stroke

[scarymoose]

my doctor says i had a stroke and it is most likely drug related
is it possible to get a stroke from smoking weed?
or can weed help pervent a stroke in any way?

[highawatha]

what drugs had you been taking? i found some information on marijuana and strokes...


Chemicals in Marijuana May Help Stroke Victims MEDICAL MARIJUANA
July-August 1998

Scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) said a chemical in marijuana may protect the brain from damage inflicted by a stroke. Their study was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Aidan Hampson, et al., "Cannabidiol and Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol Are Neuroprotective Antioxidants," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 7, 1998, Vol. 95, Issue 14, p. 8268; "Pot Chemicals Might Inhibit Breast Tumors, Stroke Damage," Dallas Morning News, July 13, 1998; Vanessa Thorpe, "Chemicals Help Brain Damage After Stroke," The Independent (UK), July 19, 1998).

NIMH scientists researched the effects of two cannabinoids, cannabidiol and THC, on the brains of rats. THC is the ingredient in marijuana that causes a psychoactive effect. However, cannabidiol is "a better candidate," in part, because it does not cause a "high" in the patient, said Aidan Hampson, a neuropharmacologist at NIMH who led the study.

The cannabinoids block a neurochemical, known as glutamate, that leads to the formation of toxic oxidizing molecules that kill brain cells. Glutamate is produced in the brain if the oxygen supply is cut off, for example, as the result of blood clot leading to a stroke. Researchers found that cannabidiol is a more effective antioxidant than vitamins A and E, which already are known to block the damaging effects of glutamate.

another

Science News
July 11, 1998

Marijuana chemical tapped to fight strokes

By J. Brainard

The breakfast table may someday feature not only orange juice and vitamins but also a more exotic health booster—a compound extracted from marijuana.

Cannabis contains a chemical that can protect cells by acting as an antioxidant, a new study shows. More effective than vitamins C or E, it offers an appealing option for the treatment and perhaps prevention of stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, and heart attacks, the researchers suggest.

However, there's no worry that those who take it will become too stoned to read the morning paper. The compound, called cannabidiol, doesn't make people high.

Scientists have yet to test whether the chemical has a protective effect in people. In test-tube experiments, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., exposed rat nerve cells to a toxin that is typically released during strokes. Cannabidiol reduces the extent of damage, the scientists report in the July 7 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In follow-up studies, the researchers induced strokes in rats and treated them with cannabidiol. Those experiments are not yet complete, but "we're getting some good results," says Aidan J. Hampson, a neuropharmacologist at NIH.

Researchers suspect that many antioxidants can reduce the severity of ischemic strokes, in which blood vessels in the brain become blocked. During ischemic strokes, which make up 80 percent of all strokes, a toxin initiates the release of reactive oxygen molecules called free radicals into the bloodstream. These harmful molecules are under suspicion as one of the agents that cause stroke damage, such as paralysis and loss of speech and vision. Antioxidants such as cannabidiol neutralize free radicals and so might limit the damage.

The NIH researchers had suspected that the group of molecules including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the marijuana ingredient that produces a high, would act as antioxidants. In their study, THC and cannabidiol provided equal defense against cell damage. An earlier study at the University of Arizona in Tucson turned up no side effects of cannabidiol in people given large doses.

A pharmaceutical company, Pharmos in Rehovot, Israel, is already conducting human clinical trials using a synthetic marijuana derivative, Dexanabinol, to treat damage from strokes and brain injury. Like cannabidiol, this compound is an antioxidant and does not produce euphoria.

"This is a promising area [of research] . . . particularly because we have so few effective means of treating stroke," said JoAnn E. Manson, a researcher in preventive medicine at Harvard Medical School. Stroke is the third leading killer in the United States (SN: 12/21&28/96, p. 388).

The NIH researchers don't anticipate using cannabidiol to treat hemorrhagic stroke, characterized by bleeding within the brain, Hampson says. Antioxidants, however, could help treat other diseases that appear to be caused in part by free radicals. These include heart disease and two neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

From Science News, Vol. 154, No. 2, July 11, 1998, p. 20.
Copyright © 1998 by Science Service.


i also found this but could not get the link to work

Case - Stroke After Marijuana Smoking in a Teenager With Factor V Leiden Mutation

[scarymoose]

thanks for the information
looks like you did alot of research on it so i will dedicate the next bowl i smoke to you

[highawatha]

your very welcome
an
thank you very much for the dedication of your bowl.....

[Mr.Redeye]

good to hear you haven't stopped smoking

i hope you feel better man. whatever else you were taking, maybe you should just cut it down to Ms. Mary jane for a whileé

[pepper]

My dad had a bad stroke last year from eatin *special* brownies, it was pretty bad, he puked all over me and i had to take him to the hospital, i thought he was dying or something, it sucked.

*edit* marijuana speeds up your heartrate dramatically, if you dont exercise or eat healthy you most likely will have another stroke if you keep smokin and not exercising. So start runnin or f*ckin more or somthin.

[scarymoose]

i talked to my neurologist and he said he is almost sure that my stroke was caused by my blood being 6 points higher then normal (this means it clots faster then a normal person)

he also said he doesnt think marijuana can cause a stroke at all unless you had a massive amount and i usually dont smoke more then a few bowls so weed wont do anything

[Mustard]

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18736.shtml