Study Group (Introduction And Information Requests)

[in vivo]

Welcome to the study group! We're learning together, we're trying to understand, we're trying to promote scientific knowledge to the general public, and somebody will likely to be more than willing to help with any questions you might have.       

 

 

Have you ever heard someone refer to a cannabinoid receptor (ie CB1 or CB2), and wondered to yourself what it meant? I once thought that CB1 was a single receptor in the brain. Then I studied. Now I understand that there are thousands and thousands of cannabinoid receptors in the human body, and that they're constantly in flux; there are ways to increase and decrease the number of them, as well as naturally occurring cannabinoids in the body; a successful way of targeting an ailment is to recognize and target the receptors that are closest to it. Understanding cannabinoids, the endocannabinoid system, and their relation to health and disease, helps to increase the potential to deliver therapeutic value from cannabinoid treatments, and is the purpose of this group.

 

Join us. We're learning which cannabinoids and terpenes have properties most likely to deliver therapeutic value for particular ailments. We're trying to understand which cannabinoids have properties that have the potential to exacerbate issues in some conditions. We're trying to establish which delivery methods are best in particular scenarios. This is useful, applicable, information for cannabis patients. It might take some studying, but it's time well spent, imo.

 

I assume that most of us have first hand experience with the therapeutic value of cannabis, not enough of us know how cannabis works. You don't have to be a good poker player to play poker, but the more you know, and the better you play, the better your odds. Cannabinoid based therapy is no different.

 

This is the thread to post any random questions, commentary, ideas, suggestions, and information requests. Ask where to start, ask for research that relates to you, tell us how to do a better job presenting information to you, teach us.

 

Most of this research is written in what might first appear to be a different language. It can seem daunting, but I assure you it continues to get better over time. The Glossary might help. It's often beneficial to go back and reread material after having read subsequent papers. I often find that I identify important pieces of information that I either missed, or didn't understand the first time. I'm actually going over a paper currently that I've previously read twice. When I went through it the second time I realized that initially I had pretty much gone through and simply highlighted the few random sections that I could understand. It takes some time to get your brain "kick started", but it does get easier, and you'll gain greater access to the pharmacological treasure trove that is cannabis.  

 

When it comes to reading, I often read the abstract and conclusion/discussion of papers. If there's a particular piece of information that I'm interested in, I'll read through it more thoroughly. There's so many papers (5k+/yr) being published each year, that it would be difficult at best to thoroughly read and annotate all of them. When I do, I like to print them out. It's easier on the eyes, and I like having the hard copy for easier reference later.

 

If there's a post that's of particular interest to you, please don't hesitate to ask for a breakdown. It helps me to better understand, and it might help you, or it might confuse the bunny muffin out of you. Either way, it's getting all medicinal up in here!

 

Likewise, if you find an aspect of a study that you feel is erred, please point it out. I notice that many here can articulate their opinion on complicated legal issues, I ask for your support and constructive criticism in this section as well.    

 

If you find a post/topic that you'd like to see similar research for, you can simply say something to the affect of "feed me!", and I'll be happy to see if I have, or can find anything else. 

 

You can also do your own research. I primarily use Google Scholar. Scirus is another search engine for scientific literature (thanks Wild Bill). Using search terms from posted papers might help you to find the type of information that you're looking for. If you'd like to discuss search terms, I'd be happy to. 

 

 

A Glossary will continue to be developed for your convenience, and is a good place to start.

 

If you're interested in learning about the general dynamics of the Endocannabinoid System, it's being discussed in this thread.

 

If you're interested in learning about terpenes, they're being discussed in this thread.

 

If you'd like to view some charts about the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids and terpenes, you can find some here.

 

If you'd like to contact me privately about cannabinoid based therapies, feel free to do so.

 

I'm interested in feedback and any suggestions that you might have in regards to ways in which to make this information more easily understood.

 

I hope that you'll join us down the rabbit hole, that is cannabis research.

Edited September 19, 2013 by in vivo

[in vivo]

Does anyone else think that it's crazy that similar compounds (maybe the same ones?) to those used in "fake legal cannabis" are being used therapeutically? 

[t-pain]

you mean the 'research chemicals' aka synthetic cannabinoids found in k2 and spice are being used theraputically ?

do you mean from anecdotal evidence or double blind clinical trials ?

