What’s the Hype With Medical Marijuana?

Posted on November 21, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Why does it seem so difficult to make medical marijuana available to everyone who needs it? I mean after all we have all seen those videos online showing how medical marijuana is such a miracle drug.

Well things aren’t as simple as they seem. Medicine needs science to back it up before it can be used on patients. The problem with medical marijuana is that we don’t have enough research to show that the psychotic effects are worth the advantages of this medical treatment.

Marijuana has some side effects that can be dangerous to patients, here is why. The human body already contains what is called canaboid receptors which respond to the chemicals in marijuana. Our body naturally makes signals similar to those found in marijuana to regulate our body and that is why it works well in certain situations.

However, each different type of marijuana causes a different reaction in our bodies, some have chemicals that cause anti-anxiety effects some cause an anti-epileptic effect but most of these causeContinue reading →

Community/Health

Your Body’s Cannabinoid System: The Endocannabinoids

Posted on November 21, 2017 by / 0 Comment

The Endogenous Cannabinoid System (ECS)

For medical marijuana to be so useful, your body must have a well-oiled system in place for it to act on, which is the ECS. This system is composed of your body’s cannabinoid receptor proteins, that are expressed throughout your central and peripheral nervous systems, and the endocannabinoids, which are lipid-based neurotransmitters. When the endocannabinoids bind to the cannabinoid receptors (which are G-protein coupled receptors) CB1 or CB2, calcium channels are blocked and the ERK and p38 pathways are activated.
The two main endocannabinoids are 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and anandamide (AEA). 2-AG is synthesized from phosphoinositol, while AEA begins with phosphatidylethanolamine. Each synthesis requires its specific enzymes to cleave these membrane proteins into the endocannabinoids.

Effects in the Body

Medicinal marijuana effects include:

Pain relief
Cell apoptosis (death) – This is anti-cancer
Stress relief
Seizure treatment

Endocannabinoids are able to do these same things through binding to their CB1 or CB2 receptors, but CB1 is the most common receptor. The modulation done by endocannabinoids can increase appetite, directly cause cell apoptosis, can be anti-inflammatory, and can be inhibitory by keeping the cell signaling at appropriate levels.

Medical Marijuana Treatments

Medical marijuana is now legal in 29 states, as well as Washington D.C.
There are also 18 states that have specifically legalized medical cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive extract of marijuana.
Medical marijuana is used to treat:

Terminal illness
Glaucoma
PTSD
Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Tourette’s Syndrome
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Cancer, if the underlying condition or treatment produces one or more of the following:
- severe or chronic pain
- nausea or severe vomiting or
- cachexia or severe wasting
Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis (MS)
Inflammatory bowel disease
Fibromyalgia
Intractable pain

There is still much research needed to fully understand the ECS, as well as the benefits and dangers of medical and recreational marijuana, but much progress has been made in the last 10 years to this understanding.

Health/Hot topics

Our Body’s “Chill Pill”

Posted on November 21, 2017 by / 0 Comment

The endocannabinoid pathway is a pathway that the body does using naturally occurring endocannabinoids in the body. These endocannabinoids are neurotransmitters that are made out of lipids that are present in the central nervous system (CNS) of the human body.

Photo: https://elixinol.com/blog/what-is-the-endocannabinoid-system-and-how-it-works

This system is important for energy intake, metabolism and nutrient transport. The receptor for this neurotransmitter is CB1 receptor. However these receptors are not on post synaptic membrane but instead work in a retrograde fashion. This means that the signal is sent from the postsynaptic membrane to the presynaptic membrane.

Photo: https://www.leafly.com/news/science-tech/is-your-endocannabinoid-system-in-balance

The endocannabinoids bind to receptor which in turn result in the decrease in neurotransmitter release due to a change in ion flow. After the endocannabinoids are broken down.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Endocannabinoid.svg
This inhibitory process is what gives endocannabinoids their healing properties. It’s the body’s ability to tell the brain to “chill out” and stop sending so many signals. Although cannabinoids occur naturally in the body. Medical cannabis is sometimes used to increase the amount of cannabinoids in one’s body, increasing the inhibition of other neurotransmitters such as glutamate.

The two subspecies of Cannabis (Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Satvia) are very complicated with over 300 chemical compounds and about 15% of those be cannabinoids.

