feet helps lower blood pressure, heart rate, and pain.
2. CBD Oil
CBD oil might not sound like essential oil, but it is one. The oil derives from the hemp plant, a non-psychotic plant, unlike its sister marijuana species. CBD, short for Cannabidiol, is the most common bioactive compound found in a cannabis plant.
Highly studied properties –
● Anti-seizure effects – In the last two decades, dozens of studies have reported that CBD oil Canada has anti-seizure activity. Recently, the FDA approved the one and only CBD medication Epidiolex for epileptic seizures.
● Neuroprotective Effects – CBD oils are well-known to have neuroprotective properties in various neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), and stroke. Nabiximols is the medication approved for spasticity in MS patients derived from CBD.
● Analgesic effects – CBD oil helps as a pain-relieving agent. A range of studies, including animal models, cell cultures, and few clinical trials, suggest CBD oil effectively treats chronic pain, arthritis pain, cancer treatment pain, and migraine.
3. Tea Tree Oil (TTO)
TTO is acquired from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia or narrow-leaved paperbark. Tea tree essential oil was part of Aborigine folk medicine for centuries. They used oil for treating cough and skin problems.
Highly studied properties –
● Antibacterial effects – TTO’s antibacterial effects have gained much attention due to its susceptibility towards a range of bacteria. Few have proven that TTO has been found effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, MRSA.
● Antifungal effects – TTO was investigated in susceptibility against Candida albicans. Candida is the most common cause of fungal infections in people. Investigation proved that TTO was able to inhibit the growth and occurrence of candida infections.
● Anti-acne – There was a meticulous study on TTO treating acne. The study found that TTO could reduce acne without causing any side effects concerning acne medications.
3. Lavender Oil (LEO)
Lavender has played a significant role in ancient medicine. The medical properties of the plant are studied specifically on mental and emotional well-being.
4. Peppermint Oil (PEO)
PEO is obtained from the leaves of the peppermint, a mint plant variety. PEO is used in a variety of extracts, food flavoring agents, and dietary capsules globally.
Highly studied properties –
● Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – The most extensive research of PEO centered on IBS. A meta-analysis of clinical trials examined the efficacy of PEO capsules and found that the oil relieved symptoms of IBS and abdominal pain.
● Antiemetic effects – A small study examined the effects of PEO aromatherapy on postoperative and pregnancy nausea. It reports implied that PEO helped to lower the levels of nausea.
● Digestive effects – Few studies and tons of anecdotal reports suggest that PEO helps in giving relief from indigestion symptoms.
5. Eucalyptus Oil (EEO)
EEO has been used to treat symptoms of cough, nasopharyngeal infections, and decongestants since old ages. There are several EEO remedies available over-the-counter.
Highly studied properties –
● Analgesic effects – Several clinical trials investigated EEO for its analgesic properties. One study found that inhaling EEO was highly effective in reducing pain and blood pressure among the subjects who had a total knee replacement.
● Anti-asthmatic effects – Clinical trials on bronchial asthma treatment investigated effects of EEO. Examinationsfound that EEO was successful in improving lung function significantly.
● Dental health – Cell studies show that EEO exhibits antibacterial activity against periodontal bacteria; the same effect was seen in a human clinical trial. The study found that chewing EEO containing gum promoted periodontal health.
Conclusion
There are around 90 types of EOs, and l has its unique smell and potential health benefits. They are often beneficial as an alternative therapy and are harmless when used in small quantities. However, on a note - there is no evidence suggesting that EOs heal any severe health condition.
References -
https://archives.drugabuse.gov/testimonies/2015/biology-potential-therapeutic-effects-cannabidiol
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360273/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237842903_A_REVIEW_ON_PEPPERMINT_OIL
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266580
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115001033#sec1
Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with adverse outcomes during middle childhood
The findings are reported as use of cannabis during pregnancy has 'skyrocketed'
September 23, 2020
Science Daily/Washington University in St. Louis
While cannabis use during pregnancy is on the rise, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found evidence that the resulting children are more likely to have psychopathology in middle childhood.
The team's analysis are the first steps in studying the effects of cannabis on children as attitudes surrounding its use change rapidly -- recreational adult cannabis use is now legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Patterns of usage, too, are changing; one of the fastest-growing subsets of cannabis users may come as a surprise: the pregnant.
"There have been increasingly permissive and lenient attitudes toward cannabis use among pregnant people," said Sarah Paul, a clinical psychology graduate student. "It has skyrocketed in the past few years," she added, with data indicating a quick rise from 3% to 7% past-month use.
"Unfortunately, despite the increase in use, we know remarkably little about the potential consequences of prenatal cannabis exposure," Paul said. "Prior studies have linked prenatal cannabis exposure to birth-related outcomes such as lower birth weight and infant characteristics like disrupted sleep and movement. Relatively fewer studies have examined behavior and problems as children age," and, she said, "findings have been tenuous due to inconsistent replication and an inability to account for potential confounding variables."
Working with Ryan Bogdan, associate professor of psychological & brain sciences in Arts & Sciences, and director of the Brain Lab at Washington University, and faculty from the School of Medicine, a team of researchers led by Paul and Alexander Hatoum, a postdoc research scholar, poured through data to examine what, if any, effect maternal use of cannabis during pregnancy may have on children.
Their findings were published today in JAMA Psychiatry.
They looked at data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study), an ongoing longitudinal study of nearly 12,000 children ages 9-11 and their parent or caregiver from 22 sites across the United States that began in 2016.
The researchers grouped participants into three mutually exclusive groups: Children who were not exposed to cannabis prenatally; children who were prenatally exposed to cannabis before the pregnancy was known, but not after; and children who had been exposed to cannabis after the pregnancy was known, regardless of exposure before.
The receptors that cannabis influences are not known to be expressed prior to five- to six-weeks' gestation. Researchers expected associations with the children's outcomes would only be present if cannabis exposure happened once those receptors had been expressed. Most people said they learned of their pregnancy after about seven weeks, which aligned with the time of endocannabinoid type 1 receptor expression.
The group hypothesized that prenatal exposure, regardless of when it occurred, would be characterized by adverse outcomes in childhood, but that only continued exposure after the pregnancy was known would have an independent association with these outcomes (after considering potential confounds -- things such as family history of psychopathology, whether alcohol or tobacco or prenatal vitamins were used during the pregnancy, as well as whether children had tried alcohol, among a host of others).
The data showed children who were exposed to cannabis in the womb (regardless of when that exposure occurred) were slightly more likely to have adverse outcomes. They had elevated psychopathology -- more psychotic-like experiences; more problems with depression and anxiety as well as impulsivity and attention; and social problems as well as sleep disturbance. They also had lower cognitive performance, lower indices of global brain structure during middle childhood as well as lower birth weight.
