4 ms·

If it's a receptor thing, it wouldn't only apply to phytocannibanoids, right? I'm given to understand there are a number of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agoni

by Cushman 15y ago

If it's a receptor thing, it wouldn't only apply to phytocannibanoids, right? I'm given to understand there are a number of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists with much higher affinity and/or selectivity than the phytocannabinoids. Are you aware of any research into the potential differences? I suppose it wouldn't make much difference, since as you say it only takes a tiny amount of cannabis despite THC being only a partial agonist.

Alex3917 15y ago
"Are you aware of any research into the potential differences?" Not off the top of my head, but here are some links to 'databases' of hundreds or thousands of research articles on cannabinoids: http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php http://www.cannabis-med.org/index.php?lng=en http://www.cannabis-med.org/index.php?lng=en In general though I think cannabis is a good example of why plant-based medicine is often more safe and effective than using synthetics. That is, when one molecule in a plant acts as a poison, then generally there will be some other molecule in the plant to counteract that poison. That's exactly what we see here, with the anti-psychotic effects of the CBD balancing out the psychotomimetic effects of the THC. And most patients seem to find the plant-based medicine to be both more tolerable and also more effective. Obviously there are many many cases where plant-based medicine is an inferior choice, as with aspirin, but in this case it seems to be winning at least so far. Also, there is some suggestion that with plant-based medicine the body actually has the ability to pick and choose which compounds to use depending on what it's current needs are: "Medicinal plants contain a wide array of chemical compounds. At first, this looks like chaos, but more investigation reveals a distinct order. Natural selection pressures push a plant to "try out" variations on molecules to enhance the plant's odds of surviving stressful environments. So, often, one molecule is present in the greatest amount and has the most dramatic effect in a human body -- but along with it are variations of that molecule in the same plant. For example, for several years, I did ethnobotanical study in South America, researching native uses for coca leaf, which most of us know only as the source of the isolated, problematic, addictive drug cocaine. For Andean Indians, whole coca leaf is the number one medicinal plant. They use it to treat gastrointestinal disturbances; specifically, for both diarrhea and constipation. From the perspective of Western pharmacology, this makes no sense. Cocaine stimulates the gut, it increases bowel activity, so obviously it would be a good treatment for constipation, but what could it do for diarrhea except make it worse? However, if you look carefully at the coca leaf's molecular array, you find 14 bioactive alkaloids, with cocaine in the greatest amount. While cocaine acts as a gut stimulant, other coca alkaloids can have precisely the opposite action, they inhibit gut activity. This means that when you take the whole mixture into the body, the potential is there for the action to go in either direction. What decides it? The state of the body, which is a function of which receptors in the gut's tissues are available for binding. During my time in Andean Indian communities, I collected many reports about whole coca's paradoxical, normalizing effect on bowel function, and experienced it firsthand, as well." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/why-plants-are-usually-be_b_785139.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/why-plants-are-...
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- Cushman 15y ago
  That's fascinating. Thanks for the links.
- Mz 15y ago
  Totally off topic, but do you happen to know anything about capsaicin? I began eating hot peppers a few months ago and it had a dramatic impact on my condition. CF is rooted in a defect in a cell channel, the CFTR, which handles trafficking of certain molecules into and out of the cell. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, forces a different channel open at lower than normal temps. I asked around and got a snippet or two suggesting some indirect relationship between the types of things the two channels process but nothing conclusive. Capsaicin has worked effectively as a biohack for me, especially when combined with walking (and a zillion other things I was already doing for my condition). Yet I have turned up little in the way of solid information as to why/how.
  - Alex3917 15y ago
    I don't know a ton about it, but I know there is a food company that just launched a line of capsaicin beverages: http://www.prometheussprings.com http://www.prometheussprings.com If you like spicy things they are actually really good. It's kind of like a combination between drinking a Snapple and getting maced in the face by the cops.
    - Mz 15y ago
      Sort of funny in a way. I do drink a fair variety of fruit juices these days as well. And their website might be a source of interesting info. Thanks.
  - kragen 15y ago
    I looked it up, and I think "CF" means "cystic fibrosis", a congenital lung disease that is usually fatal in early life.

