Author Interviews, Cannabis, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 04.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James McIntosh PhD Economics Department Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study Response: Marijuana is about to become legal in Canada. Consequently, an analysis of its effects on users is a high priority. This issue has been explored by Canadian researchers to some extent but there are gaps in what is known about the effects of using marijuana. Most of the Canadian studies focus on youth or adolescent use. This is clearly important but adult use is as well. Establishing the link between early usage and the effects of use over an individual’s lifetime was a major objective of the study. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Opiods / 01.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philippe Lucas VP, Patient Research & Access, Tilray Graduate Researcher, Centre for Addictions Research of BC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In 2001 Canada become one of the first nations to develop a federally regulated program to allow access to cannabis for medical purposes with the launch of the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR). The program has undergone numerous convolutions, culminating in the establishment by Health Canada of the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) in 2014, which was replaced by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes (ACMPR) in 2016. One of the primary changes in the new program(s) has been to move from a single Licensed Producer (LP) of cannabis to multiple large-scale Licensed Producers. This is the first comprehensive survey of patients enrolled in the MMPR/ACMPR, and with 271 complete responses, it’s the largest survey of federally-authorized medical cannabis patients to date. (more…)
Addiction, Alcohol, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Education, Pediatrics, Smoking / 23.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. James Williams UCL Medical School UCL, London, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Despite a downward trend over the last decade in the usage of particular substances amongst adolescents in the UK, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis remain prevalent behaviours in this demographic. These risky health behaviours present a large problem in terms of public health due to the immediate and long-term health problems they cause, as well as negative non-health outcomes such as poor educational attainment and reduced employment. The role of academic ability in determining patterns of substance use is not clear and no study has evaluated academic ability at age 11 in relation to the onset and persistence of all three substances from early to late adolescence and into young adulthood. Our study sought to determine the association between academic ability and the onset and persistence of substance use in adolescence in a representative sample of English school pupils. This would answer for the first time whether ability was associated with ‘experimentation’ in early adolescence or if the association persists into late adolescence. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Cannabis / 17.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kathleen K. Bucholz, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Psychiatry Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis MO 63110-1547 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that development of alcohol use disorder progresses through several stages of alcohol use, from beginning to drink, to engaging in problem drinking, and then to developing alcohol use disorder, but we don’t know whether the same factors are associated with each step in this progression. Stage-specific associations have implications for prevention, where targeting certain characteristics might stave off progression to the next level of alcohol involvement, potentially. That is what this particular study set out to investigate. The data were from nearly 3600 adolescents and young adults, the majority of whom came from families with alcohol use disorder in their relatives. Thus, this sample was enriched with individuals who were at high risk for progressing to more severe stages of alcohol involvement. In studying the associations at each stage, we strengthened our analysis by defining wherever possible variables as risk factors only if they occurred before or at the same age as the particular alcohol stage. For example, we counted cannabis use as a risk factor for starting to drink only if it either preceded or occurred at the same age as taking the first drink. With this definition, we can infer that a particular factor is antecedent and not simply a correlated influence. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics, UC Davis / 02.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Magdalena Cerda, DrPH, MPH Vice Chancellor's Chair in Violence Prevention Associate Director, Violence Prevention Research Program UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The potential effect of legalizing marijuana for recreational use has been a topic of considerable debate since Washington and Colorado first legalized its use for adults in 2012. Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., followed suit in 2014, and voters in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational use this past November. In our study, we examined changes in perceived risk of marijuana use, and in use of marijuana among school-attending adolescents, in Washington and Colorado, following legalization of recreational marijuana use, and compared pre- to post-legalization changes in these two states to changes in the 45 contiguous US states that had not legalized recreational marijuana use. Marijuana use significantly increased and its perceived harm decreased among eighth- and 10th-graders in Washington state following enactment of recreational marijuana laws. There was no change in use or perceived harm among 12th graders or among similar grades in Colorado. In particular, the data showed that legalization of recreational marijuana use significantly reduced perceptions of marijuana’s harmfulness by 14 percent and 16 percent among eighth and 10th graders and increased their past-month marijuana use by 2 percent and 4 percent in Washington state but not in Colorado. Among states without legalized marijuana use, the perceived harmfulness also decreased by 5 percent and 7 percent for students in the two grades, but marijuana use decreased by 1.3 percent and .9 percent. Among older adolescents in Washington state and all adolescents surveyed in Colorado, there were no changes in perceived harmfulness or marijuana use in the month after legalization. