Before I list articles and such, I'd like to add a personal email I received today.

To Whom It May Concern:

I was trapped, prevented from seeing my friends and family. Recollections of masks of blood, five failed brain surgeries, countless drugs, and thousands of seizures, imprisoned me in Colorado, away from my loved ones residing in my home state of New Jersey.                                                                                                          

Discovery of a curing anti-epileptic was bleak, as hope began to fade.

Then, after 11 years, I began utilizing my sole effective treatment—the medicinal use of marijuana, as a state-registered medical marijuana patient. There was only one problem that remained, I couldn’t return home to share my remedied state of health with my family. Acknowledging that an abrupt abandonment of the drug would provoke seizures, and aware of the fact that marijuana was illegal in New Jersey, I was barred from visitation.

Until now, when I have been presented the opportunity to safely return home under New Jersey’s recently enacted medical marijuana legislation. A current senior at Colorado State University, I am at last able to spend time with my loved ones healthy.

Please let me know if you would be interested in sharing this story on http://www.oregonmedicalmarijuanaprogram.com Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

            Tim DaGiau

 

I am writing Tim back and tell him absolutely, and this page is for him. 

 

Granny 

 

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Medical marijuana

Epilepsy patients are smoking pot

by Helen Fields, U.S. News & World Report
December 6th, 2004





Even though there's not a lot of evidence that it helps, many patients with epilepsy use marijuana, hoping it will reduce their seizures. Researchers in Alberta, Canada, asked epilepsy patients if they were smoking pot.



What the researchers wanted to know: How common is marijuana use among epilepsy patients?

What they did: Patients seen at the University of Alberta Epilepsy Clinic were called and asked about their condition and whether they use medical marijuana.

What they found: Of 136 subjects, 48 (35 percent) had used marijuana in the past month. Nearly half had used it at some time in their lives, and four were determined to be dependent on the drug. People with frequent seizures or who'd had the disease longer were more likely to use marijuana frequently—which could mean that using marijuana makes seizures happen more often but could also mean that patients whose disease was worse were more likely to try alternative treatments. Not surprisingly, people who used other illicit drugs were also more likely to smoke marijuana.

What the study means to you: Many people with epilepsy seem to think marijuana helps. Animal studies have come up with conflicting results—in some, marijuana increases convulsions, while in others it has an anticonvulsant (somewhat more desirable) effect. In any case, if many patients are using marijuana, it seems worth studying more.

Caveats: This is one clinic in Canada, so the findings probably don't apply to everyone with epilepsy, especially if they live in places with stricter marijuana laws. (Medical use of marijuana is legal in Canada under certain conditions.)


source: http://www.safeacces...cle.php?id=1638

 

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 Cannabis may help epileptics
04 Oct 2003

Further evidence has emerged that an ingredient of cannabis could help prevent epileptic seizures.

Some experts are now calling for fresh research into the potential of cannabis-like compounds to help alleviate the condition.

Researchers from Germany found that natural brain chemicals which resemble cannabis extracts can interrupt a process which can trigger a seizure.

There have been trials of cannabis compounds in MS and cancer patients.

There are reports dating from the 15th century talking about the use of cannabis to ease the symptoms of epilepsy.

However, there have been few organised trials in humans in recent years, even though cannabis or its extracts are being evaluated in trials against several other illness types illness.

Brain chemicals

The researchers, from the Max-Planck Institut in Munich studies mice bred to suffer a key feature of epilepsy in humans.

This is 'excitotoxicity' - abnormal stimulation of brain cells by an excessive quantity of a chemical called glutamate.

In the mutant mice, a substance called kainic acid works in a very similar way, and the researchers used this to find out if cannabinoid chemicals could somehow interrupt the process or protect the brain cells involved.

They found, in the mouse brain at least, that key receptors on the surface of the brain cell, which normally respond to contact with cannabinoid-like chemicals produced naturally in the body, appeared to protect against these acid-induced seizures.

However, while the same receptors are found in the human brain, there is no evidence that seizures could be stopped by applying similar cannabinoids in a therapy.

'Promising'

The researchers describe their finding as a 'promising therapeutic target' for epilepsy drug research.

Professor Roger Pertwee, an researcher into cannabinoids at Aberdeen University, told BBC News Online that fresh studies into their promise against epilepsy were overdue.

