Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

[Kailassa]

22:00 13 October 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Kurt Kleiner

"A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.

In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats' brains.

They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.

Just like Prozac?
A previous study showed that the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) also increases new cell growth, and the results indicated that it was this cell growth that caused Prozac’s anti-anxiety effect. Zhang wondered whether this was also the case for the cannabinoid, and so he tested the rats for behavioural changes."


Now does anyone know of some rats whose brains are short of a few cells?

[toymachines]

1. time for me to grow some brain

can you say panacea.

[Neil Lisst]

5. So what you're saying is .... oh, wow, can I get some of this?!!

Now I'm channeling Tom Hulce, Animal House.



http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst

[madokie]

15. AAhh, the joys of brain growing

[Scout]

26. oooooh, maaaaaannnnn

nice bud! I am drooling out here...
just ran out of smoke last night, got to call the cookie man!

[TahitiNut]

46. Well, I grew more brain cells yesterday. Can't you tell?

:evilgrin: Playing frisbee golf and smoking weed with my nephew. Life can be goooood. :smoke:

[Wilms]

2. Here's the link.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8155

[Kailassa]

12. Thanks, forgot to include that . n/t

[Neil Lisst]

3. Oh wow, man, that is soooo heavy!

Sorry, channeling Jeff Spicoli.




http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst

[Double T]

4. Will someone please send "w" a marijuana stoggie......

he REALLY needs a triple hit!!!!!!

[unpossibles]

6. that is brilliant!

....what were we talking about?

[Neil Lisst]

7. Jim Breuer ... game show ... What were just talking about?!!

haha



http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst

[meganmonkey]

14. I dunno - got any pringles?

:P

:smoke:

[mmonk]

8. cultivation

[sarcasmo]

38. Maybe this explains all of the great songs in music history.

[yella_dawg]

9. Okay!! That's it!

I'm off to grow some brain cells. A fuckload of 'em.

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[Richard Steele]

10. Wow! My brain must be HUGE by now!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

19. That was my thought exactly!

:smoke:

[Ezlivin]

11. The growth is in one area: Hunger

After years of smoking pot, users will find themselves thinking about tasty, crunchy, munchies all the time.

Gotta go...got some bong lifting to do!

[liberalitch]

13. One hour until brain cell regeneration!

[SheepyMcSheepster]

41. hehe, i was thinking the same

i can't wait to get home and regenerate!

[Suziq]

16. No Wonder . . .

my head won't fit through the door! :smoke:

[VOX]

17. Whoa! I feel smarter already!

And it isn't even Friday night yet...:evilgrin:

[LondonReign2]

18. Yes, but

...the toxins in the massive quantity of munchies ingested shortly thereafter negate the effect.

[fredtaylor]

20. ?

Why do the people I know who smoke dope say things like "Dude" and "Man" all the time? Pass the Doritos!

[Dora]

21. Don't get too excited...

Also from the article:

*snip*

In another study, Barry Jacobs, a neuroscientist at Princeton University, gave mice the natural cannabinoid found in marijuana, THC (D9-tetrahydrocannabinol)). But he says he detected no neurogenesis, no matter what dose he gave or the length of time he gave it for. He will present his results at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC in November.

Jacobs says it could be that HU210 and THC do not have the same effect on cell growth. It could also be the case that cannabinoids behave differently in different rodent species - which leaves open the question of how they behave in humans.

*snip*

[julianer]

49. Must have used freeper mice in that trial n/t

[The Doctor.]

52. So who wants to volunteer for human testing?

I'll write up the grant tonight!

[Taxloss]

22. That story again with emphasis added for the nuance-challenged.

"A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains."

I'll go out and score after the human trials.

"What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain."

And the Nobel Prize for vagueness goes to ...

I'm sorry, I smoked my fair share of marijuana at university and I saw what it did to people who over-used it. This is uncooked hype. If it results in anything, it will be a new antidepressant that shares chemical characteristics with marijuana. It does not mean that smoking a joint is good for the brain.

[Cults4Bush]

24. While you are right on the caution about the vagueness

Just because you knew soem dorks in College who smoked themselves out of school does not mean in any way shape or form that that is what happens to users who "over-use" it. AFter all what is "over-use" is that etchnical definition? Does the same standard apply to everyone no matter their physiological differences?

I know many people who smoke 5-8 times in a full day, a couple of these people built their own business from the ground up. One of them is looking to retire in a year or two being a multi-millionaire and having about 30 very happy employees, not too mention all the awards they have won. Others I know are accomplished artists, day workers, chefs... yadda yadda. They are all at least fairly responsible adults and succesful in many ways and most importantly for teh most part happy.