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Gender Differences, Heart Disease / 14.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amitoj Singh MD Chief Cardiology Fellow St. Luke’s University Health Bethlehem, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Marijuana use in steadily increasing and it is the most commonly used illicit drug in the US and worldwide. There has been a recent increase in reports of heart and vascular complications associated with its use. These include Myocardial infarctions, stroke and takotsubo. We had two questions that we wanted to answer with our study: a) Is there an association between marijuana use and development of Transient Regional Ventricular Ballooning [TVRB] (aka Stress Cardiomyopathy /Broken Heart Syndrome/ Takotsubo)? b) If the above is true, what are the differences between Marijuana users (MU) and Non Marijuana Users (NMU) who developed Stress Cardiomyopathy. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Schizophrenia / 27.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Stine Mai Nielsen Copenhagen University Hospital Mental Health Center Copenhagen Gentofte, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Several studies have tested whether use of substances can cause schizophrenia. However due to methodological limitations in the existing literature, uncertainties still remains. We aimed to investigate the association between several types of substance abuses and the risk of developing schizophrenia later in life. We did a nationwide, prospective cohort study using the detailed Danish registers, which enabled us to address some of the limitations from prior findings. Our cohort consisted of more than 3.13 mio. individuals, that we were able to follow up for more than 104 mio. years at risk. We found that dealing with a substance abuse increased the overall risk of developing schizophrenia by 6 times, with abuse of cannabis and alcohol presenting the highest associations (5 and 3 times increased risk). The risk was found to be significant even 10-15 years prior to a diagnosis of substance abuse. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Cognitive Issues, Depression, Pediatrics / 12.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elizabeth Osuch, M.D. Associate Professor; Rea Chair Department of Psychiatry FEMAP--London Health Sciences Centre London, ON    MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As a researcher and psychiatrist doing clinical work in youth aged 16-25 with mood and anxiety disorders I often see patients who are depressed and believe that using marijuana (MJ) improves their mood.  Yet they remain depressed.  This was the clinical inspiration for this brain imaging study, where we investigated emerging adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  Subject groups included patients with MDD who did and did not use MJ frequently.  Our results showed that the MDD+MJ group did not have significantly less depression than the MDD alone group, and the brain abnormalities found in MDD were not corrected by MJ use in the MDD+MJ group.  In fact, some of the brain differences were worse with the addition of MJ, while others were just different. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Columbia, Opiods / 17.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: June H. Kim Doctoral candidate,Department of Epidemiology Mailman School Public Health Columbia University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A previous study indicated that states with medical marijuana laws had a reduced rate of opioid overdoses. If this is true, we'd expect to see similar reductions in opioid use associated with these laws. For this study, we used data from the FARS, a national surveillance system that records any crash events on US public roads that result in a fatality. Some states provide uniform testing of the majority of their deceased drivers, year to year. Among these states, we found that there was a lower prevalence of positive opioid toxicology tests among drivers crashing in states with an operational medical marijuana versus drivers crashing in states before a future medical marijuana law is implemented, particularly among drivers aged 21-40. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Pediatrics / 28.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Graeme Gordon CEO and Founder at SneakGuard - Home of Safe Responsible StorageGraeme Gordon CEO and Founder at SneakGuard - Home of Safe Responsible Storage MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for SneakGuard™? Response: SneakGuard™ creator and founder, Graeme Gordon recognized the urgent need to keep adventurous young snoopers from unintentionally ingesting cannabis. Founded in 2014, SneakGuard™ is a locking, vacuum and thermally insulated container that provides responsible storage of medications and cannabis, with the passion to protect, save and enhance everyday quality of life. Gordon explains “As a father of a 8 year old I understand how pressing it is for adults to protect children, teens, and even pets from unintended ingestion, so I created a unique storage unit to provide a solution.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 21.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hanan El Marroun, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Epidemiology The Generation R Study Erasmus, The Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background for the study is that little is known about the potential long-term effects of cannabis exposure during pregnancy on child development. The main findings are the prenatal cannabis exposure was associated with differences in cortical thickness in childhood. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: That our findings suggest an association between prenatal cannabis exposure and cortical thickness in children. However, the results must be carefully interpreted, as there may be other factors involved that we did not take into account. Therefore, further research is needed to explore the causal nature of this association. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, CHEST, Pulmonary Disease / 12.