He said: 'There is always a need for new drugs to treat epilepsy, and there have now been sufficient animal studies to justify research in humans with epilepsy.'

source: http://www.medicalne...ticles/4423.php

 

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Other links

Clinical Studies and Case Reports:

http://www.cannabis-...ow.php?s_id=157

http://www.cannabis-...how.php?s_id=80

http://www.cannabis-...how.php?s_id=42

http://www.cannabis-...how.php?s_id=39

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 Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a recurrent disorder of cerebral function characterized by sudden, brief attacks of altered consciousness, motor activity, or sensory phenomena. Epilepsy includes a broad range of seizure disorders caused by microscopic brain lesions occurring during birth or during traumatic head injury. Epileptics often lead normal lives that are sporadically interrupted by violent seizures.

Epilepsy is usually treated with barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and other powerful anti-seizure medications that render the patient incapable of normal activity. Prescription anticonvulsants are no effective for 20-30% of epileptic patients. Many patients suffer intolerable, and sometimes fatal, complications from standard pharmaceutical medications. Some epileptics find that marijuana controls their seizures without causing the physical and psychological depression typical of pharmaceutical therapies. [1], [2], [3] Animal studies indicate that several cannabinoids not found in the synthetic THC pill have notable anticonvulsant properties. For example CBD, one of many medicinal compounds not available by prescription, has been shown to completely control partial seizure disorders. [4] Marijuana is the only source of CBD and other cannabinoids that can help control the agony of epilepsy attacks.

Recent US military tests reported that rats protected by synthetic cannabinoids were 70% less likely to suffer epileptic seizures and brain damage after exposure to nerve gas.[5] oldest indications. Animal experiments provide evidence of the antiepileptic effects of some cannabinoids. The anticonvulsant activity of the drugs phenytonin and diazepam have been potentiated by THC. According to a few case reports from the past three decades, some epileptic patients continue to utilize cannabis to control an otherwise unmanageable seizure disorder. Cannabis use may occasionally precipitate convulsions. In contrast to THC, there is no development of tolerance to the antiepileptic effects of CBD."[6]

Warning: epileptics should consult with their physician before using psychoactive drugs.

source: http://www.cannabismd.net/epilepsy/

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Epilepsy is a neurological condition which affects approximately 1 in 100 people. Depending on how wide spread in the brain the neuroligical disturbance is (the focus), there are a range of possible seizures from lapses in consciousness (absence) or convulsions (Grand Mal) to grimacing or repetitive movements (temporal) to just odd sensations (auras). Epilepsy is as individual as the people who have it and everyone has their own patterns of seizures. There are sometimes triggers for seizures such as sleep loss, low blood sugar, stress or even boredom. Some common causes of epilpsy include head trauma, birth injury, hormonal imbalances, and viral attacks.

Some kinds of epilepsy can be well controlled by anti-convulsant drugs, but a few forms do not react well to these. Anti-convulsant drugs have potentially serious side-effects, including bone softening, reduced production of red blood cells, swelling of the gums, and emotional disturbances. Other occasional effects include uncontrollable rapid eye movements, loss of motor co-ordination, coma and even death. In addition, these medications are far from ideal in that they only completely stop seizures in about 60% of patients.

Cannabis has long been known to have anti-convulsant properties, and these have been investigated from the 19th century. Large amounts of anecdotal reports and 1-patient case studies indicate the assistance of cannabis in controlling seizures. Cannabis analogues have been shown to prevent seizures when given in combination with prescription drugs. Patients report that they can wean themselves off prescription drugs, and still not experience seizures if they have a regular supply of cannabis.

Some interest has been shown in the use of cannabidiol (a cannabinoid) in treatment. A small amount of data is available about this, and cannabidiol has little or none of the psychoactive side-effects that treatment with cannabis (or THC) could induce. There seems to be no plans to make a great effort to concentrate on cannabis research in the field of epilepsy at present. The British Medical Association has however stated that it may possibly prove useful as an 'adjunctive therapy' for patients who cannot be kept satisfactorily free of seizures on current medications. Likewise, the National Institutes of Health workshop considered that this is 'an area of potential value', based largely on animal research showing anticonvulsant effects.

Unfortunately there has been relatively little research done into the treatment of epilepsy with cannabis-based medication. Most evidence comes from anecdotal reports and studies on individual cases.

In 1949 Davis & Ramsey administered THC to 5 institutionalized children who were not responding to the standard treatment (phenobarbital and phenoytin). One became entirely free of seizures, one almost completely free of seizures, while the other three did no worse than before.