However, when the researchers included important familial, pregnancy and child-related covariates, Bogdan said, "This is when things got really interesting. All associations with prenatal exposure only prior to maternal knowledge of pregnancy were nowhere near significantly associated." This suggests that the association between prenatal cannabis exposure during early stages of pregnancy may not be independent of these confounding factors.
"Cutting to the chase ... clinicians and dispensaries should discourage cannabis use among those who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant.
"However, when we look at exposure after maternal knowledge of pregnancy, which corresponds to when endocannabinoid type 1 receptors are expressed in the fetal brain, the associations with child psychopathology largely remain -- these children tend to have more psychotic-like experiences, more impulsivity and attention problems, and social problems," he said. "This raises the intriguing possibility that prenatal cannabis exposure may plausibly impact child behavior. It in no way shows causation, but documenting that effects are independent of common confounding factors provides incremental support for potential causation."
"There are certainly other plausible reasons for this pattern of results," Hatoum said. It could be that the behaviors are a byproduct of genetic and environmental similarity and not causally related to cannabis use.
"However, that our measures of these potential confounds accounted for the associations with use prior to maternal knowledge, but not after, suggests that prenatal cannabis exposure may independently contribute, in a small way, to child outcomes," he said. "Potential causation underlying this association should be further evaluated using experimental non-human animal models, additional replication and other approaches (e.g., siblings discordant for exposure)."
"Cutting to the chase, my interpretation of these findings, is that clinicians and dispensaries should discourage cannabis use among those who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant," Bogdan said.
"Being attentive to substance use problems among family members and providing them with support and access to help is critical for anyone regardless of pregnancy status," Bogdan said. "Learning of one's pregnancy may produce additional reason to stop use. Someone who has just learned of a pregnancy and has previously used cannabis, might think, well I have already exposed the fetus to cannabis, so I may as well not stop. The current data might provide the clinician and parent-to-be with evidence that stopping after learning of the pregnancy may reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes among their children."
At the same time, Bogdan said, "It is also important not to stigmatize expecting parents who may be experiencing difficulties. Quitting substance use during pregnancy, which is already a challenging time, may not be straightforward. Physician support and empirical paradigms for quitting during pregnancy will be important. Lastly, couples who are planning to have a child may wish to consider combatting cannabis use before they begin attempting to conceive and the additional stressors of pregnancy begin to mount."
From a public health perspective, Bogdan suggested looking to the highly effective public health campaigns and clinician attention directed at reducing the use of tobacco and alcohol during pregnancy. In fact, he said, "This study found that prenatal cannabis exposures were more strongly and consistently associated with adverse child outcomes than prenatal tobacco or alcohol exposure."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923143550.htm
It is time to embrace cannabis for medicinal use, say experts
September 21, 2020
Science Daily/BMJ
Attitudes towards cannabis products for medicinal use need to change with much greater appropriate use of such products to help alleviate patients' pain, suggests research published in the journal BMJ Open.
Researchers found that hundreds of thousands of UK patients were self-medicating with illegal cannabis-based products for medicinal use due to the fact that much of the medical and pharmacy professions have so far not embraced and prescribed legal cannabis-based products for their patients.
In November 2018 when the UK made cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) legal, most people assumed these would immediately be made available to patients, but this has not happened.
In the year since then, almost no NHS prescriptions have been issued and less than a hundred have been made available from private providers at a cost of at least £1,000 a month.
Consequently, some parents of children with severe epilepsy continue to go overseas to get their children access to the only treatment which has proven to be effective for their condition -- cannabinoid medication.
In addition, it is estimated that the vast majority of the estimated 1.4 million medical cannabis users source from the black market with its problems of illegality, unknown quality, content and provenance.
This is despite that fact that there is existing substantial evidence of effectiveness with cannabis products for medicinal use in many disorders as identified in the US National Academy of Sciences review in 2017.
Researchers from Imperial College London, London School of Economics and Drug Science (formerly known as the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs), therefore, set out to understand why the UK was lagging behind so many other countries which also have legalised medical cannabis.
They consulted with parents and patients, prescribers, pharmacists and decision makers.
They found that there appeared to be a series of distinct barriers to prescribing that needed to be overcome in order to improve patient access to medical cannabis in the UK.
These include concerns about a perceived lack of scientific evidence but the researchers said these concerns were misplaced because many patient-centred approaches including patient reported outcomes, pharmacoepidemiology (study of the uses and effects of drugs) and trials involving a single patient could be applied.
International database evidence suggested this new class of drug offered a significant advance in treatment for many in whom current medicines were either ineffective or poorly tolerated.
Various reasons to explain why there was resistance to use of these drugs were given, such as the fact the use of medicinal cannabis products were something being driven by patients and not doctors, which the latter group might resent.
In addition, the current government insistence that medical cannabis be considered as a "special' product, meant challenges for prescribers.
For example, they faced additional organisational bureaucracy and the prescriber had to hold responsibility for any untold harm caused unlike any other product for which responsibility lay with the manufacturer.
Another reason for the resistance to prescribing of these products was that for almost 50 years, the medical profession focused on the risks of cannabis with claims of harms, including male sterility, lung cancer and schizophrenia. Though these have now been largely debunked and were generally the result of recreational rather than prescribed medical use, many practitioners may not know this.
The researchers say that the many thousands of UK patients self-medicating with non-regulated cannabis products for medicinal use and the international evidence suggested these new medical products offered an advance in treatment for many people.
They also offered the potential of cost savings to the NHS in terms of reduced hospital stays and less prescribing of other medicines particularly opioids for chronic pain, they argued.
They conclude: "The failure of the medical and pharmacy professions to embrace CBPMs despite their being made 'legal' over 18 months ago is a great worry to patients" and may, they say, have led to preventable deaths from conditions such as epilepsy.
"We hope that this paper will help policymakers and prescribers understand the challenges to prescribing and so help them develop approaches to overcome the current highly unsatisfactory situation."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921210847.htm
A scientific first: How psychedelics bind to key brain cell receptor
September 17, 2020
Science Daily/University of North Carolina Health Care
For the first time, scientists solved the high-resolution structure of these compounds when they are actively bound to the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor on the surface of brain cells. This discovery is already leading to the exploration of more precise compounds that could eliminate hallucinations but still have strong therapeutic effects. Psilocybin - the psychedelic compound in mushrooms - has already been granted breakthrough status by the FDA to treat depression.
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline cause severe and often long-lasting hallucinations, but they show great potential in treating serious psychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder. To fully investigate this potential, scientists need to know how these drugs interact with brain cells at the molecular level to cause their dramatic biological effects. Scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill and Stanford have just taken a big step in that direction.
For the first time, scientists in the UNC lab of Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, and the Stanford lab of Georgios Skiniotis, PhD, solved the high-resolution structure of these compounds when they are actively bound to the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (HTR2A) on the surface of brain cells.