by Cushman 15y ago

Alex3917 15y ago

"Are you aware of any research into the potential differences?" Not off the top of my head, but here are some links to 'databases' of hundreds or thousands of research articles on cannabinoids: http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php http://www.cannabis-med.org/index.php?lng=en http://www.cannabis-med.org/index.php?lng=en In general though I think cannabis is a good example of why plant-based medicine is often more safe and effective than using synthetics. That is, when one molecule in a plant acts as a poison, then generally there will be some other molecule in the plant to counteract that poison. That's exactly what we see here, with the anti-psychotic effects of the CBD balancing out the psychotomimetic effects of the THC. And most patients seem to find the plant-based medicine to be both more tolerable and also more effective. Obviously there are many many cases where plant-based medicine is an inferior choice, as with aspirin, but in this case it seems to be winning at least so far. Also, there is some suggestion that with plant-based medicine the body actually has the ability to pick and choose which compounds to use depending on what it's current needs are: "Medicinal plants contain a wide array of chemical compounds. At first, this looks like chaos, but more investigation reveals a distinct order. Natural selection pressures push a plant to "try out" variations on molecules to enhance the plant's odds of surviving stressful environments. So, often, one molecule is present in the greatest amount and has the most dramatic effect in a human body -- but along with it are variations of that molecule in the same plant. For example, for several years, I did ethnobotanical study in South America, researching native uses for coca leaf, which most of us know only as the source of the isolated, problematic, addictive drug cocaine. For Andean Indians, whole coca leaf is the number one medicinal plant. They use it to treat gastrointestinal disturbances; specifically, for both diarrhea and constipation. From the perspective of Western pharmacology, this makes no sense. Cocaine stimulates the gut, it increases bowel activity, so obviously it would be a good treatment for constipation, but what could it do for diarrhea except make it worse? However, if you look carefully at the coca leaf's molecular array, you find 14 bioactive alkaloids, with cocaine in the greatest amount. While cocaine acts as a gut stimulant, other coca alkaloids can have precisely the opposite action, they inhibit gut activity. This means that when you take the whole mixture into the body, the potential is there for the action to go in either direction. What decides it? The state of the body, which is a function of which receptors in the gut's tissues are available for binding. During my time in Andean Indian communities, I collected many reports about whole coca's paradoxical, normalizing effect on bowel function, and experienced it firsthand, as well." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/why-plants-are-usually-be_b_785139.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/why-plants-are-...

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
Cushman 15y ago
That's fascinating. Thanks for the links.
Mz 15y ago
Totally off topic, but do you happen to know anything about capsaicin? I began eating hot peppers a few months ago and it had a dramatic impact on my condition. CF is rooted in a defect in a cell channel, the CFTR, which handles trafficking of certain molecules into and out of the cell. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, forces a different channel open at lower than normal temps. I asked around and got a snippet or two suggesting some indirect relationship between the types of things the two channels process but nothing conclusive. Capsaicin has worked effectively as a biohack for me, especially when combined with walking (and a zillion other things I was already doing for my condition). Yet I have turned up little in the way of solid information as to why/how.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  I don't know a ton about it, but I know there is a food company that just launched a line of capsaicin beverages: http://www.prometheussprings.com http://www.prometheussprings.com If you like spicy things they are actually really good. It's kind of like a combination between drinking a Snapple and getting maced in the face by the cops.
  - Mz 15y ago
    Sort of funny in a way. I do drink a fair variety of fruit juices these days as well. And their website might be a source of interesting info. Thanks.
- kragen 15y ago
  I looked it up, and I think "CF" means "cystic fibrosis", a congenital lung disease that is usually fatal in early life.