Monthly Archives: October 2012

Cannabis could be used to treat obesity

Posted on by
Reply

“Cannabis could be used in drugs to help people overcome obesity, according to new UK research.

Researchers at GW Pharmaceuticals have discovered two compounds in cannabis leaves that help our bodies burn more energy, the UK’s Daily Telegraph reported.

The company is developing a drug to treat “metabolic syndrome”, which occurs when people suffer obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, which increases their risk of heart disease and stroke.

Tests in mice showed the cannabis compounds improved their metabolism, which resulted in lower cholesterol in the bloodstream, plus less fat in key organs, such as the liver.

Now a trial is underway with 200 people and researchers hope the drug can treat metabolic syndrome.

Dr Stephen Wright, director of research and development at GW Pharmaceuticals, said they expect results in late 2012.

“The results in animal models have been very encouraging. We are interested in how these drugs effect the fat distribution and utilisation in the body as a treatment for metabolic diseases,” Dr Wright said.

“Humans have been using these plants for thousands of years so we have quite a lot of experience of the chemicals in the plants.”

Cannabis is illegal in the UK but GW Pharmaceuticals has been granted permission to grow it in secret greenhouses in the country’s south.

They are growing a type of cannabis with different quantities of compounds called cannabinoids.

While cannabis is known for inciting the “munchies”, these compounds, called THCV and cannabidiol, appear to suppress the appetite, while helping control sugar levels in the blood and fat levels throughout the body.

It appears THCV also helps cells that produce insulin work more effectively.

Now researchers are hoping the drugs will help people suffering type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related diseases.”

http://health.msn.co.nz/healthnews/8496828/cannabis-could-be-used-to-treat-obesity

Does pot prevent obesity? What new marijuana study says

Posted on by
Reply

“(CBS) Move over, fad diets. Scientists have identified something else that might keep off excess weight.

Smoking pot.

That’s right, marijuana users are less likely to be obese than their non-toking counterparts, according to a new study.

Doesn’t pot-smoking cause the munchies?

Actually, the researchers behind the study had been expecting to find that marijuana smokers would weigh more than non-users.

“Cannabis is supposed to increase appetite,” study author Dr. Yann Le Strat, a psychiatrist at Louis-Mourier Hospital in Colombes, France, told MSNBC. “We found that cannabis users are less likely to be obese than non-users. We were so surprised, we thought we had [made] a mistake.”

For the study – published online in the August 24 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology – researchers analyzed data from two large population surveys of U.S. adults. The researchers found obesity rates in people who “just say no” were 22 percent and 25.3 percent in each survey, respectively. But study participants who puffed pot at least three times a week had obesity rates of 14.3 percent and 17.2. The study didn’t actually prove smoking pot causes weight-loss.

“There could be many other reasons why pot smokers have less obesity,” Andrea Giancoli, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, told MSNBC. “Maybe they’re inclined to exercise more, be outdoors more, eat more fruits and vegetables. There could be all kinds of confounding factors that could make the results null and void.”

Potheads might be more physically active? Seriously?

“I would be surprised that cannabis use is associated with a higher rate of physical activity, but this cannot be ruled out,” Le Strat told Fox News. Another possibility, he said, is that certain compounds in cannabis might help people lose weight, and could serve as an area of future research.

Should folks trying to lose weight consider picking up a bong instead of a barbell?”

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20102773-10391704.html

Pot Smokers May Have Lower Risk of Obesity

Posted on by
Reply
“Despite the tendency of marijuana users to experience the “munchies,” pot smokers may have a lower risk of obesity that those who don’t use the drug, a new study finds.

The results show the prevalence of obesity is lower among people who frequently smoke pot compared with those who have never inhaled.

The researchers said they were surprised by their initial results, because they expected to find the opposite. So they examined a second sample of people, and found exactly the same result. Together, the two samples studied more than 50,000 people.

The reason behind the link is not clear. It could be that people who use cannabis also engage in other behaviors that lower their obesity risk. Or it may be that pot smokers exercise more or have a specific diet that keeps them thin, said study researcher Yann Le Strat, a psychiatrist at Louis Mourier Hospital in France.

“On a personal point of view, I would be surprised that cannabis use is associated with a higher rate of physical activity, but this cannot be ruled out,” Le Strat told MyHealthNewsDaily.