Some of the more well know chemicals are:

Photo: https://www.helmag.com/products/chemicals/

Cannibinol is the byproduct of when THC is exposed to light and oxygen. It seems to aid THC in its psycho-active effects. This chemical is also known for it’s anti-epileptic properties as well as its ability to relieve intraocular pressure.
Cannabidiol which is known for it’s anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, anti-nausea and sedative properties
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is know for its pshyo-active effects as well as its ability to relax an individual and treat pain.
Cannabichromene which helps give Cannabis it’s is an anti-inflammatory and anti-viral effects). It also has the potential to block the growth of cancerous tumors.

For more reading on the the endocannabinoid system, please check out:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10988823

Feature Photo:
http://dailychillpill.com/Chill_Pill/chill_pill.html

For more reading on the chemicals in Cannabis, please check out:
https://unitedpatientsgroup.com/blog/2014/04/11/thc-thca-cbd-cbn-the-chemicals-in-cannabis

For a video on the human endocannabinoid system, please check out:
The Human Endocannabinoid System

Disease/Health

Help Without the High: The Journey to the Legalization of Medical Marijuana

Posted on November 19, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Recently there has been more and more talk about the legalization of medical marijuana. There is a push for it because it can be used to treat pain, and it is less addictive than opiates. The cannabis plant (marijuana) contains molecules called cannabinoids that have many health benefits, however, many people are still against the legalization of medical marijuana because of the psychoactive (mind-altering) effects that it has.

What are cannabinoids?
It is important to understand the role of cannabinoids in the body. Cannabinoids that are produced naturally within our bodies are referred to as endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoids are molecules synthesized from the phospholipids in the membranes of post-synaptic neurons in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

What do cannabinoids do in the body?
The two most common endocannabinoids are anadamide and 2- AG. Once they are synthesized, these endocannabinoids are released from the post-synaptic neuron and travel back to the pre-synaptic neuron to bind to their CB1 (in the brain) or CB2(other parts of the body) receptors and decrease the calcium influx into the pre-synaptic neuron. Blocking the influx of calcium inhibits the presynaptic neuron from releasing its neurotransmitters, thus preventing subsequent signaling.

Cannabinoids as treatment?
Endocannabinoids play a very important role in the inhibition of signaling throughout the body, and can therefore help do things like reduce pain, decrease anxiety, prevent seizures, stopping migraines and even killing cancer cells. Certain medications increase the effects of endocannabinoids by inhibiting the enzymes that degrade them. Other medications will target the reuptake receptors so that endocannabinoids will remain in the synaptic cleft for longer and their effects will last longer.

The role of marijuana
In addition to these medications, the cannabis plant (marijuana) could be used to increase the levels of cannabinoids in the body. The cannabis plant contains over 60 cannabinoids related to THC, including cannabidiol, cannabinol, and β-caryophyllene. Cannabinoids can be inhaled or ingested, and once in the body will bind to the endocannabinoid receptors in a similar fashion as the endocannabinoids. This leads to inhibition in the pre-synaptic neurons as well as the activation of pathways in the post-synaptic neurons.

Figure 1. Endocannabinoids, anadamide (AEA) and 2-AG, binding to the CB1 receptor on the pre-synaptic neuron and inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.

Figure 2. The health benefits of consuming exogenous cannabinoids such as THC and cannabidiol.
Medical marijuana?
Given this information, medical marijuana sounds like a great treatment option for many people dealing with chronic pain and other health problems. The only issue is that the current medical marijuana contains THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana. The cannabinoid THC has many health benefits, but it also produces psychoactive effects, which can prevent someone from going to work. There needs to be more research conducted to create a cannabinoid painkiller that doesn’t cause a high.

Improvements with treatment
There needs to be more research on finding a cannabinoid that has health benefits, but does not cause the psychoactive symptoms. Currently research is difficult for scientists because the regulations on marijuana are so strict that researchers have limited access to the plant. Marijuana is currently listed as a schedule 1 drug, along with other substances such as heroin, ecstasy and LSD, meaning it is a highly controlled substance.

Hope for cannabinoid medication
A better, safer form of medical marijuana needs to be developed so that the FDA will approve it and then medical insurance can cover it. Once it is safer to use, the access to it will also improve because more locations will be able to dispense it. The development and legalization of medical marijuana would be very beneficial to many people dealing with chronic pain, anxiety, migraines, seizures, and even cancer.