This discovery, published in Cell, is already leading to the exploration of more precise compounds that could eliminate hallucinations but still have strong therapeutic effects. Also, scientists could effectively alter the chemical composition of drugs such as LSD and psilocybin -- the psychedelic compound in mushrooms that has been granted breakthrough status by the FDA to treat depression.
"Millions of people have taken these drugs recreationally, and now they are emerging as therapeutic agents," said co-senior author Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. "Gaining this first glimpse of how they act at the molecular level is really important, a key to understanding how they work. Given the remarkable efficacy of psilocybin for depression (in Phase II trials), we are confident our findings will accelerate the discovery of fast-acting antidepressants and potentially new drugs to treat other conditions, such as severe anxiety and substance use disorder."
Scientists believe that activation of HTR2A, which is expressed at very high levels in the human cerebral cortex, is key to the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. "When activated, the receptors cause neurons to fire in an asynchronous and disorganized fashion, putting noise into the brain's system," said Roth, who holds a joint faculty appointment at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. "We think this is the reason these drugs cause a psychedelic experience. But it isn't at all clear how these drugs exert their therapeutic actions."
In the current study, Roth's lab collaborated with Skiniotis, a structural biologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. "A combination of several different advances allowed us to do this research," Skiniotis said. "One of these is better, more homogeneous preparations of the receptor proteins. Another is the evolution of cryo-electron microscopy technology, which allows us to view very large complexes without having to crystalize them."
Roth credits co-first author Kuglae Kim, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in his lab, for steadfastly exploring various experimental methods to purify and stabilize the very delicate serotonin receptors.
"Kuglae was amazing," Roth said. "I'm not exaggerating when I say what he accomplished is among the most difficult things to do. Over three years in a deliberate, iterative, creative process, he was able to modify the serotonin protein slightly so that we could get sufficient quantities of a stable protein to study."
The research team used Kim's work to reveal the first X-ray crystallography structure of LSD bound to HTR2A. Importantly, Stanford investigators then used cryo-EM to uncover images of a prototypical hallucinogen, called 25-CN-NBOH, bound together with the entire receptor complex, including the effector protein Gαq. In the brain, this complex controls the release of neurotransmitters and influences many biological and neurological processes.
The cryo-EM image is like a map of the complex, which Kim used to illustrate the exact structure of HTR2A at the level of amino acids -- the basic building blocks of proteins such as serotonin receptors.
Roth, a psychiatrist and biochemist, leads the Psychoactive Drug Screening Program, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. This gives his lab access to hallucinogenic drugs for research purposes. Normally, these compounds are difficult to study in the lab because they are regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency as Schedule 1 drugs.
Roth and colleagues are now applying their findings to structure-based drug discovery for new therapeutics. One of the goals is to discover potential candidates that may be able offer therapeutic benefit without the psychedelic effects.
"The more we understand about how these drugs bind to the receptors, the better we'll understand their signaling properties," Skiniotis says. "This work doesn't give us the whole picture yet, but it's a fairly large piece of the puzzle."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200917181259.htm
The Role of Cannabis in Treating Anxiety
Guest Post by Eliza Brooks
For someone living with anxiety, it's almost impossible not to have heard of the hype surrounding marijuana as a possible treatment for anxiety symptoms. Ever since several US states and the entirety of Canada legalized medicinal cannabis use, a lot of people with anxiety have been considering the drug for their treatment. In fact, a survey done in 2017 involving 9,000 American adults found that 81% believe marijuana to have one or more health benefits. And half of the respondents listed stress, anxiety, and depression relief as one of the potential benefits that marijuana offers.
But there have also been a lot of people who are claiming that marijuana can make anxiety worse, as evidence by the number of people searching “ontario weed online”. With all these opposing opinions, one can't help but wonder who's telling the truth. To answer this, we must turn to hard facts and research.
Overview of Cannabis Effects
Unlike other drugs like methamphetamine, cannabis is not a single chemical compound. Being a plant, marijuana is made up of more than 500 compounds, often referred to as cannabinoids. Only a very small percentage of these cannabinoids have been studied. It is generally accepted and understood that the substance that's responsible for cannabis' intoxicating effects is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short. Cannabinoids affect the body through the recently discovered endocannabinoid system.
Humans and animals have cannabinoid receptors all over their bodies and are able to create endogenous cannabinoids that help regulate the effects of neurotransmitters and other cellular functions. This new finding has generated a lot of interest around cannabis as potential targets for the development of drugs, including drugs for mental health.
Besides THC, another common cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant is cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is nonpsychoactive which means it doesn't get users high much like THC but CBD does appear to have psychotropic properties as it appears to offer benefits to people suffering from anxiety, schizophrenia, depression, and even addiction.
ECS and Anxiety
The endocannabinoid system is present in all parts of the brain that play a role in fear, anxiety, and stress. Recently, the role that cannabinoid signaling plays within the brain and the body when it comes to controlling anxiety, stress, and fear is slowly being explored. The ECS ensures an appropriate response to stressful events and also serves as a buffer for emotional responses.
Endocannabinoids, through the ECS, appear to exert effects on the stress and reward networks of the body. Similar to exercise and social interaction, cannabis intoxication produces a state of calmness mediated by the anxiolytic effects of increased oxytocin and cannabinoid receptor activation.
Cannabis and Anxiety
The initial effects of cannabis on people typically include a sense of relaxation but this isn't always the case. Other benefits of cannabis-related to anxiety include an increased sense of calm and better sleep. A lot of people who turned to cannabis for their anxieties reported that they experience a greater sense of peace of mind and a significant reduction to the symptoms of anxiety they find unbearable. In particular, cannabis seems to relieve symptoms of:
● social anxiety
● agoraphobia
● post-traumatic stress disorder
● panic disorder
● sleep disruptions
● phobias
As of the moment, research on the risks of using cannabis has not yet shown a direct link between its use and psychosis or death. And the notion that cannabis is a gateway drug offered mixed findings.
Moreover, anxiety has not been listed as a qualifying condition to receive a medical marijuana card. In a study with 1746 patients coming from different medical marijuana evaluation clinics within California, 37.8% reported that they use cannabis to relieve anxiety, 16.9% say they use it for panic attacks, and 55.1% is for improving relaxation.
Another study surveyed 1429 medicinal marijuana users between December of 2013 and January of 2016 in Washington State. They were asked about the conditions medical cannabis was used for treatment, their use patterns, and their perception of effectiveness. More than half of them, 58.1%, reported that they use it for their anxiety. In general, study participants have felt that using medicinal marijuana helped improve symptoms of anxiety.
A review was done in 2016 on the literature on the use of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of anxiety. It concluded that there is evidence the supports the anxiolytic effects of the drug. The researchers were able to identify 8 cross-sectional studies that reported a reduction in anxiety symptoms was either the primary or secondary benefit of using cannabis. One study, however, noted that symptoms of anxiety returned once cannabis use was stopped.