Another possibility is that components of cannabis may help people lose weight. If this turns out to be the case, researchers should investigate which components these might be and try to put them into drug form, Le Strat said.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/06/pot-smokers-may-have-lower-risk-obesity/#ixzz29gdL3zlB

Study: Smoking Marijuana Not Linked to Obesity

Posted on by
Reply

“”Initially, we thought we made a mistake,” said Le Strat, adding that he and co-author Bernard Le Foll checked the results several times to make sure they were correct.

“This is only a preliminary result. It doesn’t mean that marijuana does actually help you lose weight, but perhaps there is a component that does.”

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, included two surveys of U.S. adults — one covering 43,000 people, the other about 9,300 respondents. Both had been conducted by branches of the U.S. National Institutes of Health between 2001 and 2009.

The larger of the surveys found that 14 percent of pot smokers were obese compared to 22 percent who didn’t smoke pot. Similarly, the smaller survey found 17 percent of pot smokers to be obese compared to 25 percent of non-smokers.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/12/study-smoking-marijuana-not-linked-to-obesity/#ixzz29gcGCKWu

Marijuana Slims? Why Pot Smokers Are Less Obese

Posted on by
Reply

“If cannabis causes the munchies, how is it possible that pot smokers are thinner than nonsmokers?

A new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology finds an intriguing connection between marijuana use and body weight, showing that rates of obesity are lower by roughly a third in people who smoke pot at least three times a week, compared with those who don’t use marijuana at all.

Researchers analyzed data from two large national surveys of the American population, which together included some 52,000 participants. In the first survey, they found that 22% of those who did not smoke marijuana were obese, compared with just 14% of the regular marijuana smokers. The second survey found that 25% of nonsmokers were obese, compared with 17% of regular cannabis users.”

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/08/marijuana-slims-pot-smoking-linked-to-lower-body-weight/#ixzz29gb31XKW

How marijuana could help cure obesity-related diseases

Posted on by
Reply

“According to a new British study, marijuana leaves (not the buds that Willie Nelson loves so dearly) contain two compounds that boost the metabolism of mice, leading to lower levels of fat and cholesterol in the body — the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that marijuana may be useful in countering ailments related to obesity. One study in March found that a brain chemical similar in structure to an active compound in cannibis could help people shed weight, while another study last September concluded that pot smokers were less likely to be obese than non-potheads, though for reasons that remain unclear.   

The two compounds, THCV and cannabidiol, boosted the rodents’ metabolisms — reducing fat levels in their livers and cholesterol levels in their bloodstreams — and also made the mice more sensitive to insulin and protected the cells that produce insulin, “allowing [the cells] to work better and for longer.” The combined effects improved the mice’s ability to burn off energy.

And the compounds didn’t make mice hungry the way smoking weed affects humans?
Actually, the compounds were found to have an appetite-suppressing effect, but the effect only lasted for a short time.”

 http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-could-help-cure-obesity-related-diseases-175900182.html

Cannabis drug could help fight obesity

Posted on by
Reply

“Apparently scientists have discovered that a natural component of cannabis suppresses the appetite and that discovery may lead to a new class of drugs for treating obesity.

Scientist professor Roger Pertwee, a neuropharmacologist at Aberdeen University, says it was already well known that cannabis stimulated the appetite, but not widely known that the plant also contained substances that produced the opposite effect.

That substance is apparently called THCV and is chemically similar to another cannabis chemical, or cannabinoid, called THC that stimulates the appetite.

As drugs based on THC are already being used to increase the appetite of AIDS patients, the focus is now on developing THCV for use as an anti-obesity drug, said Professor Pertwee.

Pertwee says that cannabis is rich in substances that can mimic the natural or endogenous cannabinoids in the brain, that act as chemical messengers in the nervous pathways, involved in such activities as appetite control or pain relief.

These endogenous cannabinoids seem to act on the reward pathways to the brain, to increase the reward you get when you take food, but can have harmful effects.

By increasing appetite they can increase fat, which can give rise to obesity or overweight.

Drugs are apparently now being developed that can increase the levels of these chemicals in our brains by slowing down the rate at which they disappear once they have been released,says Pertwee.

Professor Pertwee has also found a method of potentially boosting the signals in the brain that are generated by these endogenous cannabinoids.”