For more information on endogenous cannabinoids, please visit:
https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/625296/mod_resource/content/0/endocannabinoids.pdf
Figure 1. Image address: https://resize.mantisadnetwork.com/mantis-ad-network/image/fetch/w_750,q_75,c_limit,f_jpg/http://uploads.medicaljane.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/health.png

Health

Medical Marijuana: The Highs and Lows

Posted on November 18, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Marijuana & the Brain

You’ve likely heard about the concept of medical marijuana and its accompanying politics, controversy, and potential benefits. Marijuana is a drug that contains a variety of compounds including THC, which is the part that causes the “high-effect” known of marijuana. In the brain THC, acts on receptors of the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The human body has THC-like compounds that are made naturally within the cell. When the ECS is activated it can cause various biological changes in the brain that cause things like apoptosis, inhibition, anti-inflammation, and increased appetite.

THC has various medical effects that it induces through the ECS. These are a variety of things that people are looking into acquiring marijuana to help them deal with. This includes pain management, stress relief, seizure treatment, and an anti-cancer treatment. People are even wondering if medical marijuana could be the answer to the rising opioid issue. With all of these benefits, why is marijuana so slow on being legalized? Why is it not being more extensively researched? Why does society think marijuana is such a big and bad deal? Why is simply being in possession of a substance that may have health benefits a felony that has a consequence of incarceration for years?

Current Research & Legal Status

According to the FDA, “23 states have statutes recognizing “medical marijuana”, 4 states and DC have approved recreational marijuana, and 13 states have statutes recognizing cannabidiol for medical use” as of March 2016. This appears to be steps being taken towards the decriminalization of marijuana, but movement is slow. Even if it becomes legal by state to use marijuana in either a medical or recreational form, it’s still a longways from marijuana to become fully accessible to all that would benefit. Marijuana is not approved by the FDA, so that makes obtaining it difficult. In order for a doctor to be able to prescribe it they have to have a special license and since it isn’t approved insurance doesn’t cover it.

In order for the FDA to recognize marijuana, more research needs to be completed. The FDA has marijuana regulated as a schedule 1 substance because it has high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. The different schedules are listed in a figure below. Due to this regulation, any clinical trials and research into marijuana requires special registration with the DEA, in addition to the numerous hoops already in place by any FDA approved clinical trial.

Marijuana hasn’t been accepted officially in medical use because there aren’t adequate and well-controlled studies proving its efficacy. But, how can marijuana become a medical treatment if research is so difficult to complete with all the regulations. Current research is working on two compounds, cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and a couple drugs are also in clinical testing, Sativex for cancer pain/spasticity and Epidiolex for childhood seizures.

Going Forward

So, before marijuana is legalized in the U.S. more research needs to be done. More research into the compounds that make up marijuana might indicate a better compound to use for medical benefits without any of the other side effects. Also, looking into what method of administration would be best for achieving the benefits as well as being easily regulated is important. Then, there is of course the need to look into any adverse effects of even the medical compounds of marijuana. So, bottom line is…more research is needed before much more can happen.
For more about marijuana and the brain: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235894864_Endogenous_cannabinoids_revisited_A_biochemistry_perspective
Feature image: http://alphanewsmn.com/lawmakers-think-high-time-medical-marijuana-legislation/
10 benefits image: http://dirtyworldnews.com/us-medical-marijuana-legalization/medical-and-health-benefits-of-marijuana-and-cannabis/
Legalization image: https://moneymorning.com/2016/11/09/map-states-legalizing-marijuana-in-2017/
FDA Schedule image & info: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofMedicalProductsandTobacco/CDER/UCM498077.pdf

Community/Disease/Health/Hot topics

What You Need to Know About Concussions

Posted on November 14, 2017 by / 0 Comment

What do concussions do to your brain?
One big reason concussions are so dangerous is that they cause an influx of ions going into your neurons. What does that mean? Ions are used by your neurons to send information from one area to another. Your brain uses a lot of its energy (ATP) to make a gradient of ions that allows information to travel quickly. So when you mess up the gradient of ions, your neurons cannot properly send information from one area to another. Because of that we see the decrease in attention, headache, and pain with light.

Which sports have the highest concussion cases?

Cycling
Football
Baseball/softball
Basketball
Water sports
Powered recreational vehicles
Soccer
Skateboarding
Exercise
Skiing, sledding, snowboarding

These rank the highest visits to the ER due to concussions, this does include doing the sports for recreation.
What should you do after a concussion?

Avoid your triggers
SLEEP
Don’t think hard, study, or learn new material
Take your time and DON’T rush your recovery

Uncategorized

Measuring the Impact on the Brain: Concussions and How to Recover

Posted on November 14, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Brain Injuries

Concussions are considered to be TBIs (traumatic brain injuries). Most concussions are mild, but they can scale up to severe depending on the intensity and symptoms of the injury. The impact of the brain on the skull causes membranes and axons to get stretchy, leading to a disruption of ion movement. This imbalance of ions, known as the energy crisis takes 7-10 days to return to normal, at which point it is typically considered safe to return to play for athletes. The increased ion flux also leads to migraines, often a symptom of concussion.