You might think your short bit of smoking a little dope makes you "know" something but the anecdotal evidence you supplied leaves this reader feeling that you have no idea actually what "over-use" is for anyone but yourself.

[K-W]

32. I think people are mostly joking.

And the Nobel Prize for vagueness goes to ...

It actually isnt at all vague. It is specifically tentative, because that is what the science supports.

I'm sorry, I smoked my fair share of marijuana at university and I saw what it did to people who over-used it.

For someone who harped on the importance of not drawing conclusions from tentative scientific findings, you sure seem eager to draw conclusions based on anectdotal evidence.

This is uncooked hype.

How exactly is a very qualified tentative statement that accurately reflects the findings hype?

If it results in anything, it will be a new antidepressant that shares chemical characteristics with marijuana. It does not mean that smoking a joint is good for the brain.

No, that remains a possibility, which is all the article claimed.

[TahitiNut]

47. I don't understand. How can you call it "hype" ...

... after conclusively demonstrating the absence of 'hype'??? That's truly puzzling. :dunce:

Maybe if I smoke a bit more weed (and eat some cheese) I'll understand.

[Up2Late]

69. Sounds like you haven't been paying attention to this "issue" this year.

Here's another article from the BBC:<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4338634.stm>

Also, if you go to <http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=newsukfs&tab=news&q=Cannabis&go.x=36&go.y=13&go=go>
you'll find almost a dozen new discoveries they've made this year.

And it's a "synthetic chemical" because they have learned how to isolate the "cabanoids" (the active ingredient cannabidiol) and recreate it in the lab, which is more efficient and less controversial than trucking in tons of Marijuana to the lab.

Here are a few of the BBC News links:

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4110948.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4606475.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4528537.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4460491.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4114147.stm>

Their are plenty of stories there that "suggest" that Marijuana is "bad" for you too. Read both, then decide.

[mtnester]

23. Funny, for all those decades they have been telling us it will kill brain

cells....now, anyone seen my dugout?

[applegrove]

25. Worked for me - prozac. Like night & day my brain.

[Kailassa]

28. I'd noticed that on Prozac

I could think more clearly and remember better. Doctor had told me it was just the depression stuffed the brain up, never guessed prozac actually did something beneficial as well as fighing depression.

[applegrove]

61. yes - for some people - there is a huge change. I could learn new stuff.

I had a better memory. I was like I had not been in 10 years. But it was the year before I started prozac that my memory completely crashed and I was incapable of learning anything new. That is the hypo - whatever.

[ocd liberal]

39. me too

now I take Lexapro and THC on a daily basis. works great!

[Zhade]

27. K&R for the beneficial plant.

NT!

[Neil Lisst]

29. But prozac makes your weiner soft and pot doesn't

just saying I heard that somewhere, allegedly



http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst

[CantGetFooledAgain]

30. If it makes your brain so big, why do you just wind up

lying on the sofa watching "Spongebob"?

[petgoat]

35. Why are you watching spongebob?

You're not watching spongebob. You're thinking a lot of thoughts.

Of course thinking can be overdone. Moderation in everything.

[mshasta]

31. I being noticing

that I need more brain cells, lets get some...:yoiks:

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Maybe we can all pitch in

and give Bush some. Now this is something I could give up some money for. :)

[petgoat]

36. If I had the photoshop skills, I'd do Rasta Bush with a big splif. n/t

[deadparrot]

34. But godly people don't listen to that high-fallutin' science claptrap. nt

[spanone]

37. I knew it, I knew it!!!!

[are_we_united_yet]

40. Malignancy is new growth as well.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

43. Can we see your evidence?.........

that marijuana causes malignancy? Because that pretty much runs counter to the majority of evidence I have seen trying to link smoking grass to cancer.

[are_we_united_yet]

45. Spare me OK?

I was trying to be funny.

[Fly by night]

44. Cannabis inhibits brain tumor growth (gliomas)

Here's the link. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19361.shtml

This research has been underway in Spain for several years now. Unfortunately, research on the medical benefits of cannabis continues to be severely restricted in the US, and the research that is approved is forced to use dirtweed schwag produced at the Unviersity of Mississippi. In speaking with some of the few sick people who still receive this dirtweed (free) from the federal government, it takes 2-4 joints to feel any effect whatsoever (likely that effect is from carbon monoxide poisoning, not any beneficial effects of THC and/or the other 50+ bioactive substances in cannabis.)

[clichemoth]

67. The government isn't even growing the good shit anymore?

I used to know a Vietnam vet who was part of that federal program. The stuff he was getting back in '98-'99 was the bomb (and this was in comparison to other sources in Portland, which is a pretty damn good place to find weed). I guess this is the result of more ** health care cutbacks.