When considering cannabis for the treatment of anxiety, one should keep in mind that the regular use of cannabis will result in tolerance to its medicinal effects which may put the user at risk of rebound anxiety once cannabis use is stopped and fostering dependence.
Negative Effects
While cannabis appears to benefit people with anxiety, it could have the opposite effect on others. Some may simply fail to notice any significant effects while for others, symptoms could worsen.
For the most part, THC seems to be the likely culprit for this discrepancy. High levels of the cannabinoid have been linked to increased symptoms of anxiety including but not limited to racing thoughts and an elevated heart rate. In addition, it also appears that cannabis doesn't offer any long-term effects compared to other treatments for anxiety. Using cannabis may bring some temporary relief but the moment the treatment is stopped, there is a likely chance symptom could recur.
AUTHOR BIO:
Eliza Brooks is a passionate blogger and informative content writer who loves to research on the trends in the cannabis industry and share her knowledge through blogging. She is currently working with GreenSociety, the leading online dispensary in Canada, which offers premium quality weed online.
Remember the first time you...? Mysterious brain structure sheds light on addiction
Cocaine-addicted mice shed light on claustrum's role in associating reward with context
July 23, 2020
Science Daily/The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Do you remember where you were when you first heard that two planes had crashed into New York's Twin Towers? Or where you had your first kiss? Our brains are wired to retain information that relates to the context in which highly significant events occurred. This mechanism also underlies drug addiction and is the reason why hanging out in an environment or with people associated with memories of drug use often leads to relapse.
How our brains create this strong association, however, is less clear. Now, new research by Professor Ami Citri and PhD student Anna Terem at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)'s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science, shows that a relatively obscure brain region known as the claustrum plays a significant role in making these connections. They published their findings in the latest edition of Current Biology.
The researchers' findings fit the idea of "incentive salience," the process that determines the desirability of an otherwise neutral stimulus. For example, a candy store façade becomes very attractive to kids after repeated associations with the rewarding treats that lie within. In time, children unconsciously learn to "want" to see the store stimulus, which is separate from their "liking" the actual candy reward. Taking a closer look at how context becomes associated with cocaine, the researchers found a group of neurons within the claustrum that lit up during cocaine use. Further, these neurons are pivotal in the formation of an incentive salience that links context with the pleasure of cocaine.
To determine when and how the claustrum participates in incentive salience, Citri and his team employed a conditioned-place preference (CPP) test for a group of lab mice. During this test, the mice learned to associate reward with context. The researcher administered cocaine to the mice and placed them in an area with distinctive flooring (rugged) and wall patterns (dots), ones that a mouse would notice, as the drug started to kick in. After a few times of this, when placed in a room where the mice could choose either to hang out in a region similar to the one paired with cocaine (rugged floors and dots wall) or a neutral area (smooth floor and striped walls), the mice would quickly congregate in the area where their drug high had played out.
To test the claustrum's involvement in how a context becomes associated with a given reward, Citri and his team observed the changes in mice behavior when they inhibited these claustral neurons. They found that the inhibition of these neurons inhibited the mice's behavioral responses to cocaine, meaning they no longer preferred hanging out in the cocaine-paired environment. On the other hand, activating these neurons -- even in the absence of any cocaine -- caused the mice to develop a preference for this context.
Importantly, the team found that the activity of the claustrum was not necessary for retrieval of the cocaine memory. Once the mice had been placed in a cocaine-paired context several times to enjoy their cocaine high, the memory for this context was encoded and inhibition of the claustrum had no effect on their preference for the cocaine-paired context. "These findings boosted our confidence that the claustrum is indeed integral to incentive salience, heightening the awareness of the mouse to the context in which it experienced the drug high" shared Citri.
As the number of deaths caused by drug overdose increases from year to year, this new study has wide-ranging implications towards a better understanding of the nature of addiction and the importance of breaking contextual cues before they develop. "By recognizing that the claustrum plays a pivotal role in creating a context association for reward, it becomes a structure of interest for the field of addiction. We hope this knowledge will lead to the development of new diagnostic tools to identify populations susceptible to addiction, as well as new therapeutic approaches," concluded Terem.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723115904.htm
Marijuana concentrates spike THC levels but don't boost impairment
June 10, 2020
Science Daily/University of Colorado at Boulder
A study of 121 regular users of legal market cannabis found that higher potency does not necessarily mean greater intoxication. It also found that while balance and memory are impaired immediately after use, that impairment fades within in an hour.
Smoking high-potency marijuana concentrates boosts blood levels of THC more than twice as much as smoking conventional weed, but it doesn't necessarily get you higher, according to a new study of regular users published today by University of Colorado Boulder researchers.
"Surprisingly, we found that potency did not track with intoxication levels," said lead author Cinnamon Bidwell, an assistant professor in the Institute of Cognitive Science. "While we saw striking differences in blood levels between the two groups, they were similarly impaired."
The paper, published June 10 in JAMA Psychiatry, is the first to assess the acute impact of cannabis among real-world users of legal market products. It could inform everything from roadside sobriety tests to decisions about personal recreational or medicinal use.
But the study also raises concerns that using concentrates could unnecessarily put people at greater long-term risk of side-effects.
"It raises a lot of questions about how quickly the body builds up tolerance to cannabis and whether people might be able to achieve desired results at lower doses," said Bidwell.
While 33 states have legalized medicinal marijuana use, and 11 have legalized recreational use, both uses remain illegal at the federal level. Researchers are also prohibited from handling or administering marijuana. Some previous studies have used strains supplied by the government, but those strains contain far less THC than real-world products.
In order to study what people really use, Bidwell and her colleagues utilize two white Dodge Sprinter vans, also known as the "cannavans," as mobile laboratories. They drive the vans to the residences of study subjects who use cannabis they purchase on their own inside their homes and then walk out for tests.
"We cannot bring legal market cannabis into a university lab, but we can bring the mobile lab to the people," she said.
For the current study, the team assessed 121 regular cannabis users. Half typically used concentrates (oils and waxes that include the active ingredients without the leaves and stems). The other half typically used flower from the plant. Flower users purchased a product containing either 16% or 24% [tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)], the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Concentrate users were assigned to a product containing either 70% or 90% THC.
On test day, researchers drew the subjects' blood, measured their mood and intoxication level and assessed their cognitive function and balance at three time points: before, directly after and one hour after they used.
Those who used concentrates had much higher THC levels at all three points, with levels spiking to 1,016 micrograms per milliliter in the few minutes after use, while flower users spiked at 455 micrograms per milliliter. (Previous studies have shown that THC levels hover around 160 to 380 micrograms per milliliter after marijuana use).
Regardless of what type or potency of cannabis participants used, their self-reports of intoxication, or "feeling high," were remarkably similar, as were their measures of balance and cognitive impairment.
