Posted on 08/13/2005 12:00:36 PM PDT by traumer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Derivatives of the active compound in cannabis -- cannabinoids -- may have the potential for treating inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, UK researchers report.
"The system that responds to cannabis in the brain is present and functioning in the lining of the gut," lead researcher Dr. Karen Wright, of the University of Bath, explained to Reuters Health. "There is an increased presence of one component of this system during inflammatory bowel diseases," she explained.
Wright and her colleagues established the location of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 in human colon tissue, and used human colon cell lines to investigate the binding of cannabinoid compounds and in wound-healing experiments. They report their findings in the journal Gastroenterology
The team found that CB2 was increased in colonic tissue characteristic of inflammatory bowel disease. Cannabinoids enhanced surface wound closure via CB1-related mechanisms.
"Cannabinoids, which we make ourselves, as well as synthetic cannabinoids, can promote wound healing in the gut, which is extremely interesting given that inflammatory bowel disease involves damaged gut linings," Wright said.
Although results are available yet, she added, relevant studies of the use of cannabinoids are taking place in the UK and a clinical trial is being conducted in Germany.
"How do you determine legitimate medical research from illegitimate medical research?"
Are you REALLY that confused?
Good grief!
And IBS has less to do with receptors in the intestines, than the presence or lack thereof, of various hormones and chemicals sent down from the brain.
And I noticed that you ignored the other bowel disease I mentioned; diverticulitis. Pot can't do anything for that, nor for diverticulousis; both of which need dietary control and/or surgery, because of the pockets in the intestines.
People die from diverticulitis all the time and pot can't help that at all.
Gotta love FR !!!
I can get characterized as barbaric and open minded on the same day !
; )
Why shouldn't drinkers live in fear?
And what does that have to do with what I posted? IBD tends to be more ulcerative colitis and Crohn's. I don't think anyone is claiming that it can prevent death.
Not possibly, definitely.
"Definitely"? So EVERY person who drinks neglects their obligations to others?
Did you know that this country once made alcohol illegal? Have you heard how that experiment in social engineering turned out?
And Colitis, a catchall term, is what they used to lump IBS into.
Sooooo, it has a lot to do with it.
Ok. I see where you were going with your reply to me.
I have to ask... how do you know that? Are you all-knowing? While that sounds (and is) sarcastic, I for one would never have thought that mold would help kill infections, nor that willow bark would cure headaches.
If nmh is making claims he can't prove, that's his problem not highball's.
Depends.
Depends.
What depends on what?
If it could help Crohn's, why not investigate it?
Colitis is a term that can be a catch-all, but IBS is typically not lumped into it by doctors. Ulcerative colitis is its own disease, I believe. IBS != IBD.
I agree with you on diverticulitis given the nature of the disease. I have diverticulosis with mild symptoms.
Since IBS is a two pronged Syndrome, those who suffer from it, who don't have diarrhea, but have extreme constipation, this isn't going to solve the problem. And then, there are the IBS suffers, who have both problems. And that's but one symptom of IBS.
Could you clarify this? I think it makes sense to you, but with the sentences structured the way they are, it's a bit confusing.
And IBS has less to do with receptors in the intestines, than the presence or lack thereof, of various hormones and chemicals sent down from the brain.
This is certainly not a widely accepted idea. The jury is still out. My hunch is that eventually, serotonin will be seen as playing a role in IBS. But will cannabinoids possibly help? Given the varying degrees of severity in this disease, it might.
Why are you a slave to the idea of a metaphysical superbeing?
Free your mind of that which blinds you.
This is a doper thread, though, so it's probably best to stick to the topic.
We've got a lot of personal experience around here with newbie liars. The type who is able to identify someone else's experience as 'BS'.
You'd think it would be fairly intuitive, yet may people seem to have trouble discerning what "legitimate" research is. I've seen many instances of people who think Robert Heath's experiments were legitimate research, and still quote observations made by Ronald Reagan based on his reading of the results of those experiments.
People with IBS used to be told that it was all in their minds and that they were nuts. It was treated as a mental illness and/or ignored.
Then, for most decades of the 20th century, it was indeed lumped in with and called COLITIS and misdiagnosed/mistreated.
You claimed that IBS is diarrheal. It can be, but most with IBS have the kind that is the complete opposite...constipation. Some people's IBS is a combination of constipation and diarrhea. But none of those symptoms are the ONLY problems/symptoms faced by IBS sufferers. And even the experts don't understand this disease, nor know how to treat it; not to mention the fact that it is incurable. The best they can do, is to sort of treat a few of the symptoms; not all of them.
What I have stated about IBS, most assuredly is what the experts' expert says about it.
For some, yes, it is a serotonin problem...which is why Zoloft or a similar drug is sometime proscribed, on a short term basis; however, that is NOT true for those who have a combination diarrheal/constipation ( most people ), or just the diarrhea.
Could cannabinoids help IBS? About as much as they could help a hangnail. They certainly aren't going to do anything for the bloat, the explosive diarrhea, or any of the other many symptoms. Could they mask the pain? Possibly, but not every IBS sufferer has the same kind of pain, if they have pain at all.
Actually, Crohn's is more treatable, now, than IBS is.
I hope that your diverticulosis doesn't ever get any worse. My great grandfather died from it.
inhaling Marijuana
The other cancer causing smoke
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