CANNABIS GOOD FOR SCHITZOPHRENIA!

[shruman]

Stumbled across this article at the nook :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6606931.stm

"Cannabis 'disrupts brain centre'

Cannabis

Thousands are thought to be dependent on cannabis

Scientists have shown how cannabis may trigger psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.

An Institute of Psychiatry team gave healthy volunteers the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

They then recorded reduced activity in an area of the brain which keeps inappropriate thoughts at bay.

THC levels are thought to have doubled in street cannabis in recent years - at the expense of other ingredients which may have a beneficial effect.

If something has an active effect in inducing the symptoms of psychosis after one dose, then it would not be at all surprising if repeated use induced the chronic condition

Professor Robin Murray

Institute of Psychiatry

A separate study has shown that one of these ingredients - cannabidiol (CBD) - has the potential to dampen down psychotic symptoms, and could form the basis of new treatments.

The research will be discussed at a conference on the impact of cannabis use to be held at the Institute of Psychiatry this week.

Dependency

Although figures are not kept, it is estimated that as many as 500,000 people in the UK may be dependent on cannabis.

Increasing numbers of people are seeking help for cannabis problems at specialist clinics. In 2005, only heroin users accounted for a greater proportion of patients.

Experts are concerned that street cannabis is becoming increasingly potent. It is thought that average THC content has risen from 6% to 12% in recent years.

The Institute of Psychiatry study gave THC, CBD or placebo capsules to adult male volunteers who had not abused cannabis.

They then carried out brain scans, and a battery of tests, and found that those who took THC showed reduced activity in an area of the brain called the inferior frontal cortex, which keeps inappropriate thoughts and behaviour, such as swearing and paranoia in check.

The effects were short-lived, but some people appeared more vulnerable than others.

In a second study, a team from Yale University administered THC intravenously.

Even at relatively low doses, they found 50% of healthy volunteers began to show symptoms of psychosis.

Volunteers who already had a history of psychotic symptoms appeared to be particularly vulnerable.

Side effects

A third study, by the University of Cologne, compared the effect of CBD and a commonly used anti-psychotic medicine, Amisulpride, on 42 patients with a history of schizophrenia.

After four weeks both groups showed a reduction in psychotic symptoms, but the CBD group were less prone to side effects, such as muscle stiffness and weight gain.

The researchers warned that THC and CBD compete with each other biochemically, so a rise in THC levels would blunt any positive impact of CBD.

Professor Robin Murray, a consultant psychiatrist at the Institute of Psychiatry, said the research provided the strongest evidence that cannabis had a significant impact on the brain.

He said proving a long-term effect was extremely difficult, as it was not ethical or feasible to stimulate long-term psychosis in volunteers.

However, he said: "If something has an active effect in inducing the symptoms of psychosis after one dose, then it would not be at all surprising if repeated use induced the chronic condition."

Professor Murray also warned that the high potency cannabis now widely available was likely to pose a much bigger risk to health than the significantly weaker formulations of previous years.

"It is similar to comparing the effect of drinking a glass of wine at the weekend with drinking a bottle of vodka every day.""

So if we can breed a strain that has a high CBD minimal THC cannabinoid profile we will have a natural alternative to traditional antipsychs without the side effects and stoners will still b able to get there fix.

I love the irony, so many people have slaged off cannabis cause it brings out schitzophrenia & now we find it can also b beneficial.

Surely is a wonder drug with universal uses!!

Edited May 1, 2007 by shruman

[shruman]

Just been thinking bout this & oxidisation & degradation convert THC to CBD so mayb people could come up with away to convert high THC buds into high CBD nugz & wallah antipsych buds!

[foolsbreath]

Hash!

most tests I have seen indicate hash is high in CBD low in THC, most likely due to the processing

Bush weed is probably lower in THC too?

[shruman]

Ur probly right bout hash, good thinking.

Bush is generaly sativa (high in THC) & also has rain washing away continual cannabinoid profile leaving less time for THC to oxidise & degrade.