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stefania I. Papatheodorou, MD, PhD Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health Limassol, Cyprus MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Despite increasing use and acceptance of marijuana, both medically and recreationally, gaps remain in our knowledge regarding potential health effects. In this study, we aimed to evaluate associations between recent marijuana use, exhaled Nitric Oxide (eNO) and pulmonary function. We performed a cross-sectional study of 10,327 US adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the years 2007 to 2012. Exhaled Nitric Oxide was lower among participants who used marijuana in the past 0 to 4 days and those who last used marijuana 5 to 30 days before the examination compared with the never users. FEV1 was higher among participants who used marijuana within 0 to 4 days before the examination compared with those who never used marijuana, while FVC was higher in both past and current marijuana users compared with never users. The FEV1/FVC ratio was significantly lower among those who used marijuana in the 0 to 4 days before the examination compared with never users. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Toxin Research / 18.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Claire Roberts PhD Robinson Research Institute Adelaide University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Roberts: Our research aimed to identify novel risk factors for the four main complications of pregnancy;
  • preeclampsia where the mother gets high blood pressure and her kidneys don’t work properly,
  • preterm birth which is delivery before 37 weeks of gestation,
  • small for gestational age and
  • gestational diabetes. We have studied over 5500 pregnant women in 6 centres in 4 countries, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland. We have identified a number of factors that contribute to these major pregnancy complications. However, in this paper we have focused on well known risk factors for pregnancy complications including maternal cigarette smoking, BMI and socioeconomic status. To these we added maternal use of marijuana before pregnancy, in first trimester, at 15 weeks and at 20 weeks gestation. After adjusting the data for the other factors, we found that continued maternal marijuana use at 20 weeks gestation is strongly associated with spontaneous pre-term birth independent of maternal cigarette smoking. Women who continued to use marijuana at 20 weeks’ gestation were over 5 times more likely to deliver preterm than women who did not use marijuana. Previous studies have shown conflicting evidence but none have accounted for maternal cigarette smoking.
Importantly, not only did continued use of marijuana increase risk for preterm birth but it also made these births 5 weeks earlier on average with a greater number of women delivering very preterm. That is much more dangerous for the baby who inevitably would require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Earlier delivery would be expected to increase the baby’s risk for dying and having long term disabilities. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis / 11.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mr. Brian C. Tefft Senior Research Associate AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In December 2012, a new law took effect in Washington state that effectively legalized the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana by adults aged 21 years and older for recreational purposes, and also created a legal limit for driving under the influence of marijuana such that having a concentration of 5.00 nanograms or greater of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana) per milliliter of whole blood while driving in the state of Washington is per se driving under the influence. Data from population-based surveys indicate that the proportion of Washington state residents who report using marijuana increased after this law took effect; however, not much was known about the impact of this new law on traffic safety in the state. To investigate the traffic safety impact of the new law, we examined drug test results from drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes that occurred in years 2010 – 2014 in Washington and resulted in the death of at least one person within 30 days of the crash. Specifically, we looked at the proportion of all drivers involved in fatal crashes who had detectable THC in their blood at or shortly after the time of the crash, which generally suggests that the driver had used marijuana within the past few hours. Results showed that from 2010 through 2013, approximately 8-9% of drivers in fatal crashes each year were positive for THC, and that proportion was basically flat from 2010 through 2013. In 2014, the proportion basically doubled, to 17%. Our modelling suggests that an increasing trend in the proportion of drivers who were positive for THC began in late 2013, about 9-10 months after the new law took effect. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, FASEB, Fertility / 20.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paola Grimaldi, PhD Associate Professor of Anatomy Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, School of Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome, Italy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Grimaldi: Our previous studies reported that mouse mitotic germ cells, spermatogonia, express type 2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2) and its stimulation promoted differentiation and meiotic entry of these cells in vitro. In this study we demonstrate that CB2 plays a role of in regulating the correct progression of spermatogenesis in vivo and we found that the use of exogenous agonist or antagonist of this receptor disrupts the normal differentiation of germ cells. This suggests that a basal and finely regulated level of endocannabinoids in male germ cells activate CB2, thus maintaining the homeostasis of spermatogenesis. Another important novelty of our study is that CB2 activation in developing germ cells determines the appearance of modifications in DNA-bound proteins, which are known to impact on gene expression and inheritance of specific traits in developing germ cells. An exciting idea could be that these modifications might be maintained in the mature spermatozoa and transmitted to the offspring. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Cannabis, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 06.