"People in the high concentration group were much less compromised than we thought they were going to be," said coauthor Kent Hutchison, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU Boulder who also studies alcohol addiction. "If we gave people that high a concentration of alcohol it would have been a different story."
The study also found that, among all users, balance was about 11% worse after using cannabis, and memory was compromised. But within about an hour, that impairment faded.
"This could be used to develop a roadside test, or even to help people make personal decisions," said Bidwell.
The researchers aren't sure how the concentrate group could have such high THC levels without greater intoxication, but they suspect a few things are at play: Regular users of concentrates likely develop a tolerance over time. There may be genetic or biological differences that make some people metabolize THC more quickly. And it may be that once compounds in marijuana, called cannabinoids, fill receptors in the brain that spark intoxication, additional cannabinoids have little impact.
"Cannabinoid receptors may become saturated with THC at higher levels, beyond which there is a diminishing effect of additional THC," they write.
The authors caution that the study examined regular users who have learned to meter their use based on the desired effect, and does not apply to inexperienced users. Those users should still be extremely cautious with concentrates, said Hutchison.
Ultimately, the researchers hope to learn what, if any, long-term health risks concentrates truly pose.
"Does long-term, concentrated exposure mess with your cannabinoid receptors in a way that could have long-term repercussions? Does it make it harder to quit when you want to?" said Hutchison. "We just don't know yet."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200610135016.htm
Cannabis temporarily relieves PTSD symptoms
June 9, 2020
Science Daily/Washington State University
People suffering from post-traumatic distress disorder report that cannabis reduces the severity of their symptoms by more than half, at least in the short term, according to a recent study led by Carrie Cuttler, a Washington State University assistant professor of psychology.
Cuttler and her colleagues analyzed data of more than 400 people who tracked changes in their PTSD symptoms before and after cannabis use with Strainprint, an app developed to help users learn what types of medical cannabis work best for their symptoms. The group collectively used the app more than 11,000 times over a 31-month period.
The study, recently published in Journal of Affective Disorders, shows cannabis reduced the severity of intrusions, returning thoughts of a traumatic event, by about 62%; flashbacks by 51%, irritability by 67%, and anxiety by 57%. The symptom reductions were not permanent, however.
"The study suggests that cannabis does reduce symptoms of PTSD acutely, but it might not have longer term beneficial effects on the underlying condition," said Cuttler. "Working with this model, it seems that cannabis will temporarily mask symptoms, acting as a bit of a band aid, but once the period of intoxication wears off, the symptoms can return."
PTSD is a disorder affecting people recovering from traumatic events and impacts women at about twice the rate as men with a 9.7% to 3.6% lifetime prevalence, respectively. While therapy is recommended as the primary treatment, Cuttler said there is growing evidence that many people with PTSD are self-medicating with cannabis.
"A lot of people with PTSD do seem to turn to cannabis, but the literature on its efficacy for managing symptoms is a little sparse," Cuttler said.
This study provides some insight into the effectiveness of cannabis on PTSD symptoms, but as the authors note, it is limited by reliance on a self-selected sample of people who self-identify as having PTSD. Also, it is not possible to compare the symptom reductions experienced by cannabis users to a control group using a placebo.
While some placebo-controlled clinical trials have been done with nabilone, a synthetic form of THC, few have examined the effects of the whole cannabis plant on PTSD.
In this study, Cuttler and her colleagues looked at a variety of variables but found no difference in the effect of cannabis with differing levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), two of the most studied constituents of cannabis. The results imply that it is some combination of THC, CBD and perhaps some of the many other parts of the cannabis plant that create the therapeutic effect. Cannabis has many molecules that can create a biological effect, including up to 120 cannabinoids, 250 terpenes and around 50 flavonoids.
"We need more studies that look at whole plant cannabis because this is what people are using much more than the synthetic cannabinoids," said Cuttler. "It is difficult to do good placebo-controlled trials with whole plant cannabis, but they're still really needed."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200609144458.htm
How psychedelic drug psilocybin works on brain
June 5, 2020
Science Daily/Johns Hopkins Medicine
To see how psychedelics impact the claustrum, a mysterious region of the brain believed to control the ego, researchers compared the brain scans of people after they took psilocybin with their scans after taking a placebo.
Perhaps no region of the brain is more fittingly named than the claustrum, taken from the Latin word for "hidden or shut away." The claustrum is an extremely thin sheet of neurons deep within the cortex, yet it reaches out to every other region of the brain. Its true purpose remains "hidden away" as well, with researchers speculating about many functions. For example, Francis Crick of DNA-discovery fame believed that the claustrum is the seat of consciousness, responsible for awareness and sense of self.
What is known is that this region contains a large number of receptors targeted by psychedelic drugs such as LSD or psilocybin ¾ the hallucinogenic chemical found in certain mushrooms. To see what happens in the claustrum when people are on psychedelics, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers compared the brain scans of people after they took psilocybin with their scans after taking a placebo.
Their findings were published online on May 23, 2020, in the journal NeuroImage.
The scans after psilocybin use showed that the claustrum was less active, meaning the area of the brain believed responsible for setting attention and switching tasks is turned down when on the drug. The researchers say that this ties in with what people report as typical effects of psychedelic drugs, including feelings of being connected to everything and reduced senses of self or ego.
"Our findings move us one step closer to understanding mechanisms underlying how psilocybin works in the brain," says Frederick Barrett, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the school's Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. "This will hopefully enable us to better understand why it's an effective therapy for certain psychiatric disorders, which might help us tailor therapies to help people more."
Because of its deep-rooted location in the brain, the claustrum has been difficult to access and study. Last year, Barrett and his colleagues at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, developed a method to detect brain activity in the claustrum using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
For this new study, the researchers used fMRI with 15 people and observed the claustrum brain region after the participants took either psilocybin or a placebo. They found that psilocybin reduced neural activity in the claustrum by 15% to 30%. This lowered activity also appeared to be associated with stronger subjective effects of the drug, such as emotional and mystical experiences. The researchers also found that psilocybin changed the way that the claustrum communicated with brain regions involved in hearing, attention, decision-making and remembering.
With the highly detailed imaging of the claustrum provided by fMRI, the researchers next hope to look at the mysterious brain region in people with certain psychiatric disorders such as depression and substance use disorder. The goal of these experiments will be to see what roles, if any, the claustrum plays in these conditions. The researchers also plan to observe the claustrum's activity when under the influence of other psychedelics, such as salvinorin A, a hallucinogen derived from a Mexican plant.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200605121512.htm
Users of high-potency cannabis four times more likely to report associated problems
May 28, 2020
Science Daily/University of Bristol
Users of high-potency cannabis are four times more likely to report associated problems, and twice as likely to report anxiety disorder, than users of lower-potency strains, according to new research from the University of Bristol.