Indica indoors shoud produce pretty high CBD to THC ratio but I think u would need 2 get rid of or convert most of the THC.

[Salviador]

this is potentially great news for mental health. A large proportion of consumers smoke weed as well, which invariably aggravates their symptoms, if they could be recommended to seek out hash or low thc alternatives, there would be a lot less need for hospitalisation.

[paradox]

perhaps this oxidisation/degredation of THC into CBD has something to do with why buds sometimes age very well when cured properly over a relatively long period of time. this was being discussed a little while ago.

one thing. at the start of the article it said "They then recorded reduced activity in an area of the brain which keeps inappropriate thoughts at bay.

"

they say this is due to THC.

but what do they mean by "inappropriate thoughts?

[shruman]

"perhaps this oxidisation/degredation of THC into CBD has something to do with why buds sometimes age very well when cured properly over a relatively long period of time. this was being discussed a little while ago."

I believe a good cure & age improves cannabis cause of the breakdown & loss of chlorophyl.

"what do they mean by "inappropriate thoughts?"

I think they mean psychotic or schitzophrenic thoughts but not to sure

Edited May 1, 2007 by shruman

[Jesus On Peyote]

Yea, they would mean paranoid delusional type thoughts, god knows iv been their and when i was i did notice some gunja aggravated, while sometimes it helped.

About hash, i always thought it was made up of more pure THC then any other of the canna chems?

[Anodyne]

For years psychologists have been claiming that the 0.7 correlation (1.0=perfect correlation) between pot-smoking & schizophrenia was because pot provokes schizophrenic symptoms. But the 0.8 correlation between schizophrenics & tobacco-smoking was put down to the schizophrenics "self-medicating" with nicotine to relieve their symptoms. It's nice to have some evidence that this theory is bollocks.

This gets me though:

Even at relatively low doses, they found 50% of healthy volunteers began to show symptoms of psychosis.

I once read a book about the use of mescaline as a model for psychosis, and the conclusion I and many of the researchers drew was that studies which measure "psychotic symptoms" often aren't very subjective. While I think this is a nice idea for scientists to pursue, it sort of falls apart when the symptoms you're talking about are largely subjective ones. The rare human studies which ask both types of question - what are you feeling/seeing /hearing & are you upset by it, generally find that patients who are by many definitions experiencing MJ/mescaline/psilocybin/LSD-induced "psychosis" (i.e. while actually on the drug, not like amphetamine/coke psychosis, which usually only develops after extended use), are actually totally aware that they are in an "altered state", and are not experiencing true psychotic symptoms - I can't remember the other differences between that & true psychoses, but there were a few.

However, he said: "If something has an active effect in inducing the symptoms of psychosis after one dose, then it would not be at all surprising if repeated use induced the chronic condition."

This doesn't seem at all logical to me. There are many stimulant drugs that if used occasionally, at moderate doses, will not (usually) cause "symptoms of psychosis", like meth - however with regular/long-term use, users can develop true psychoses. I don't see why the reverse couldn't also be true - that MJ could cause immediate "psychotic symptoms" (however dodgy the definition), but not cause "chronic psychosis". Seems to me like that guy's making a pretty big leap.

[shruman]

"UV is implicated in several of the cannabinoid biosynthesis processes. By removing UV you are changing the profile of the cannabinoids. Hydro these days has very little in common with wild grown plants of any region in the world because essentially many of the biosynthetic and transformative processes have been removed from the production. In fact, hydro may well be producing completely new and different cannabinoids which we know nothing about. This seems quite likely to me as the incidence of mental illness triggered or precipitated by hydro is much greater than pot or even hash smokers."

This is a quote from torsten from another thread, which may have implications for antipsych buds, so after some consideration the best smoke for schitzophrenia sufferers it seems would be:

Indica grown Indoors preferably under natural light or supplemented U.V light than turned to hashish

[Salviador]

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci...9X2006000400001

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