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cara Christ, M.D., M.S. Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Christ: This study was a systematic review. The purpose of a systematic review is to critically assess and summarize the best available research evidence on a specific issue. This usually involves a critical synthesis of the results of several high quality studies on the issue under review. Overall, this review found that infants exposed to cannabis during pregnancy had a 77% higher likelihood of being underweight (<2500grams) at birth, compared to infants whose mothers did not use cannabis. Also, if the mother used cannabis during pregnancy, the likelihood of her infant needing to be placed in a neonatal intensive care unit was two times higher compared to those infants whose mothers did not use cannabis during pregnancy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Lancet, Mental Health Research / 08.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Sagnik Bhattacharyya Reader in Translational Neuroscience and Psychiatry Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, KCL Consultant Psychiatrist, Early Intervention Pathway Director, Maudsley Early Intervention in Dual Diagnosis clinic Psychosis Clinical Academic Group, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust King’s Health Partners  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Bhattacharyya: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the world and its use has been linked to the onset of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Whilst a lot of research has investigated the association between cannabis use and the development of psychosis, there is less clarity regarding the consequences of continued cannabis use in those with an established psychotic disorder. We therefore pooled together all available evidence from studies that specifically looked at the effects of cannabis use on outcome following the onset of psychosis. Based on data from more than 16000 patients with a first episode or more established psychosis, our results show that continued cannabis use is consistently associated with poor outcome in the form of more relapses (as indexed by psychiatric hospitalisation), longer hospitalisations and increased positive symptoms. However, outcomes were not as bad if cannabis use was discontinued following the onset of psychosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Mental Health Research / 06.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Rashmi Patel MA (Cantab) MA BM BCh PGDip (Oxon) MRCPsych Clinical Lecturer in General Psychiatry Kings College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Patel: Previous studies suggest that cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder but, until now, little was known about the effects of cannabis on people with an established psychotic disorder. Using novel text mining techniques, we investigated the association of cannabis use with the clinical outcomes of over 2,000 people following their first episode of psychosis. We found that cannabis use was associated with significantly poorer clinical outcomes including a 50% increased frequency of hospital admission and 35 additional days spent in hospital in the 5 years after first receiving treatment. We also found that the poor outcomes associated with cannabis use may be linked to antipsychotic treatment failure. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Genetic Research, Memory / 17.02.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Celia Morgan PhD Professor of Psychopharmacology University of Exeter  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Morgan: We know cannabis increases the risk of psychosis but it is unclear how we can predict who is vulnerable to these negative effects. This study suggested that cannabis may have stronger effects in people carrying a particular genetic variant. This might be related to their risk of developing psychosis. We also found that women are more susceptible to the short term memory impairing effects of cannabis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 29.11.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Silvia Rigucci MD Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs Sapienza University of Rome Rome, Italy Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr Rigucci:  Nowadays, ‘skunk-like’ products contain more Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) than they did around a decade ago and they have been shown to induce psychotic symptoms. Therefore,  exploring the impact of cannabis potency on brain structure is becoming particularly important. We found that frequent use of high potency cannabis significantly affects the structure of white matter fibers in the brain, independently of the presence of a psychotic disorder. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Pain Research / 23.07.2015

Mark S. Wallace MD Department of Anesthesiology School of Medicine University of California, San Diego, CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mark S. Wallace MD Department of Anesthesiology School of Medicine University of California, San Diego, California Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Wallace: The study was funded by the center for medicinal cannabis research at the University of California San Diego. The center was funded by the state of California. The center was the first to fund a series of double-blind randomized controlled trials with inhaled cannabis for neuropathic pain. My trial is the first in diabetic peripheral neuropathy pain which is one of the most prevalent pain syndromes in our society with limited treatments. We found a dose dependent reduction in pain. However there was also a dose dependent increase in euphoria and sedation which may limit clinical use. Effects on neurocognitive functioning were minimal. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Orthopedics / 20.07.2015