Published today on JAMA Psychiatry the research uses data from Children of the 90s, a long-term health study that recruited more than 14,000 pregnant women and their babies born in and around Bristol in the early 1990s and has been following their health and development ever since.
This is the first research of its kind to look at data from a general population sample, with previous research into the links between cannabis potency and mental health only looking at clinical and self-selecting samples of people who use drugs. Added to this, the nature of the data available from the Children of the 90s health study enabled the research team to take into account whether mental health symptoms were present before the individual started using cannabis.
Frequency of cannabis use, which is also often associated with increased mental health problems, was also taken into account in order to determine whether this would explain the relationship between higher-potency usage and mental health conditions.
Lead author Dr Lindsey Hines, Senior Research Associate from Bristol Medical School explained: "We know that people who use cannabis are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don't use cannabis, but we don't fully understand how recent increases in the strength and potency of cannabis affects this. This study gives us an estimate of the increased likelihood of mental health problems from use of high-potency cannabis, compared to use of lower-potency cannabis, and we are able to account for the effect that people's early adolescent mental health symptoms may have on this relationship."
The research looked at data collected from participants aged 24 years who had reported using cannabis in the previous year, of which 13 per cent reported use of high-potency cannabis. Participants were also asked about their usage, and those who self-reported two or more of the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) items within the past year were classified as having recently experienced problems as a result of their cannabis use. Researchers were then able to compare this data to reported mental health symptoms at age 24 as well as early symptoms of mental health collected when participants were younger.
Dr Hines continued: "People who use cannabis are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don't use cannabis, but reducing the potency and regularity of their cannabis use may be effective for lessening likelihood of harms from use. In countries where cannabis is sold legally, limiting the availability of high-potency cannabis may reduce the number of individuals who develop cannabis use disorders, prevent cannabis use escalating to a regular behaviour, and reduce impacts on mental health. In countries like the UK, where we are not able to limit the availability of high-potency cannabis, we should make sure there is good treatment and support for those who develop problems from cannabis use."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200528115817.htm
CBD improves arthritis symptoms in dogs
May 28, 2020
Baylor College of Medicine
This study shows that in dogs diagnosed with arthritis, CBD treatment significantly improved quality of life as documented by both owner and veterinarian assessments.
A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in collaboration with Medterra CBD conducted the first scientific studies to assess the potential therapeutic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) for arthritic pain in dogs, and the results could lead the way to studying its effect in humans. Researchers focused first on these animals because their condition closely mimics the characteristics of human arthritis, the leading cause of pain and disability in the U.S. for which there is no effective treatment.
Published in the journal PAIN, the study first showed both in laboratory tests and mouse models that CBD, a non-addictive product derived from hemp (cannabis), can significantly reduce the production of inflammatory molecules and immune cells associated with arthritis. Subsequently, the study showed that in dogs diagnosed with the condition, CBD treatment significantly improved quality of life as documented by both owner and veterinarian assessments. This work supports future scientific evaluation of CBD for human arthritis.
"CBD is rapidly increasing in popularity due to its anecdotal health benefits for a variety of conditions, from reducing anxiety to helping with movement disorders," said corresponding author Dr. Matthew Halpert, research faculty in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Baylor. "In 2019, Medterra CBD approached Baylor to conduct independent scientific studies to determine the biological capabilities of several of its products."
In the current study, Halpert and his colleagues first measured the effect of CBD on immune responses associated with arthritis, both in human and murine cells grown in the lab and in mouse models. Using Medterra tinctures, they found that CBD treatment resulted in reduced production of both inflammatory molecules and immune cells linked to arthritis.
The researchers also determined that the effect was quicker and more effective when CBD was delivered encapsulated in liposomes than when it was administered 'naked.' Liposomes are artificially formed tiny spherical sacs that are used to deliver drugs and other substances into tissues at higher rates of absorption.
Halpert and colleagues next assessed the effect of naked and liposome-encapsulated CBD on the quality of life of dogs diagnosed with arthritis.
"We studied dogs because experimental evidence shows that spontaneous models of arthritis, particularly in domesticated canine models, are more appropriate for assessing human arthritis pain treatments than other animal models. The biological characteristics of arthritis in dogs closely resemble those of the human condition," Halpert said.
Arthritis is a common condition in dogs. According to the American Kennel Club, it affects one out of five dogs in the United States.
The 20 client-owned dogs enrolled in the study were seen at Sunset Animal Hospital in Houston. The dog owners were randomly provided with identical unidentified medication bottles that contained CBD, liposomal CBD, or a placebo. Neither the owners nor the veterinarian knew which treatment each dog received.
After four weeks of daily treatment, owners and veterinarians reported on the condition of the dogs, whether they observed changes in the animals' level of pain, such as changes related to running or gait. The dogs' cell blood count and blood indicators of liver and kidney function also were evaluated before and after the four weeks of treatment.
"We found encouraging results," Halpert said. "Nine of the 10 dogs on CBD showed benefits, which remained for two weeks after the treatment stopped. We did not detect alterations in the blood markers we measured, suggesting that, under the conditions of our study, the treatment seems to be safe."
The findings support conducting studies to evaluate CBD for the treatment of human arthritis.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200528160611.htm
Frequent cannabis users are way too high ... in their estimates of cannabinoids
In study at Hash Bash, frequent users reported low knowledge of, and substantially overestimated, cannabinoid content
April 15, 2020
Science Daily/University at Buffalo
Researchers surveyed nearly 500 Hash Bash attendees, asking them to fill out a 24-item questionnaire. Participants were asked to fill in, in milligrams, the amounts they considered to be effective doses of THC and CBD. They were way off.
One would think that cannabis enthusiasts attending a marijuana advocacy event would be knowledgeable about cannabinoids.
Not necessarily, according to the findings of a study by researchers from the University at Buffalo and the University of Michigan, who surveyed frequent cannabis users at an annual marijuana advocacy event held on the University of Michigan campus.
The surprisingly low level of knowledge about tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) content, and effective dosages, demonstrated by Hash Bash participants highlights the need for additional public health education and research, according to Daniel Kruger, PhD, the lead author of the study, published online ahead of print today in the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.
"Even the people who are most enthusiastic have very poor knowledge of cannabinoid content. They greatly overestimated how much THC and how much CBD was in various strains, and what the effective dosages were," said Kruger, a research associate professor of community health and health behavior in the UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions. He is also a research investigator with the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan.
Researchers surveyed nearly 500 Hash Bash attendees, asking them to fill out a 24-item questionnaire. Two-thirds of participants reported using cannabis every day, and most said it was for health or medical purposes. More than three-quarters of survey-takers said their knowledge of cannabis came from their own experiences.
The study survey asked participants to fill in, in milligrams, the amounts they considered to be effective doses of THC and CBD. (THC is the principal psychoactive compound and the one largely responsible for the high experienced by users. CBD does not have the same psychoactivity, but has other effects, such as reduction of anxiety.) Participants could also check the box for "I don't know."