In 1975 Consroe et al. described the case of young man whose standard treatment (phenobarbital and phenytoin), didn't control his seizures. When he began to smoke cannabis socially he had no seizures. However when he took only cannabis the seizures returned. They concluded that 'marihuana may possess an anti-convulsant effect in human epilepsy'.

Three controlled trials have investigated the anti-epilepsy potential of cannabidiol. In each, cannabidiol was given in oral form to sufferers of generalised grand mail or focal seizures.

Cunha et al (1980) reported a study on 16 grand mal patients who were not doing well on conventional medication. They recieved their regular medication and either 200-300mg cannabidiol or a placebo. Of the patients who received the cannabis product, 3 showed complete improvement, 2 partial, 2 minor, while 1 remained unchanged. The only unwanted effect was mild sedation. Of the patients who received the placebo, 1 improved and 7 remained unchanged.

Ames (1986) reported a less successful study in which 12 epileptic patients were given 200-300mg of cannabidiol per day, in addition to standard antiepileptic drugs. There seemed to be no significant improvement in seizure frequency. This is a finding that was replicated in a report by Trembly et al (1990). However, Trembly performed an open trial with a single patient who was given 900-1200mg of cannabidiol a day for 10 months. This trial showed a more positive result - seizure frequency was markedly reduced in the patient.

It must be stated that these trials are all over too small a population for any general statements about efficacy to be made.

A study by Ng (1990) involved a larger population of 308 epileptic patients who had been admitted to hospital after their first seizure. They were compared to a control population of 294 patients who had not had seizures, and it was found that using cannabis seemed to reduce the likelihood of having a seizure. However this study was criticised in an Institute of Medicine report (1999) which claimed it was 'weak', as 'the study did not include measures of health status prior to hospital admissions...and differences in their health status might have influenced their drug use' rather than the other way round.

Finally, there is some weak anatomical evidence of a relationship between cannabinoids and epilepsy. There is a dense concentration of CB1-type receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala areas of the brain. These two regions of the brain are known to be involved somehow in seizures.
References

Ames FR. (1986) Anticonvulsant effect of cannabidiol. South African Medical Journal 69:14.

Consroe, P.F., Wood, G.C. & Buchsbaum, H. (1975) Anticonvulsant Nature of Marihuana Smoking. J.American Medical Association 234 306-307

Cunha, J.M., Carlini, E.A., Pereira, A.E. et al. (1980) Chronic Administration of Cannabidiol to Healthy Volunteers and Epileptic Patients. Pharmacology 21 175-185

Davis, J P., & Ramsey, H.H. (1949) Antiepileptic Action of Marijuana-active Substances. Federation Proceedings 8 284-285

Institute of Medicine (1999) Marijuana and medicine: Assessing the science base. National Academy Press

National Institutes of Health (1997) Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana, Report to the Director, Washington, D.C.

Ng et al. (1990) Illicit drug use and the risk of new-onset seizures, American Journal of Epidemiology 132: 47-57.

Trembly B. Sherman M. (1990) Double-blind clinical study of cannabidiol as a secondary anticonvulsant. Marijuana '90 International Conference on Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Kolympari, Crete, July 8-11, 1990.

source: http://www.ukcia.org...al/epilepsy.php

 

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Cannabis Helps - Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological condition which affects approximately 1 in 100 people. Depending on how wide spread in the brain the neuroligical disturbance is (the focus), there are a range of possible seizures from lapses in consciousness (absence) or convulsions (Grand Mal) to grimacing or repetitive movements (temporal) to just odd sensations (auras).

Epilepsy is as individual as the people who have it and everyone has their own patterns of seizures. There are sometimes triggers for seizures such as sleep loss, low blood sugar, stress or even boredom. Some common causes of epilpsy include head trauma, birth injury, hormonal imbalances, and viral attacks.

Some kinds of epilepsy can be well controlled by anti-convulsant drugs, but a few forms do not react well to these.

Anti-convulsant drugs have potentially serious side-effects, including bone softening, reduced production of red blood cells, swelling of the gums, and emotional disturbances. Other occasional effects include uncontrollable rapid eye movements, loss of motor co-ordination, coma and even death.

In addition, these medications are far from ideal in that they only completely stop seizures in about 60% of patients.

Cannabis has long been known to have anti-convulsant properties, and these have been investigated from the 19th century. Large amounts of anecdotal reports and 1-patient case studies indicate the assistance of cannabis in controlling seizures.