Yankel Gabet, DMD, PhD Department of Anatomy and Anthropology Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv IsraelMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yankel Gabet, DMD, PhD Department of Anatomy and Anthropology Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gabet: Cannabis affects the body via specific components that are able to binding to receptors in the brain and other tissues. The components include the well-known ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the major constituents of cannabis. The cannabinoid receptors in our body are activated by several molecules (‘endocannabinoids’) synthesized by different sorts of cells under specific conditions. These receptors can be activated by synthetic compounds (cannabinoid ligands) as well as by natural cannabis. The effect of endocannabinoids in bone metabolism has been studied before but this study is the first report on the actions of natural THC and CDB in bone fracture healing. This is particularly important in light of the high incidence of both cannabis use and bone fractures; it is likely that many patients suffering from bone fractures consume cannabis that may have beneficial or adverse effects on the healing process. Another important point is that the non-psychogenic CDB is enough to promote bone healing, so there is no need to be exposed to the euphoric effects of cannabis/THC to get the beneficial functions of CBD on bone. (You can buy cbd oil online to help with other conditions as well such as fibromyalgia and diabetes.) If you are interested in learning more about CBD/THC and its products there are places online where you can find information, for example, from an online cbd store, a CBD Blog and other resources. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Johns Hopkins / 25.06.2015

Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D. Associate Professor Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 21224MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D. Associate Professor Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 21224 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Vandrey: The background for the study was that I have had several conversations with individuals that led me to believe that there was insufficient regulation of products of all types being sold in medical cannabis dispensaries.  In order to evaluate that, we needed to do a study.  We decided to test edible products because that is a growing market, and, because it involves some level of manufacturing, there is greater chance for dose variability and inaccuracy.  The main finding was that the majority of products were purchased from retail stores selling cannabis products for medical use were significantly mislabeled with regards to the dose of THC and other cannabinoids. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA / 23.06.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Penny F. Whiting, PhD School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol The National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West at University Hospitals, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol UK Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd, Escrick, York, United Kingdom MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Whiting: Cannabis is one of the most popular recreational drugs - only tobacco, alcohol and caffeine are more popular. It can result in an alteration to mood and a feeling of “high”. An estimated 141 million people use cannabis worldwide – this is equivalent to 2.5% of the world’s population. Cannabis has a long history of use for the relief of a wide variety of medical symptoms. There is evidence of its use for medical purposes going back to early Egyptian times. The pen-ts’ao ching the world’s oldest herbal book includes reference to cannabis as medicine for rheumatic pain, constipation, disorders of the female reproductive system, and malaria amongst others, this herbal book also contains the first reference to cannabis as a psychoactive drug. However, its use is controversial as it has been included as a controlled drug in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs since 1961, and the use of cannabis is illegal in most countries. Medical cannabis (or medical marijuana) refers to the use of cannabis or cannabinoids (any compound, natural or synthetic, that can mimic the actions of plant-derived cannabinoids) as medical therapy to treat disease or alleviate symptoms, this is different from CBD oil that also has been found to help with certain medical conditions, click to see details about CBD oil. Some countries have legalised medicinal-grade cannabis to chronically ill patients but in others its use remains illegal even for medicinal purposes. Canada and the Netherlands have government-run programmes where specialised companies supply quality controlled herbal cannabis. There are different strains of cannabis can help with aliments, those who are interested in finding out more about a list of low odor strains by GreenBudGuru.com might be interested in visiting or doing some research to find out more. These programmes have been running since 2001 and 2003 respectively. In the US around half of the states have introduced laws to permit the medical use of cannabis; other countries have similar laws. Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd (see below) were commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health to conduct a systematic review for the effects and adverse events of medical cannabis to inform policy decision making. Systematic reviews are studies of studies that offer a systematic approach to reviewing and summarising evidence. They follow a defined structure to identify, evaluate and summarise all available evidence addressing a particular research question. We were asked to focus on the following ten indications which were of particular interest to our commissioners: nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy, patients with HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis or paraplegia, depression, anxiety disorder, sleep disorder, psychosis, glaucoma, and Tourette’s syndrome. We only included randomised trials, the most robust design for evaluating the effects of an intervention. We included almost 80 trials (nearly 6500 participants). We had most evidence for chronic pain (28 trials), nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy (28 trials) and spasticity due to MS or paraplegia (14 trials) with less than five studies included for each of the other indications and none for depression. With the exception of the nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy population, studies general compared cannabinoids to placebo with only single studies for each indication comparing cannabinoid with an active comparator. In the nausea and vomiting population the majority of studies compared cannabinoids to an active comparator, most commonly prochlorperazine. Most trials reported greater improvement in symptoms with cannabinoids compared to control groups, however, these did not always reach statistical significance. Cannabinoids were also associated with a greater risk of short term adverse events, including serious adverse events. Common adverse events included dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, sleepiness, and euphoria. Overall we found that there was moderate quality evidence to support the use of cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic pain and spasticity and low-quality evidence to suggest that cannabinoids were associated with improvements in nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy, weight gain in HIV infection, sleep quality, and Tourette syndrome. When determining the quality of the evidence we considered the risk of bias in trials, the consistency of the evidence across the trials, the directness of the evidence (was the trials research question directly applicable to our review question), and the precision of the evidence. