Medical Marijuana Making You Forgetful? Advil Could Help

[bobandtorey]

THURSDAY, November 21, 2013 — Medical marijuana has taken hold in several states and gained the backing of several prominent doctors (including our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta). But one of the problematic side effects of the drug, which makes supporters hesitant of long-term use, is the memory loss that often accompanies its use. Luckily, a solution is in sight — over-the-counter painkillers, such as Advil, might be the perfect antidote to the problem, according to a new, small study on mice.

Researchers from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have spent years studying how THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active ingredient in marijuana) impacts memory, and devising a way to prevent this impact from occurring. Their research has been done primarily in mouse models.

“Marijuana produces a lot of undesirable side effects, such as impacting learning and memory,” said senior study author Chu Chen, PhD, professor of neuroscience at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. “We wanted to see what the molecular mechanism is for inducing this memory side effect.”

The researchers found that when THC was given to mice, the levels of a specific enzyme, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) increased, especially in the hippocampus of the brain, which is responsible for learning and memory. This same enzyme is also critical to inflammatory response. Many common, over-the-counter painkillers, known as COX-2 inhibitors, work by lowering inflammatory response. By taking these inhibitors, the COX-2 that is elevated by medical marijuana is lowered again, and the memory disruption is reduced or completely eliminated.

 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/medical-marijuana-making-you-forgetful-advil-could-help.aspx

[+washtenaut]

This sounds like this Doc is saying, well to offset the bad effects of medical cannabis, take this pharmaceutical along with your cannabis.  On the one hand, it may get more frightened consumers to give cannabis a try but on the other, it seems a sort of devious way to continue to push the pills when the cannabis can replace them for many ailments.

 

I understand from poster In Vivo that THC-A is a cox-2 inhibitor too.  That is the form of THC found in cannabis before it is heated and de-carboxylated. 

[bobandtorey]

i can agree they want us to keep taking the Pills and fill their pockets with $$

[trichcycler]

Here's a quote from the New England Journal of Medicine:

"It has been estimated conservatively that 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur among patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis every year in the United States. This figure is similar to the number of deaths from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and considerably greater than the number of deaths from multiple myeloma, asthma, cervical cancer, or Hodgkin’s disease. If deaths from gastrointestinal toxic effects from NSAIDs were tabulated separately in the National Vital Statistics reports, these effects would constitute the 15th most common cause of death in the United States. Yet these toxic effects remain mainly a “silent epidemic,” with many physicians and most patients unaware of the magnitude of the problem. Furthermore the mortality statistics do not include deaths ascribed to the use of over-the-counter NSAIDS." (Wolfe M. MD, Lichtenstein D. MD, and Singh Gurkirpal, MD, “Gastrointestinal Toxicity of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs”, The New England Journal of Medicine, June 17, 1999, Vol. 340, No. 24, pp. 1888-1889.)

Did you catch that? The 16,500 figure for deaths each year doesn't even include over-the-counter painkiller drugs! If you add in those numbers, you're probably looking at something closer to 40,000 Americans kills each year by these drugs

 

 

so me thinks adding a killer like this, to a single ancient therapy not shown to cause one death in history is ludicrous, counterproductive, and downright dangerous.

No Body is Rx deficient, and Every Body has cannabinoid receptors.....go figure.

There are TWO life forms with CBD receptors, and we're one of them. The other is at the bottom of the ocean, wondering how he's gonna grow his own meds, still.

 

Edited November 23, 2013 by grassmatch

[bobandtorey]

And to me if we add RX  painkiller pills  to the No# 40,000 it would be much higher

[trichcycler]

I know of NO other corporations than purposely manufacture items that are know to be murderous to the end user, with huge numbers they cite, except the ones governed by our publicly funded FDA.  what kind of an azzhole allowed those two entities(food and drug) to be under one roof should be hung, and perhaps was?

 

why haven't we shut them down by now? They are drugging and killing our moms and dads daily, and that's not enough, they 're after us now. Eat this, to cause this, with only this to help, all under one watch.....sick, just sick. its no wonder the rest of the world think we are so bad, because we allow this to continue, and must be part of it, then force it upon others.......i'm embarrassed

[solabeirtan]

Perhaps a justification to consider pain as a vital life essence, without which we lose a seemingly important type of intuition, something like a form of directional control as essential as gravity. How else do you know your alive? Pinch you!

 

My theory is: Cannabis works a little like sleep to therapeutically cleanse your brain of all the debris it encounters on a perpetual cycle.  

Edited November 23, 2013 by solabeirtan