BUll!
Anything to promote dope and more dopes.
Yeah, but don't tell the Liberal Christian Fundamentalists in this country that want more government intrusion into our personal lives.
"Anything to promote dope and more dopes."
So, even if the medical research bears the claim out, you'll dismiss it as some sort of covert propaganda?
The bizarre hatred some people have of pot confuses me.
I don't know what the testing will show, and I'm skeptical until they can produce some sort of data, but I don't dismiss anything out of hand.
A mixture of bacteria developed in part by University of Alberta researchers has been proven highly effective in treating people suffering from ulcerative colitis.
The findings, published in the July, 2005 issue of American Journal of Gastroenterology showed that the majority of patients taking a probiotic mixture of 8 bacteria (VSL#3) for 6 weeks improved their ulcerative colitis. Probiotics are preparations of living microbial cells that, when ingested, are thought to positively influence the composition of microbes in the gut and improve the health of the intestine.
While "bad" bacteria have been flagged as potential culprits in the cause of inflammatory diseases of the bowel, in this case, the ingestion of supplemental "good" bacteria (probiotics) to the intestine proved beneficial in treating ulcerative colitis, said Dr. Richard Fedorak, a professor of gastroenterology at the University of Alberta. The joint study included researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy and the University of North Carolina.
In this open label clinical trial, 86 per cent of those treated with probiotic bacteria mixture VSL#3 experienced relief of their mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. The mixture of eight lactic acid bacterial species is believed to be effective by mechanisms that include (1) reducing the number of "bad" bacteria, (2) reducing the amount of inflammation (3) increasing the mucus layer in the gut, and (4) increasing the amount of anti-inflammatory molecules in the intestine.
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine (colon) and causes acute bloody diarrhea, sever stomach pain, urgency, anemia and fatigue. In its most severe form, ulcerative colitis that does not respond to medical treatment will require surgical removal of the colon.
The VSL#3 was administered over a six-week period to 30 patients who ranged in age from 18 to 65. Remission of the colitis was achieved in 63 per cent of the patients, while another 23 per cent responded with improvement in their symptoms and with healing of the colon's lining. There were no adverse effects to the medication.
The VSL#3 can be considered an important potential treatment for those patients who don't respond to conventional therapy such as mesalamine or 5ASA, Dr. Fedorak said.
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For more information on this study, contact:
Bev Betkowski Media Relations Officer University of Alberta 780-492-3808 beverly.betkowski@ualberta.ca
Anything to promote dope and more dopes.
Wow, so you disagree with any sort of medical research that might include illegal substances to work towards curing diseases? So you would also advocate that no additional research should be done in the field of pain medication, since most of that reasearch includes controlled substances...
There are at least two of us here on FR who have needed emergency surgery due to complications from Crohns disease. The only thing that keeps my symptoms under control is a daily dose of prednisone. Let me tell you, that is a whole lot more damaging to the human body over a long period of time than canabanoids. I've been taking prednisone every day now for 21 years, and while prednisone if a "miracle drug" when used for short periods of time, long term use has terrible effects. Do you remember the way Jerry Lewis looked on that one telethon? I've got a rounded face, it's next to impossible to take off weight, I heal extremely slowly, I've got a supressed immune system, and at 43 I've got osteoporosis. I'd be thrilled to find something that might fight the inflammation and ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract.
Oh, and by the way, they're not talking about smoking it, and they're not talking about getting high from it.
Mark
I wish you had ulcerative colitis for a few days, just to see what it's like.
The article is clear that synthetic canabinoids would/will work in the same manner. Marinol would be a better delivery system than smoking dope, and smoking dope has greater risks than cigarette smoking. So, I don't think you have to worry about Wright's team advocating lighting up doobies. A non-steriodal treatment for Crohns would be welcome as the complications from Prednisone use often turn out to be more detrimental to the health of Crohns sufferers than the disease itself.