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Cannabis / 19.11.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Wai Liu Senior Research Fellow St George's University of London London,  SW17 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Liu: It has been known for some time that certain chemicals called cannabinoids that are isolated from the cannabis plant possess anticancer action through the ability to enhance/engage apoptosis and autophagy. These effects are both dependent and independent upon the cognate receptors. These are found at relatively high levels in brain cells. Brain tumors tend to express these at high levels and so we felt these would be good candidates. The main findings of the current study is the ability that combining the cannabinoids THC and CBD with irradiation can cause a reduction in tumor that is greater than the sum of the individual treatments. That is, when using doses of irradiation or cannabinoids individually, the effects were minimal; however, if they were used simultaneously, the effect was synergistic, and tumor growth was significantly impeded. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Lancet / 10.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edmund Silins PhD, Research Fellow National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre UNSW Medicine University of New South Wales Sydney  Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Silins: There were three particularly interesting aspects to the findings.
  • Firstly, we found clear and consistent associations between adolescent cannabis use and the young adult outcomes investigated.
  • Secondly, there was evidence of a dose-response effect such that the more frequently adolescents used cannabis the more likely they were to experience harms later in life.
  • Thirdly, for most outcomes, these associations remained even after taking into account a wide range of other factors which might potentially explain them.
The adverse effects were greatest for daily cannabis users. Specifically, adolescents who were daily cannabis users were, by the age of 25, more than 60% less likely to complete high school or obtain a university degree, seven times more likely to have attempted suicide, 18 times more likely to have been cannabis dependent, and eight times more likely to have used other illicit drugs, than adolescents who had never used the drug. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Disability Research, Karolinski Institute / 03.09.2014

Anna-Karin Danielsson, PhD Project Coordinator Karolinska Institutet Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS) Widerströmska huset| Stockholm, SwedenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anna-Karin Danielsson, PhD Project Coordinator Karolinska Institutet Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS) Widerströmska huset| Stockholm, Sweden Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Danielsson: Smoking cannabis in adolescence increases the risk of adverse social consequences later on in life. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Cannabis / 03.09.2014

Chuanhai Cao Ph.D. Neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute and the USF College of Pharmacy.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chuanhai Cao Ph.D. Neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute and the USF College of Pharmacy. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Cao: The major goal of this study was to investigate the effect of Ä9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major component of marijuana, on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. THC has long been known to have anti-inflammatory effects, but we were looking to determine whether THC directly affected amyloid beta (Aâ). Aâ aggregation is considered one of the key pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Our study showed that extremely low doses of THC were able to decrease Aâ production, inhibit Aâ aggregation, and enhance mitochondrial function in a cellular model of AD. Decreased levels of amyloid beta, coupled with THC’s inhibitory effect on aggregation may protect against the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)
Cannabis, Mental Health Research / 08.05.2014

Meesha Ahuja, MD Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Young Adult Behavioral Health Program at Rhode Island Hospital Mentors: Laura Whiteley, MD and Larry Brown, MDMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meesha Ahuja, MD Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Young Adult Behavioral Health Program at Rhode Island Hospital Mentors: Laura Whiteley, MD and Larry Brown, MD MedicalResearch: Why did you decided to study this topic? Dr. Ahuja: Severe mental illness is more common among college students than it was a decade ago, and the number of college students presenting for psychiatric care both on and off campus has dramatically increased. The rates of cannabis use have also been increasing among college students in the United States since the mid-1990s. The concomitant use of cannabis and other substances among general samples in psychiatric treatment has been linked to poorer clinical outcomes including increased hospitalizations, increased symptomatology, poorer treatment adherence, higher treatment resistance. However, before doing this study, there was no research that examined the effect of cannabis and other substance use disorders on the scholastic and general functioning of college students in psychiatric care. (more…)