Health & WellnessS


Roses

Flashback Cannabis and the Brain: A User's Guide


LewRockwell.com
Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:16 UTC
Preclinical data recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation demonstrating that cannabinoids may spur brain cell growth has reignited the international debate regarding the impact of marijuana on the brain. However, unlike previous pseudo-scientific campaigns that attempted to link pot smoking with a litany of cognitive abnormalities, modern research suggests what many cannabis enthusiasts have speculated all along: ganja may be good for you.

Cannabinoids & Neurogenesis

"Study turns pot wisdom on its head," pronounced the Globe and Mail in October. News wires throughout North America and the world touted similar headlines - all of which were met with a monumental silence from federal officials and law enforcement. Why all the fuss? Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids in rats stimulated the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the hippocampus region of the brain and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. The results shocked researchers - who noted that almost all other so-called "drugs of abuse," including alcohol and tobacco, decrease neurogenesis in adults - and left the "pot kills brain cells" crowd with a platter of long-overdue egg on their faces.
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Magnify

Gliomas and cannabinoids activity


NORML
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:43 UTC
brain
© 3DScience.com
Gliomas (tumors in the brain) are especially aggressive malignant forms of cancer, often resulting in the death of affected patients within one to two years following diagnosis. There is no cure for gliomas and most available treatments provide only minor symptomatic relief.

A review of the modern scientific literature reveals numerous preclinical studies and one pilot clinical study demonstrating cannabinoids' ability to act as antineoplastic agents, particularly on glioma cell lines.

Writing in the September 1998 issue of the journal FEBS Letters, investigators at Madrid's Complutense University, School of Biology, first reported that delta-9-THC induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture.[1] Investigators followed up their initial findings in 2000, reporting that the administration of both THC and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 "induced a considerable regression of malignant gliomas" in animals.[2] Researchers again confirmed cannabinoids' ability to inhibit tumor growth in animals in 2003.[3]
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Light Saber

Flashback Marijuana ingredient helps fight brain tumors


Science Blog
Sun, 15 Aug 2004 16:34 UTC
Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). According to a new study, administration of cannabinoids significantly lowered VEGF activity in laboratory mice and two patients with late-stage glioblastoma.

From American Association for Cancer Research:

Marijuana ingredient inhibits VEGF pathway required for brain tumor blood vessels

Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
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Health

Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74

Raymond Cushing
Alternet
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:52 UTC
The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

The Madrid study marks only the second time that THC has been administered to tumor-bearing animals; the first was a Virginia investigation 26 years ago. In both studies, the THC shrank or destroyed tumors in a majority of the test subjects.

Most Americans don't know anything about the Madrid discovery. Virtually no major U.S. newspapers carried the story, which ran only once on the AP and UPI news wires, on Feb. 29, 2000.
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People

Brain Differences Reinforce Preferences For Those In Same Social Group


ScienceDaily
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:38 UTC
Image
© iStockphoto/Stefanie Timmermann
An observer feels more empathy for someone in pain when that person is in the same social group, according to new research in the July 1 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

The study shows that perceiving others in pain activates a part of the brain associated with empathy and emotion more if the observer and the observed are the same race. The findings may show that unconscious prejudices against outside groups exist at a basic level.

The study confirms an in-group bias in empathic feelings, something that has long been known but never before confirmed by neuroimaging technology. Researchers have explored group bias since the 1950s. In some studies, even people with similar backgrounds arbitrarily assigned to different groups preferred members of their own group to those of others. This new study shows those feelings of bias are also reflected in brain activity.
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Pills

FDA Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

Gardiner Harris
The New York Times
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:07 UTC
A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.
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Health

American Doctors Busted for Fraud

Mike Adams
NaturalNews.com
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:45 UTC
I've often asserted that doctors exploit people for personal profit, prescribing drugs and procedures that are medically unnecessary while raking in millions from health insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. This week, Miami doctor Roberto Rodriguez was sentenced to eight years in prison -- and ordered to pay $9 million back to Medicare -- for doing exactly that.

According to press reports, Dr. Rodriguez conspired with five other medical professionals to recruit patients, diagnose them with HIV, then forge false records for HIV treatment services that earned them millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements. From October 2003 through February 2006, the team of doctors bilked Medicare (and taxpayers) for $20 million in false claims. (One of the co-conspirators -- Dr. Carmen del Cueto -- will be sentenced in September.)

But here's the best part: This fraud wasn't limited to just one medical clinic. Dr. Rodriguez was the medical director for five additional Miami-based HIV infusion clinics where the same fraud continued to the tune of millions of dollars.
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Sun

Vitamin B12 Protects the Heart, Mind, Eyes and More

Melanie Grimes
Natural News
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:23 UTC
Vitamin B12 is one of the eight B vitamins, and is important for brain function and the formation of blood. B12 deficiency can cause many diseases. Deficiency can be treated by diet or by B12 injections. Since B12 is hard to assimilate through the stomach, sublingual B12 is advised. B12 is water-soluble, is made up of a complicated chemical structure, and contains the element cobalt. The type of B12 used in food supplements is called cyanocobalamin.
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Cheeseburger

E.Coli 0157 Comes Back With a Vengence

Tom Philpott
Grist
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:14 UTC
Image
Tainted burger, coming soon to a plate near you?
In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries.

Where's the tainted beef?

If you regularly eat fast-food burgers or unlabeled supermarket beef, you've almost certainly consumed a JBS product in the past month. That's because Brazil-based JBS is the globe's largest beef producer - and the third-largest U.S. beef packer. And what a month it's been for this emerging beef behemoth.
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Info

Ginseng is the Green Way to Reduce Swelling

Josh Peterson
Planet Green
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:54 UTC
Image
© WEKWEK/istockphoto
Ginseng has been used in natural medicine for centuries. You'll often find it boasted on those crazily named energy drinks.But before ginseng graced the side of a goofy energy can, it was busy bolstering the health of the convalescent, treating erectile dysfunction and Hepatitus C, the symptoms of menopause, keeping blood pressure down, improving mental and physical awareness, and contributing to a person's feeling of overall well-being. What a wonderful root.
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