In a crossover trial of 39 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, treatment with nabilone (a synthetic THC analog) was associated with significant improvement in agitation and, remarkably, cognition. Further studies should examine the effects of both THC and CBD in patients with Alzheimer’s disease because anxiety is common in dementia and may exacerbate agitation.
Statistics show that in the past 15 years, the number of pregnant women using marijuana, especially in their first trimester, has risen greatly. These numbers may be slightly skewed, but they show the importance of more research being done on the effect of cannabis on pregnant women. https://cnn.it/2WWQV1e
Out of 2,835 high school students from North Carolina, 272 students (or 9.6%) reported ever vaping cannabis. Interestingly, the odds of ever vaping cannabis were significantly higher among males (11.0%) compared with females (8.2%), and significantly higher among non-Hispanic white students (11.3%) compared with non-Hispanic black students (5.0%).
It’s clear that white males are the most likely to have ever vaping cannabis. Why might minority students engage less with recreational drug use?
Here, an excellent example of how valuable it is for scientific literature to be read critically and thoughtfully. When reporters read, or extract, or convey only partial conclusions, it is all-too-easy for consumers to absorb an incomplete, undigested message. As consumers of journalism, the public deserves a more knowledgeable understanding. Here (http://bit.ly/2KV0jeG), Forbes (Mike Adams) conveys an unfortunate lack of deep consideration in the reporting. Thankfully, a brief quote is conveyed by Dr. Koturbash, who “was quick to point out that the CBD products coming to market may not pose this particular risk” – but this stone-throw of even-handedness falls short to appropriately balance an article already dripping with misgivings and incomplete evaluation of the material at hand.
For a more layered view of the science, the word “gavage,” as was applied to the mice in the study, describes force-feeding animals with a tube down their throats, often taped to mouths which are then kept gaping open. This is meant to simulate the biological processes of eating (different from giving meds IV, for example.) There is no regard to the stress that this process causes the animals, as they are treated as though they are biological CBD-processing machines. In the days where many people are taking 10mg pills of CBD per day, the amounts of CBD that were force-fed to these animals in this study, if translated to humans, would be 4,305mg, 12,915mg, and 43,050mg over 10 days, or 17,220mg, 51,660mg, and 172,200mg in one-shot doses.) For reference, these days, most dispensaries sell CBD in doses of 10mg, 20mg, up to 2-300mg.)
In the study, the authors suggest that they allow animals to eat “ad libitum,” as if to convey that they are treated with a buffet. And yet, the animals being stuffed with 43,050mg (human equivalent) of CBD still lost weight, while others (given 172,200mg (human equivalent) had uneven weight distribution.) To any reader considering these values critically, it must seem absurd to make conclusions about the actions of CBD as what is causing these effects, as if the fact of over-stuffing itself has no impact at all.
An analogy to this study: If you add 17,000 cars (or 172,000!) to a tunnel on the way to the airport, and stuff each car full of way too many people, there might be problematic levels of concern inside that tunnel.
Let’s hope to see more even-handed consideration and reporting from Forbes, in the future.
Here, another study that shows very different results. Instead of overstuffing mice w/ unrealistic amounts, if one administers CBD at sensible doses in the same population of mice, it turns out that CBD could directly reduce alcohol drinking, improve healthy processes in the liver, and alcohol-related brain damage…
“CBD reduces alcohol-related steatosis & fibrosis in the liver by reducing lipid accumulation, stimulating autophagy, modulating inflammation, reducing oxidative stress, & by inducing death of activated hepatic stellate cells” This new study:
Researchers assessed 817 youth (aged 12 to 21) who previously participated in the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence study. They found that 123 subjects (15.2%) had used cannabis in the past year, and that cannabis use impaired inhibitory control, emotional control, and task planning.
Therapeutic Potential of Non-Psychotropic Cannabidiol in Ischemic Stroke
Cannabidiol (CBD) has a unique therapeutic profile as it has a cannabinoid receptor-independent mechanism, limited side-effects, and patients do not seem to develop an insurmountable tolerance. Research currently focussed on the therapeutic benefits of CBD has demonstrated long-lasting neuroprotective properties against global and focal ischemic injury, such as ischemic stroke. This piece points to CBD as a major component of cannabis-based medicine as a non-psychoactive component. Further research is needed to evaluate the full clinical capabilities of CBD, including its neuroprotective effect.
Training and Practices of Cannabis Dispensary Staff
How much medical training does your local budtender possess? An online survey sent to medical marijuana dispensary staff reported only 55% of staffers had any formal training for their position, with 20% reporting some background in medical/scientific training. The analysis reported that many among the dispensary staff are recommending cannabis choices that are consistent with current evidence, but some are recommending strains that are either ineffective or exacerbate a patient’s condition. The findings of this study stress the importance of consistent and well-regulated training of dispensary staff.
Misleading headlines make it seem like this woman may have died of THC overdose, however, we know that it would be nearly impossible to consume lethal amounts of THC, and the coroner clearly made vague, and incomplete assumptions. This, likely feeding into a comfortable, though quite false stigma around cannabis. http://bit.ly/31iwwlK
Benjamin Caplan, MDMisleading Headlines of THC “overdose”
Another case of government restricting the availability of #cannabis and related information. Facebook and Google banned cannabis ads and apps to avoid criticism from federal organizations. This delays the inevitable debunking of stigma surrounding cannabis and limits access to real and useful information. https://yhoo.it/2Kwy6dR
Benjamin Caplan, MDGovernmental Restriction Pops up in the Private Sector