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/09/10/13067.aspx

Cannabis can help treat obesity

Posted on by
Reply

“Two cannabis compounds can raise the quantum of energy the body burns and keep obesity at bay. Called THCV and cannabidiol, they were found to have an appetite suppressing effect too for a short while.

Animal tests have shown these compounds can help treat type two diabetes while also lowering levels of cholesterol in the blood stream and fat in key organs like the liver.

Scientists also found the compounds also had an impact on the level of fat and its response to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, the Telegraph reports.

THCV was also found to increase the animals’ sensitivity to insulin while also protecting the cells that produce insulin, allowing them to work better and for longer.

Steph Wright, director of research and development at GW Pharmaceuticals developing the drugs, said: “The results in animal models have been very encouraging. We are interested in how these drugs effect the fat distribution and utilisation in the body as a treatment for metabolic diseases”.”

http://in.news.yahoo.com/cannabis-help-treat-obesity-121931025.html

‘Cannabis’ receptor discovery may help understanding of obesity and pain

Posted on by
Reply

“Aberdeen scientists believe that the findings—published in the —might help our understanding of these conditions and also be a step towards the development of personalised therapies to help treat them.

The team from the University’s Kosterlitz Centre for Therapeutics studied around the gene CNR1. This gene produces what are known as cannabinoid receptors, which are found in the brain, and which activate parts of the brain involved in memory, mood, appetite and pain.

activate these areas of the brain when they are triggered by chemicals produced naturally in our bodies called .

Chemicals found in the drug cannabis mimic the action of these endocannabinoids and there is growing evidence that cannabis has pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties which can help treat diseases such as and arthritis. 

In order to understand more about these side effects and the which determine how people respond, the scientists studied genetic differences around the CNR1 gene.

Dr Alasdair MacKenzie, who helped lead the team, said: “We chose to look at one specific genetic difference in CNR1 because we know it is linked to and addiction. What we found was a mutation that caused a change in the genetic switch for the gene itself—a switch that is very ancient and has remained relatively unchanged in overthree hundred million years of evolution, since before the time of the dinosaurs.”

http://phys.org/news/2012-08-cannabis-receptor-discovery-obesity-pain.html

Marijuana May Deflect Obesity

Posted on by
Reply
   

“Cannabis seems to have many different allures. It can produce a “high.” It can give the feeling of munchies. Now, it can possibly help combat obesity. Scientists recently revealed that they found two compounds from cannabis leaves that could up the total energy that the body burns.

Previous studies of two specific compounds demonstrated that they could be used to treat type-two diabetes. The compounds were also discovered to have the ability to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood stream and decrease fat in important organs such as the liver. With the aim of treating patients who have “metabolic syndrome,” the researchers are currently conducting clinical trials in 200 patients with the drug. With “metabolic syndrome,” diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity combine to heighten the risk of heart disease and stroke in patients.

“We are conducting four Phase 2a clinical trials and we expect some results later this year,” commented Dr. Steph Wright, director of research and development at GW Pharmaceuticals, in a Telegraph article. “The results in animal models have been very encouraging. We are interested in how these drugs effect the fat distribution and utilization in the body as a treatment for metabolic diseases… Humans have been using these plants for thousands of years so we have quite a lot of experience of the chemicals in the plants.”

GW Pharmaceuticals was given a license to grow cannabis in greenhouses that were specially constructed for project. The company produces cannabis plants that have a number of cannabinoids, which are varied compounds of cannabis. They are already working on creating drugs that can assist in treating epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Interesting enough, when the scientists studied two specific compounds, THCV and cannabioidol, they found that they had the ability to suppress appetite but the effect lasted for a short amount of time. Upon further examination, the investigators discovered that the compounds could influence the fat level in the body as well as its effects to the hormone insulin.

Likewise, the studies of the compounds in mice showed that they increased the metabolism of the animals, causing decreased levels of fat in livers and minimized levels of cholesterol in the blood stream. In particular, THCV showed the ability of boosting the animals’ sensitivity to insulin but also shielding the insulin-producing cells. With these actions, the cells were able to work at a longer and more durable pace.

The researchers hope that the findings will help in the development of treatments for obesity-related illnesses and type-two diabetes.”

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112653330/research-finds-marijuana-may-deflect-obesity/
redOrbit (http://s.tt/1hqLQ)