The majority reported they didn't know. Other participants gave average estimates of 91 milligrams for THC and 177 milligrams for CBD. In other words, they were way off.
"The average estimate for an effective dose of THC would actually be fatal in humans," Kruger said.
One participant even said 1 million milligrams was the effective dose for THC. "That's a kilogram of THC. That's enough to fill an entire football stadium full of people and get them all high," Kruger said.
Participants also were asked to fill in what they thought were the percentages for high and low THC strains, and high and low CBD strains. The majority (58%) believed that a low-THC strain of cannabis was 20% THC or higher -- a level that would actually be considered a high-THC strain. In addition, 22% believed that a low-THC strain of cannabis was 40% THC or higher, which exceeds the levels of anything available now.
For CBD, 86% felt that a low strain of cannabis was 10% CBD or higher, a level considered representative of a high-CBD strain of cannabis. Nearly half believed that a low strain was 30% CBD or higher, which exceeds the CBD level of any existing strain.
"Our results suggest the need for broad-based cannabis education programs to help advocates and the general public to better understand and manage their use of the drug," said study co-author, R. Lorraine Collins, PhD, associate dean for research in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions.
The current paper is the latest in a series of studies Kruger and his UB colleagues have published in recent years, based on data collected at Hash Bash. Their findings have shown how little many cannabis users know about the drug. The researchers also have highlighted the lackluster public health efforts to promote an effective harm reduction approach to marijuana use, especially during an era when cannabis is being deregulated in many states.
The stakes are higher with an increasing percentage of Americans using cannabis for a variety of recreational and medical reasons, as well as increasing cannabis potency, researchers say.
"Cannabis strains are 20 times as potent today as they were during the Summer of Love," said study co-author Jessica Kruger, PhD, clinical assistant professor of community health and health behavior in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions.
The main message: "We really have to educate people. This has very real consequences, because these compounds have differential effects," Daniel Kruger said.
"Most Americans now live in a state where cannabis is legal, at least for medical purposes, but the information channels aren't there regarding safe and effective cannabis use."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200415133416.htm
Whether marijuana helps with pain is unclear
Daily users with severe pain report worsening health
April 8, 2020
Science Daily/Ohio State University
Medical marijuana users who say they have high levels of pain are more likely than those with low pain to say they use cannabis three or more times a day, a new study finds.
However, daily marijuana users with severe pain also reported their health had become worse in the past year.
The results don't necessarily mean that marijuana is not effective in treating at least some kinds of pain, according to the researchers. But it suggests more research is needed before marijuana is accepted as an effective treatment for severe pain.
"It's not clear if marijuana is helping or not," said Bridget Freisthler, co-author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University.
"The benefits aren't as clear-cut as some people assume."
The study was published recently in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
One issue is the complex relationship between pain, marijuana use and self-reported health, said Alexis Cooke, lead author of the study and postdoctoral scholar in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.
"Having high chronic pain is related to poorer health, so it may be that people who are using marijuana more often already had worse health to begin with," Cooke said.
"There are still a lot of questions to answer."
The study involved a survey of 295 medical marijuana dispensary patients in Los Angeles. The surveys were conducted in 2013, when California allowed marijuana use only for medical purposes.
All participants were asked how often they used marijuana; rated how their current health compared to one year ago (on a five-point scale from "much better" to "much worse"); and were asked two questions about their pain levels. Based on their answers, the researchers rated participants' pain as low, moderate or high.
Among those surveyed, 31 percent reported high pain, 24 percent moderate pain, and 44 percent were in the low-pain category.
Daily marijuana use was reported by 45 percent of the sample, and 48 percent said they used three or more times per day.
The percentage of participants who used marijuana every day did not differ by pain categories. But about 60 percent of those who reported high pain used the drug three or more times a day, compared to 51 percent of those with moderate pain and 39 percent of those in the low-pain group.
Findings showed no association between daily marijuana use and change in health status among those with low levels of pain. But daily marijuana use was linked to worsening health status among those reporting high levels of pain.
However, strangely, there was no association between how often participants used marijuana per day and changes in health status. There's no easy explanation for this, Freisthler said.
"It shows how little we know about marijuana as medicine, how people are using it, the dosages they are receiving and its long-term effects," she said.
People use marijuana for a variety of different types of pain, including cancer, joint pain, HIV and nerve pain. Researchers don't know if marijuana has different effects on different causes of pain, Cooke said.
"Chronic pain is also associated with depression and anxiety. Marijuana may help with these problems for some people, even if it doesn't help with the pain," she said.
In addition, marijuana use seems to help people who have lost their appetite due to pain or nausea caused by cancer drugs.
"It may not be the pain that patients are trying to address," Cooke said.
The results do suggest we need to know more about the link between marijuana and pain relief, Freisthler said.
"Particularly since the opioid crisis, some people have been touting marijuana as a good substitute for opioids for people in pain," she said.
"But our study suggests we don't know that marijuana is helping to address pain needs."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200408145805.htm
Marijuana may impair female fertility
April 2, 2020
Science Daily/The Endocrine Society
Female eggs exposed to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, have an impaired ability to produce viable embryos, and are significantly less likely to result in a viable pregnancy, according to an animal study accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting.
Marijuana, or cannabis, is the most commonly used recreational drug by people of reproductive age. The rise in marijuana use has occurred at the same time that THC percentages in the drug have increased. "Currently, patients seeking infertility treatments are advised against cannabis use, but the scientific evidence backing this statement is weak," said Master student Megan Misner, part of the research laboratory led by Laura Favetta, Ph.D., in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada. "This makes it difficult for physicians to properly advise patients undergoing in vitro fertilization."
In the new study, researchers treated cow oocytes, or female eggs, with concentrations of THC equivalent to therapeutic and recreational doses. The oocytes were collected and matured into five groups: untreated, control, low THC, mid THC and high THC.
The eggs' developmental rates and gene expression were measured. The researchers evaluated the ability of embryos to reach critical stages of development at specific time points. With higher concentrations of THC, they found a significant decrease and delay in the ability of the treated oocytes to reach these checkpoints. "This is a key indicator in determining the quality and developmental potential of the egg," Misner said.
THC exposure led to a significant decrease in the expression of genes called connexins, which are present at increased levels in higher quality oocytes. Poorer quality oocytes, with lower connexin expression levels, have been shown to lead to a poorer embryo development. "This embryo would be less likely to proceed past the first week of development, and thus lead to infertility," Misner said.
Preliminary data also showed THC affected the activity of a total of 62 genes in the treatment groups compared with the non-treated groups. "This implies lower quality and lower fertilization capability, therefore lower fertility in the end," she said.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402134628.htm
Artisanal CBD not as effective as pharmaceutical CBD for reducing seizures
February 27, 2020
Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology
Children and teens with epilepsy who were treated with pharmaceutical cannabidiol (CBD) had much better seizure control than those who were treated with artisanal CBD, according to a preliminary study to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 72nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020.