[Fly by night]

68. Analysis of the Ole Miss schwag in Canada ...

... indicated that it appeared to have been chemically treated to remove all of the pharmocologically active substances and then sprayed with marinol (synthetic THC). Some have suggested that this was to prepare a "standardized" product for research purposes. But by removing the other medically beneficial substances in cannabis (CBD, CBN, etc), it becomes less useful. Besides, the patients I have spoken with say that the schwag has a terrible chemical taste, so who knows what harm the patients are facing by using it.

By the way, since the government has not accepted any new patients since the early 90s, your friend would be one of only seven patients left. If he was on the federal government program, he would receive his joints pre-rolled in a metal tin each month. If that's not how he received his "medicine", then he was not in the federal program I am referring to.

[WhiteTara]

58. cannabis has anti carcinogenic

properties.

[klook]

42. No wonder they don't want us to have it!! (n/t)

[EC]

48. No wonder

college was so EASY.....

[elehhhhna]

50. too bad it's a paranoia cell

[Gregorian]

51. OMG!!!!111eleven I'm a genius.

Sorry.

[KaryninMiami]

53. So does that mean when we get the munchies it's "brain food"?

Better then prozac...

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

54. As Bob Marley said...

"When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself."

MKJ

[Neil Lisst]

62. No woman, no cry ... for example

Karl Rove singing Bob Marley style ...

I shot the former ambassador
but I did not shoot his CIA agent wife

[evolved Anarchopunk]

63. "I and I" is what u speak of, hail Haile Salassie I.

Rastafari is a way of life, not a religion and that's its strength. That being said it gave me a whole new life. One where i am not angry or impatient. Oh, those feelings exist, but not as much. Life will always be life, but the components of Rasta have allowed to me to concentrate on what is good in people and concentrate on nothing at the same time, cuz i can't. Because the two main elements i've embraced are:

1) vegetarianism
2) smoking a lot, and i mean a lot, of good pot. Quality sh*t, that i adore all the way up to blowing smoke, and long after its gone.

thank you for reading, and for posting the famous Bob quote. Bob was a prophet, and although his message is for the world, the practices of Rasta are sadly not for everyone. Be glad that it reached u, and that you are a person flexible enough in body and mind to recieve it BHP.

put the smoke in your lungs that doesn't cause lung-cancer :smoke:
mm, yeah thats the stuff

[Gnostic]

73. Can't do

I like meat. I'm an admitted carnivore. Asking me to give up my diet, which I've not only known all my life but which I have acquired certain tastes within over years, is incomprehensible to me. Does that make me a bad person? I don't know. I suppose it could be even almsot accurate to say I'm a bloodthirsty savage for it. I certainly am quite feeling the hypocrite when I espouse strongly on animal rights and the stupidity and callousness of hunters, as I head off to the grocery to buy my next juicy steak to slap on the grill or that next package of salami for sandwiches.

Far as smoking "lots and lots of quality" weed, I would say I can't afford it and don't have the room or the risk to grow it. I know some people who get the kill from time to time, and from time to time I partake, but lots and lots?? Either you have a very high disposable income or you live on a remote farm (most likely both).

[StefanX]

55. Finally, some GOOD news!

I've been so tired of everying I like being "bad" for me. Nice to see that pot might actually be good.

Note: I often get high before I have to do some sort of mentally challenging work (e.g., reading a difficult book or manual). I find it actually helps me concentrate. It also helps me generate new ideas.

[Arkana]

56. Well, I'm all for the legalization of weed

but you won't catch me smoking it--I absolutely hate the smell.

[goodboy]

57. That means I'm a freakin' GEEENEUS.,...9nt0

[tblue37]

59. I know 2 people who use weed to deal with their depression.

Maybe this is why it helps.

[garybeck]

60. I was going to say something, but I forgot... n/t

[Blue_Tires]

64. the conspiracy to ban the reefer

while keeping tobacco legal is one of the great cons of our time

[EnfantTerrible]

65. I was just tending to my

brain garden...

[WillyT]

66. Is This Growth In The %10 We Use, Or The %90 We Don't ???

Cause I've been playing with that %90 for some time now.

:smoke::hippie::smoke:

[MsConduct]

70. I've always wondered why I just keep smarter and smarter....LOL n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

71. No wonder they're so obsessed with keeping it illegal.

I mean, that and the fact that it makes people silly as opposed to mean.

[Gnostic]

72. I want his job

Is the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada hiring?

Nevermind, I don't think even free synthetic cannabinol would entice me there. But it's close.

[AngryAmish]

74. Especially in the part that likes Doritos

[laruemtt]

75. m&m's beat out doritos by far.

ah,grazing in the grass..............