Topic: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.

In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats' brains.

They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.

[stoneyface]

wow! and i thought it killed brain cells!!! seriously,  this is a cool find. i hope they can replicate results and push this forward. i have been a medical marijuana supporter for a long time and this is good news.




maybe he'll remember where he hid all his nutz this winter!

[Dracho]

It's a shame the medicinal properties of most plants can't be extracted.  Inhaling smoke of any kind can't be good for the lungs.  I wonder if anyone has ever looked at pot & emphysema?

Cigarette smokers, of course, get it a lot, but so do firemen who don't smoke.

[KBF-Crim]

Bush's fault....

[stoneyface]

It's a shame the medicinal properties of most plants can't be extracted.  Inhaling smoke of any kind can't be good for the lungs.  I wonder if anyone has ever looked at pot & emphysema?

Cigarette smokers, of course, get it a lot, but so do firemen who don't smoke.

actually there are ways to use marijuana that do not involve smoking. you can cook with hash-oil, vaporizers, oil-based lotions and the like. just thought i'd pass this on since i know too much about this wonderful plant!

[MrCue]

mmmmmmmm, space cakes, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Dracho]

It's a shame the medicinal properties of most plants can't be extracted.  Inhaling smoke of any kind can't be good for the lungs.  I wonder if anyone has ever looked at pot & emphysema?

Cigarette smokers, of course, get it a lot, but so do firemen who don't smoke.

actually there are ways to use marijuana that do not involve smoking. you can cook with hash-oil, vaporizers, oil-based lotions and the like. just thought i'd pass this on since i know too much about this wonderful plant!

I think if I used it I'd go that route (especially if for health reasons).  Smoking anything just seems like a really bad idea.

[Dash Jones]

And Did you KNOW...Cigarrette smoke cures cancer too!!!

Malboro swears it does!!!

In other research...we can reverse Global Greenhouse/heating by chimneys!!!!

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8162

And finally, for our last bunch of articles...an extract of Oil can actually help in the rehabilitation of the spine!!!  So obviously that means that we should go and start drinking Oil???

Not that marijuana is bad...but most marijuana smokers I've met that constantly get the munchies and seem to suffer short term memory loss.  Just in my personal experience.

Of course most smokers I've met have had tar breath and if they've been doing it for a long time (we're talking LOTs of smoking here, same with the marijuana thing above) they have raspy voices as well.

And of course never met someone who drank Oil and really had good side effects from it...though their are multiple good uses of Oil in items besides gasoline.

Am I skeptical...you better believe I'm skeptical of what some people think the article may be inferring.

[Nemesis]

2nd  article on the topic

As enthusiastic as Dr. Zhang is about the potential health benefits, he warns against running out for a toke in a bid to beef up brain power or calm nerves.

The team injected laboratory rats with a synthetic substance called HU-210, which is similar, but 100 times as potent as THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the compound responsible for giving marijuana users a high.

They found that the rats treated regularly with a high dose of HU-210 -- twice a day for 10 days -- showed growth of neurons in the hippocampus. The researchers don't know if pot, which isn't as pure as the lab-produced version, would have the same effect.

Cannabinoids, such as marijuana and hashish, have been used to address pain, nausea, vomiting, seizures caused by epilepsy, ischemic stroke, cerebral trauma, tumours, multiple sclerosis and a host of other maladies.

One problem with marijuana research shared with tobacco research is the tainted past history.  Both have in the past had most research being done in a "tainted" fashion.  Tainted by the fact that those providing the money knew in advance what results they wanted and chose researchers who would get those results to order.  As a result it took decades to prove the toxic effects of tobacco smoke and will likely take decades again to show the true effects (whatever they may be) of marijuana.

This research as it used a synthetic derivative of a single active component of marijuana may not (probably not) reflect the total effect of marijuana as it ignores many other components, some of which could be toxic.

In the U.S. marijuana research is very difficult to carry out.  Marijuana is listed as having zero medical properties by the federal government.  As a narcotic with no medical properties research is strongly restricted.  Cocaine on the other hand is listed as having some medical benefits and is easier to do research on.  I suspect that as a result of this most interesting research on marijuana will be done in more permissive countries for the next few years (or decades) until the U.S. recognizes the potential medical uses and lightens controls.  There are still powerful groups that oppose any use of marijuana and do whatever is "needed" to see their views dominate.

As some one who does not use, has not used and does not desire to use "mind altering" drugs (including alcohol) I'm rather neutral on such things.  I'm quite willing to see the results of marijuana research go either way.