[in vivo]

Indeed I am. Synthetic cannabinoids are also referred as non-classical cannabinoids depending on the structure, some have FDA approved and marketed since the 80's. They activate many of the same receptors, and signal transduction pathways, so they display many of the same therapeutic properties as phytocannabinoids. Many, if not most, of the papers posted in this section, include non-classical cannabinoids in the research. If you do a search on Google Scholar you can quickly find an enormous amount of information about them.         

Edited September 15, 2013 by in vivo

[in vivo]

edit

Edited September 17, 2013 by in vivo

[in vivo]

edit.

Edited September 15, 2013 by in vivo

[t-pain]

one of these days i'll have to look up how many cannabinoids can be found in cannabis.

also the complete list of plants and animals (!) and possibly bacteria that have cannibinoids for the eating.

 

well, maybe since cannabinoids have anti-bacterial properties, they wont be found in bacteria huh?

 

have there been studies on all of the 85+ individual cannabinoids?

any studies on terpenes+humans?

any methods on extracting terpenes only? maybe found in perfume and flavor patents?

 

i guess, we need to come up with a list of things that need researching.

what cannabinoids work best together? what cannabinoids work against us?

 

more studies on echineasea and how its cannabinoids affect humans?

[in vivo]

I like the idea of putting a thread together that has a list of all known natural sources of cannabinoids. There are some being discussed in the Entourage thread, my research is currently focused on the use of CBr agonists. I've been using two CB1 agonists and three CB2 agonists in a topical recipe that is showing promise. I'm also experimenting with a microwave distillation setup to capture terpenes and flavanoids from trim (without cannabinoids). Many of these terpenes can also be purchased in a round about way. Again, this is all in the entourage thread.

 

I'm uncertain of the number of cannabinoids that have been studied. The field is growing exponentially.

 

There's a good amount of research on terpenes and humans be it aromatherapy, transdermal, or oral. What we're currently lacking is enough research looking at cannabinoids and terpenes. Though there is some.

 

I'd be interested in establishing a list of desired research topics. That's what this is all about.

 

Echinacea has N-alkylamides in it which are CB1 and CB2 agonists. I'll try to find a paper to post about them. 

Edited September 23, 2013 by in vivo

[in vivo]

A glossary has been started. It's a work in progress.

 

Think we should just dive right into compiling lists of natural sources of cannabinoids, terpenes, and their known effects?

 

Or

 

Would anyone appreciate going over the endocannabinoid system first?

 

Also

 

Should this laundry list of posts be compiled in a more systematic way?

 

 

Que the crickets.

Edited September 15, 2013 by in vivo

[in vivo]

You could hear a trichome rupture in here..

 

I'm trying to put a practical guide to cannabinoids together. I'd like to create a simple breakdown of natural cannabinoids, that we have access to, and outline potentially beneficial ways of utilizing them. I know that reading peer reviewed literature can be confusing, and that much can be lost in translation. I'm trying to establish ways in which to bring this knowledge out of the realm of theoretical, and into the realm of applied cannabinoid treatments. Any insight you might be able to provide is appreciated. 

 

I think that one way to attempt organizing these posts would be to have threads dedicated to qualifying conditions. That way a person can come in and easily find what they're looking for without searching through pages. I'm not sure if it would be best to only post the links and abstracts in the dedicated thread, or if there should be an individual post for each paper, that's also linked in a dedicated thread.

 

Thoughts? 

[t-pain]

its all sticky on the floor, did someone drop some trichomes?

 

do you want to sticky all of the qualifying conditions or have one sticky thread with links to the qualifying condition threads?

 

then the condition threads can have the links to papers and have abstracts or some choice quotes.

i think we can have all papers on one condition in one thread. if it gets too unruly, we can change it up later.

 

that way it will be more like a book.

--sticky thread / index

---qualifying condition threads / chapters

---glossary

[in vivo]

I think that one sticky containing a sort of "table of contents" would suffice.

 

Alzheimer's Disease

Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis

Crohn's Disease

Glaucoma

Hepatitis C

HIV/AIDS

Nail Patella

Cachexia or Wasting Syndrome

Severe Nausea

Severe/Persistent Muscle Spasms

Severe & Chronic Pain

Seizures

Cancer

PTSD?

 

Is this a complete list?

[t-pain]

might as well add insomnia, autism, MS to the list.