Energy Crisis

This is the increased risk of subsequent concussions due to ion imbalance
First 10 days post-injury are the greatest risk for permanent brain injury and subsequent concussions
If subsequent mTBIs occur before full metabolic recovery, more severe hypometabolism and memory impairment
Reduced glucose metabolism causes the increased risk

Concussion Horror Story: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease that is most commonly found in athletes, veterans, and others with a history of brain trauma. CTE has gained attention due to the increasing publicity of NFL players suffering from this disease and its symptoms. Symptoms include: memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and paranoia. Cognitive symptoms tend to appear later than mood and behavioral symptoms, usually in the patient’s 40s or 50s.
In CTE, tau forms clumps due to impaired protein degradation mechanisms. These clumps spread throughout the brain, causing neuronal cell death. Hundreds to thousands of hits to the head cause this tau accumulation over time, with the best evidence pointing towards sub-concussive impacts rather than full-blown concussions. There are also several risk factors that make a person more susceptible to developing CTE, such as age of first exposure to head impacts and length of exposure to head impacts.

Diagnosing a Concussion

Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) is an online neurocognitive assessment with two components: a baseline test and post-injury testing. These are used together to assist in determining whether it is safe for a patient to return to an activity. This test measures key aspects of cognitive functioning such as memory, speed, and spatial span. The post-injury testing is used to help health care providers determine if it is safe to return to play.
The SCAT test is another diagnostic tool for concussions. It is very similar to the ImPACT test, although it is not administered online.

Safety Measures and Recovery

Avoid too much cognitive stimulation
Avoid contact activities that have a chance of receiving another concussive impact
Do not take pain relievers, as these will mask symptoms, making health assessments inaccurate
Be honest about symptoms, your brain is more important than playing in your next practice/game/match/contest
Rest your brain and body
Avoid driving too soon, your reaction time will be slower than usual

Community/Health

Concussions: The 12th Man Perspective

Posted on November 14, 2017 by / 0 Comment

A flag thrown, a player down on the field, a stretcher carrying them off the field, a game that moves on while a player is tested for concussions.
The NFL is progressively taking concussions more seriously, so it is essential for you, the 12^th man, to understand the impact of concussions (for all our non-football readers, the 12^th man refers to the crowd of fans, who hold an important role in hyping up the players toward a win).

Football collides with science…

We’ve all seen it: that incredible hit where the opponent crumbles back against the shoulder pads of your player, and you feel a mixed sense of cringing and power. The power of your player’s hit is causing the opponents brain to slosh against their skull.

When the brain sloshes, the membrane around the brain is stretched and sometimes creates holes, causing a leaking of ions. This ion-leaking leads to the brain becoming overactive, leading to increased depolarization and glycolysis, as well as decreased oxygen delivery.
The overactivity of the brain combined with decreased oxygen necessary to complete these functions leads to an energy crisis. When cells cannot complete their functions, the neurons can die and not communicate signals like normal.
This process is highest for the first 7-10 days following concussion incidence, but can occur for up to a year and have long-term implications. The ion influx causes migraines short term, but the sloshing causes neural axons to stretch or break.
These combined factors alter neurotransmission and can cause slowed cognition and decreased reaction time. Repeated concussion incidences can lead to Chronic Traumatic Enchephalopathy (CTE), where holes are formed in brain matter from membrane stretching and neuron death.

Let’s go back to the simple days…

During classroom discussion, we explored the option of not improving the quality of the helmets to prevent concussions, but rather reverting to the much simpler leather football helmets of the 1930s. Without the protection of advanced reinforcements and impact-monitoring technology, perhaps players would feel less invincible and more conscious of their actions.

This solution is likely not viable. Unlike the reversion of helmets, we cannot revert the physical strength of the players in the game. Football players today are faster and stronger than ever, making their brains just as susceptible to damage.

Your role in reducing concussions…

The NFL is adamantly trying to find a solution to the concussion story as more CTE-related deaths surface. This is often met with systemic pressure against change.
Restricting and fining certain hits and blocks makes players tread more cautiously. Those players are then met with pressure from their coaches to make plays and win games, which ultimately stems from the fans, their primary source of income from entertainment.
Your participation as the 12^th man holds an integral role in the NFL’s mentality toward concussions. It’s good to remember that every football player is a person trying to make a living, and has a life off the field, too.
For players to be able to play smarter and not harder, changes needs to occur at every level of the system: no game is worth a lifetime of brain damage.

