Brain cells and the Weed.

[sensimil]

Marijuana may spur new brain cells

By STEVE MITCHELL
Senior Medical Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Scientists said Thursday that marijuana appears to promote the development of new brain cells in rats and have anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects, a finding that could have an impact on the national debate over medical uses of the drug.

Other illegal and legal drugs, including opiates, alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress the formation of new brain cells when used chronically, but marijuana's effect on that process was uncertain.

Now, a team led by Xia Zhang of the department of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon may have found evidence the drug spurs new brain cells to form in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, and this in turn reduces anxiety and depression.

Marijuana appears "to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased ... neurons is positively correlated with its (anti-anxiety) and anti-depressant-like effects," Zhang and colleagues wrote in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The paper was posted online Thursday.

In the study, rats were given injections of HU210 -- a synthesized version of a cannabinoid chemical found in marijuana -- twice per day for 10 days.

Zhang told United Press International this would be "a high dose" of smoked marijuana, but he added he is not certain how many equivalent joints it would take or whether patients now using the drug typically would be getting this much HU210.

Although HU210 was injected, Zhang said there would be no difference if it was obtained by smoking marijuana.

The rats showed evidence of new neurons in the hippocampus dentate gyrus, a region of the brain that plays a role in developing memories.

Zhang's team suspected the new brain cells also might be associated with a reduction in anxiety and depression, because previous studies had indicated medications used to treat anxiety and depression achieve their effect this way.

To find out, they treated rats with HU210 for 10 days and then tested them one month later. When placed in a new environment, the rats were quicker to eat their food than rats that did not receive the compound, which suggested there was a reduction in anxiety behaviors.

Another group of rats treated with HU210 showed a reduction in the duration of immobility in a forced swimming test, which is an indication the compound had an anti-depressant effect.

Asked how he thought the findings might impact the debate over using marijuana to treat medical conditions, Zhang said, "Our results indicate cannabinoids could be used for the treatment of anxiety and depression."

He added that his view is "marijuana should be used as alcohol or nicotine," noting "it has been used for treating various diseases for years in other countries."

Last June the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 that the federal ban on marijuana supersedes the laws of certain states that allow the substance to be used for medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of pain, nausea in cancer patients and glaucoma. Eleven states have passed laws legalizing marijuana use by patients with a doctor's approval, including California, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

The Bush administration, through the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Agency, began conducting raids in California in 2001 on patients using marijuana. Two of those arrested by the DEA -- Angel Raich, who suffers from brain cancer, and Diane Monson, who used the drug to help alleviate chronic back pain -- sued Attorney General John Ashcroft, requesting a court order to be allowed to grow and smoke marijuana, which led to the Supreme Court decision.

Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told UPI he thought the findings "would have a positive impact on moving forward this debate, because it is giving ... a scientific explanation that further supports long-observed anecdotal evidence, and further lends itself to the notion that marijuana, unlike so many other prescription drugs and controlled substances, appears to have incredibly low toxicity and as a result lacks potential harm to the brain that many of these drugs have."

The DEA Web site, however, contends that "marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that poses significant health threats to users," including cancer and impaired mental functioning.

Armentano said this is a distortion of what scientific studies actually show. Studies in animals indicate marijuana actually may protect against many forms of cancer, rather than cause the disease, he said. In addition, studies in marijuana smokers have found little evidence of cognitive deficits, and even when they do, the defects disappear if the person stops smoking for 30 days.


http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/vi...3-024854-9860r

[sensimil]

Marijuana induces brain cell growth, fights depression

By John Roberts
Oct 14, 2005, 13:13
Canadian researchers discovered that a cannabis-like chemical or cannabinoid found in marijuana stimulates brain cell growth and helps fight anxiety and depression, according to a study released online on October 13 in advance of print publication of the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The finding is in sharp contrast with the common belief that abuse or chronic use of additive drugs inhibits the growth of new brain cells, causes memory loss and impairs learning, among other problems. In this respect, marijuana may not be such an ordinary additive drug. Researchers cautioned that marijuana may be the only exception among the additive drugs.

In the study, Dr. Xia Zhang and colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, injected a high dose of a cannabis-like in rats twice a day for ten days and found the marijuana chemical promoted the growth of new brain cells � a process known as neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that keeps generating new cells or neurons throughout one's lifetime. The hippocampus is associated with memory, depression and mood disorders. Previous studies found that depression is associated with the number of brain cells or neurons.

Dr. Zhang�s team researchers performed tests on rats and proved that the cannabis-like compound has anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effect. Rats treated with the marijuana compound twice a day for ten days had reduced anxiety and/or depression.

The researchers suggest that there is a positive correlation between increased generation of new brain cells and modified behavior following chronic cannabinoid treatment.

The study used a high dosage of a synthetic cannabinoid found in marijuana. It is unknown smoking marijuana may have the same effect.

Use of marijuana is common in many countries. "Cannabis (marijuana, hashish or cannabinoids) has been used for medical and recreational purpose for many centuries," researchers wrote in their article. "Cannabinoids appear to be able to modulate pain, nausea, vomiting, epilepsy, ischemic stroke, cerebral trauma, multiple sclerosis, tumors, and other disorders in humans and or animals."

Researchers suggest that the marijuana chemical may be used to fight anxiety and depression.

http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Ma...pression.shtml

[IndianaToker]

http://forum.grasscity.com/medical-marijuana/71013-marijuana-compound-spurs-brain-cell-growth.html

Search button Sensi, you should know that.

I posted this on 10-13-2005, 09:42 PM

[PorkSoda]

this is good stuff... very interesting.. i read all of the other post too...

[Packman]

I just had a talk with my mom explaining some of this stuff. She told me that arguing with me is like talking to a schizophrenic, because I'm not making any sense. Go figure.

[Kosmic Kronick]

thats some interesting stuff.. definitely a good step toward legallized weed...