CBD is a cannabis component that relieves stress and anxiety and has anti-seizure properties. It does not produce a "high" like another cannabis component called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Pharmaceutical CBD for epilepsy does not have THC. It is FDA approved for use in two severe forms of childhood epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which do not respond well to other medications. Artisanal CBD is manufactured using varying techniques and contains variable amounts of CBD and THC.
"The use of medical cannabis to treat various medical conditions has grown in recent years. While not always legal, artisanal CBD has been available longer, so some people have been using it to treat epilepsy for years," said study author Nathan T. Cohen, M.D., of Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "They may want to reconsider because our research indicates that pharmaceutical CBD may indeed be more effective than artisanal CBD."
For the study, researchers reviewed the medical charts of 31 children and teens with an average age of 10 who were followed for an average age of one year. All had some form of epilepsy including 32% with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and 6% with Dravet syndrome. Of the group, 22 were taking pharmaceutical CBD and nine were taking artisanal CBD. Researchers recorded medication doses, levels of CBD in the blood, seizure history and reduction in seizures with medication and side effects.
Those taking artisanal CBD had an average level of CBD in the blood of 31 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) compared to 124 ng/mL for those taking pharmaceutical CBD.
Researchers found children and teens taking artisanal CBD had a 70% increase in seizures during the study. Those taking prescription CBD had a 39% reduction in seizures.
However, 11 participants reported side effects. All were taking pharmaceutical CBD. Side effects included sleepiness, low appetite, nausea and diarrhea. Six of those participants stopped taking pharmaceutical CBD due to side effects.
"The difference in seizure control is dramatic and is definitely of concern since many people continue to use artisanal CBD," said Cohen. "However, a limitation of our study is that it was small. More research is needed to see if similar results are found in larger groups of people."
Another limitation of the study was that it was a look back at medical records. It did not involve participants who were given either pharmaceutical or artisanal CBD and then followed over time.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200227160545.htm
5 Amazing Ways People Use CBD To Release Stress
Independent article provided by: Crystal Willson, Content Strategist-CBD/Health
The global CBD market is exploding with products, be it cosmetics, medicines, beverages, or food products. CBD has become the latest consumer trend, owing to the increasing awareness among people regarding its therapeutic potential to treat various medical conditions- stress being a prominent one.
Despite the advancements in the modern world to make our lives easier, stress is an inevitable part of our busy schedules. However, ongoing chronic stress may affect mental and physical health, leading to issues such as depression, and increased risk of conditions such as obesity and heart disease. CBD can help relieve stress and increase the overall quality of life.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol is one of the prominent cannabinoids extracted from the marijuana and hemp plants from the same species- Cannabis Sativa. It is safe for you to consume CBD as its non-psychoactive in nature. You can purchase CBD Canada from various online dispensaries or your nearby local store.
There are numerous ways to consume CBD, each taking a different time to get absorbed in the bloodstream for you to experience the effects. As a beginner, feeling confused with the choices is normal. Take your time to figure out what suits you the best.
Read on to learn about five ways people consume CBD to release stress.
1) Tinctures:
Tinctures are made by soaking CBD-rich leaves in alcohol, then cooking on low flame for a few hours. Consuming tinctures after your meal or some high-fat snack would be ideal. It facilitates quick absorption into the bloodstream when taken sublingually i.e., putting a few drops of it under the tongue and holding it for 30 to 90 seconds before swallowing it.
A few added benefits of tinctures are convenience, a high shelf life, and various flavors, such as vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. This disguises the otherwise nutty taste of CBD. You can adjust the dose by administering the number of drops you take.
Stress may, at times, interfere with your sleep patterns, keeping you awake till late. When taken regularly, CBD can help you sleep much better and reduce stress by not allowing unwanted thoughts to weigh you down.
2) Edibles:
When you infuse any food item with CBD, it is known as an edible. The CBD-infused edible market is brimming with extensive options for consumers, including treats such as CBD-infused chocolates, cookies, gummy bears, etc., and healthier alternatives to these sugary treats such as almonds, and protein bars. What’s more, you can prepare your CBD-infused snack at home as well.
As compared to tinctures, the timeframe for these edibles to show effect is longer, usually anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours. You can include CBD edibles in your stress management plan as they may help you unwind and relax. This relaxation induced by CBD depends upon the serotonin levels in your central nervous system.
3) Capsules:
If you’re a beginner, CBD capsules might be the ideal choice for you, because of how convenient they are. You can carry these small capsules wherever you want, and take them when required. They contain precise servings, so you do not need to worry about calculating your dosing. Moreover, you can easily avoid the herbal taste of CBD, as these capsules are usually flavorless. People accustomed to taking pills might find it very easy to include CBD in their daily routine.
You have to ingest these capsules containing CBD oil or gel orally. Taking them on an empty stomach might help speed up the effect. CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid receptors to maintain homeostasis in the body. It would take about 90 minutes for these capsules to show effect and make you feel considerably calm.
4) Vaping:
Vaping is becoming increasingly popular, especially amongst the young generation, as it is one of the quickest ways to feel the effects of CBD. A vape or vaporizer is an electronic device that heats CBD vape juice and produces vapor that is safe to inhale. They are available in different sizes, shapes, designs, and colors to meet your requirements. Though disposable vapes are available, you should invest in a quality vape. This one-time investment will benefit you for years at a stretch.
You can vape CBD oil, flowers, etc. with each of them giving you a slightly different experience. As vaping provides almost immediate relief to your body, it might be the perfect choice for you in situations of extreme stress or acute anxiety.
5) Isolate:
CBD isolate comes in crystalline solid or powder form and comprises pure CBD. Most of the other products contain some additional compounds like THC. For an isolate, the refinement process removes all the other cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, leaving behind 99% pure CBD in crystal form.
CBD isolate works well with a variety of consumption methods. You can infuse it into olive oil or drink it with liquids such as water, coffee, or juice. However, vaping would be the most efficient method to administer CBD isolate. Studies suggest that CBD can affect non-cannabinoid receptors, such as the 5-HTP serotonin receptor. This way, it may help you reduce anxiety and increase your sleep quality, two of the major consequences of stress.
Final thoughts:
Stress has become prevalent in today’s world. However, excessive stress can hamper your productivity and weigh you down. CBD can work wonders to ease this emotional and physical tension in your body. Instead of taking synthetic medicines, CBD can be an organic alternative to relieve the burden of your thoughts.
With so many ways to consume CBD, you need to choose a way that works best for you.
Reference Links:
https://thesleepdoctor.com/2017/08/10/understanding-cbd/ https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-for-insomnia https://papaandbarkley.com/cbd-oil-for-sleep/