Friday, 21 June 2013

Medical Marijuana May Avoid Brain Injury

Marijuana continues to be an absurdity as it makes its way from illegal drug to wonder medicine being used to treat a number of symptoms and disorders more safely than long-established pharmaceuticals. In the newest news, marijuana, which has been linked with durable cognitive arrears in constant users, is now being tested as a dealing to protect brain function after hurtful injury.

Amidst the many "it-damages-your-brain" studies, some reports have shown that cannabis has neuroprotective belongings. Studies have recommended that it has defensive belongings in neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases.

The author of the new study, Dr. Yosef Sarne of Tel Aviv University's Adelson Center for the Biology of Addictive Diseases, theorized that ultra-low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive part of marijuana, induces minor injure to the brain, which may actually "prerequisite" the brain to protect it against more brutal damage from injuries such as lack of oxygen, seizures or toxic drug exposure.

In Dr. Sarne's animal study, available in the journals Behavioural Brain Research and Experimental Brain Research, researchers injected mice with a solo, very low dose of THC around 1,000 to 10,000 times less than what is found in a conventional "joint" either several days before or after exposing the mice to a brain trauma.

They found that the treated rats had enhanced biochemical processes, which protected brain cells and preserved cognitive function over time, compared to control mice that were not treated with THC. Expressly, when the mice were examined three to seven weeks after the brain injury, those in the THC group performed better in learning and memory tests. They also showed increased amounts of neuroprotective chemicals compared to the control group.

In past laboratory experiments, Sarne's group found that ultra-low doses of THC affected cell signaling, preventing cell death and promoting certain growth factors. The researchers concluded that the use of low doses of THC can prevent long-term cognitive damage that results from brain injury in mice, but the drug needs to be tested in human trials.

Aside from treating patients with traumatic injury to the brain, Sarne suggested several ways of using THC preventively, before an injury occurs.

One use could be for patients on cardiopulmonary heart-lung machines used in open heart surgery. These come with a risk of interrupting the blood supply to the brain. Sarne said that THC could be injected beforehand as a preventive measure in case the brain is deprived of oxygen.

It could also be tested for use in patients such as those with epilepsy, who are at constant risk of brain injury, or those with a high risk of heart attack.

Sarne is currently testing the ability of low doses of THC to prevent heart damage during a heart attack, to prevent the death of heart muscle cells that are deprived of oxygen.
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For More Info: Marijuana for Brian Injury

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