Community/Hot topics

Cutting Football Some Slack

Posted on November 14, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Featured Image: Author

Football and New Equipment

As many people know, football has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent years due to its high prevalence of concussions. New rules and regulations are being tossed around left and right in order to decrease the risk of concussions and ensuring players’ safety. New helmets that are heavily padded have been presented in order to reduce the risks of concussions.

Researchers have also gone as far as to create what is known as a “Q-Collar.” This piece of equipment wraps around a player’s neck, placing just enough pressure on their jugular that it will increase brain blood flow and essentially create “air bags” around the brain. The idea came from observing head-ramming animals, such as woodpeckers and understanding how their body allows for constant brain impact.

How does one get a Concussion?

When your head is subjected to hard impact, your brain sloshes around, ramming into your skull. This causes your brain cells to undergo what is called mechanoporation, meaning that their membrane stretches. The stretching leads to more movement of ions in the brain, throwing off the normal concentration levels kept in and out of the cells. Your brain will try to restore normal levels, but unfortunately it costs energy (ATP). This can lead to a concussion and if not given the proper time to heal, the concussion can worsen.

Back To Football…

While it’s great to see precautions are being taken, it is important to realize that football is not the only sport showing a high number of concussions. In fact, according to a Washington Post article published last March, football was ranked number four in head injuries for high school sports. The high school sport with the highest number of head injuries was actually girls’ soccer. And so, with this in mind, it might be time to cut football some slack. We need to start looking beyond this one sport and take into account that multiple sports are having issues with head injuries.

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Community/Health/Hot topics

How Many Is Too Much: Concussion and What You Need to Do

Posted on November 14, 2017 by / 0 Comment

Injuries can happen at any given time in a person’s life. Whether you are riding a bike, walking a dog, playing a sport or even going downstairs in your basement (trust me this actually happened to me) some of them happen spontaneously while others can be controlled. The severity of an injury to a part of a body, whether an ankle, knee, shoulders or back can lead to minor or major implications to that part of the body. Restricting movement and ability for a person to do things they used to do freely. When a person hits their head, several things might happen. They might get a cut, a headache or even a concussion, which would qualify as most severe.

Concussions were once thought to cause short term effects only but as technology and research improved, we now know that concussions can lead to long term effects, especially when a player/person sustains several of them. In fact, high-impact concussions have been linked to a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Most sports team trainers will tell you three concussion are too many, there is no evidence that proves that three concussions are the deal breaker. In fact one concussion can be just as severe and damaging to a person’s brain as three. The severity of the concussion depends on how hard the point of impact was and the person themselves.
The severity of one’s symptoms can convey how bad the concussion is. Symptoms like:

difficulty thinking and concentrating (cognitive)
difficulties interpreting movement and balance problems (vestibular)
issues with vision and ocular-motor function (ocular)
migraine
neck pain
anxiety and changes in mood

Concussion and the brain
There are a few things that happen when a person gets a concussion or after one. Besides the obvious symptoms, other things happen in the brain. The two main things are:

Ionic flux and Glutamate release: injury to the brain causes ionic flux and hyperacute glutamate to release. This then triggers voltage or ligand gated ion channels, which lead to depression-like state.
Energy crisis: in an effort to restore ionic and cellular balance, ATP- requiring membrane ionic pump shift into overdrive, leading to an increased demand of glucose( energy), relative depletion of intracellular energy reserves, and increase in ADP.
OTHER complications are. Cytoskeletal damage, Axonal dysfunction, altered neurotransmission and Cell death.

What can I do to recover?

Rest your brain
Reduce physical and mental demands
Use strategies for your thinking problems
Take care of your basic needs
Resume exercise and sports gradually
Get your doctors approval for driving
Resume work or school gradually Prevent a 2nd, 3rd…or 4th concussion

Studies show athletes who continue to play following a sport-related concussion double their recovery time. Not only that, but they also tend to have worse symptoms, and more significant impairment in the aftermath. There’s also the potentially-fatal second impact syndrome, which occurs when an already-damaged brain gets hit again and swells up dramatically in response. That sudden change is often deadly, and those who survive spend the rest of their lives severely disabled.
As an athlete who has had multiple concussions the biggest advice I would give to you, is to listen to your body. If you feel like you are not 100% do not return. Just like any other injury on any body part, if you don’t let it heal the body part will never be same. And this might apply to the brain as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgChTeALF7g