Cannabis analogues have been shown to prevent seizures when given in combination with prescription drugs. Patients report that they can wean themselves off prescription drugs, and still not experience seizures if they have a regular supply of cannabis.

Some interest has been shown in the use of cannabidiol (a cannabinoid) in treatment. A small amount of data is available about this, and cannabidiol has little or none of the psychoactive side-effects that treatment with cannabis (or THC) could induce.

There seems to be no plans to make a great effort to concentrate on cannabis research in the field of epilepsy at present. The British Medical Association has however stated that it may possibly prove useful as an 'adjunctive therapy' for patients who cannot be kept satisfactorily free of seizures on current medications. Likewise, the National Institutes of Health workshop considered that this is 'an area of potential value', based largely on animal research showing anticonvulsant effects.
source: http://www.budbuddie...ps/epilepsy.htm

 

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Endocannabinoid System Controls Key Circuits
Medical Research News

Germany -- The same brain machinery that responds to the active substance in marijuana provides a central "on-demand" protection against seizures, researchers have found. They said their discoveries suggest that the "endocannabinoid" system might constitute a prime target for drugs against seizures of epilepsy and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The findings were published by Beat Lutz and Giovanni Marsicano, of Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, and colleagues in the August 17, 2006, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.

The endocannabinoid system--which includes the receptors, the natural cannabinoid compounds that trigger them, as well as the machinery for regulating the process--was already known to modulate the excitation of neuronal transmission, noted the researchers. However, it had not been established that such modulation might affect neurons in the hippocampus responsible for the "excitotoxicity" that underlies the uncontrolled activity of seizures.

Thus, Lutz, Marsicano, and his colleagues used genetic techniques to pinpoint the role of the endocannabinoid system on these neurons and on seizure activity. They used mice as their animal model and induced seizures in these mice with the chemical kainic acid (KA).

In particular, they wanted to explore the role played by the endocannabinoid system in hippocampal neurons that are responsive to the neurotransmitter glutamine. These neurons are known to play a central role in seizure activity. The endocannabinoid regulatory system is also active in another type of neuron triggered by the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Thus, the researchers conducted experiments in which they genetically knocked out the endocannabinoid receptor CB1 and analyzed the effects on seizure sensitivity. They found that, indeed, when they knocked out CB1 in glutamatergic, but not GABAergic neurons, the chemically induced seizures increased in the mice. In fact, their experiments all but ruled out the role of GABAergic neurons in the seizure-protection function, they concluded.

"Altogether, these results confirm that physiological endocannabinoid-dependent control of GABAergic transmission depends on intact CB1 signaling in GABAergic interneurons and suggest that the endocannabinoid system does not influence GABAergic transmission during the development of KA-induced seizures," they concluded. "Therefore, direct modulation of glutamatergic transmission by CB1 receptors expressed on cortical glutamatergic neurons appears to be the major mechanism of endocannabinoid-mediated protection against KA-induced seizures."

Furthermore, the researchers' experiments established that endocannabinoid receptors were also present in the same glutamatergic neurons in areas of the hippocampus known to be central to seizure generation. The researchers wrote that this finding "represents a novel step in understanding the progression of acute excitotoxic seizures and the development of epileptic states."

And significantly, when the researchers used a targeted virus to knock out the CB1 gene for the endocannabinoid receptor specifically in the glutamatergic neurons of the hippocampus, the mice also showed strong worsening of chemically induced seizures in comparison to mice still expressing CB1.

"Altogether, these observations support a hypothetical scenario in which acute KA-induced excitotoxic seizures would activate the endocannabinoid system in respect to its ability to inhibit only 'harmful' glutamatergic transmission, but not 'protective' GABAergic release," concluded Lutz, Marsicano, and colleagues.

"In conclusion, our study reveals a mechanism through which the endocannabinoid system is able to provide on-demand protection against acute behavioral seizures. CB1 expression on hippocampal glutamatergic circuits accounts for this protection and might represent a suitable target for the treatment of neurological disorders associated with excessive neuronal excitation," they wrote.

Complete Title: The Endocannabinoid System Controls Key Epileptogenic Circuits In The Hippocampus

source: http://www.cannabish...mp;topic=1654.0

 

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 Endocannabinoid System Protects Against Seizures, Study Says


August 24, 2006 - Mainz, Germany

Mainz, Germany: The endocannabinoid system provides "on demand" protection against experimentally induced seizures and neuronal cell death, according to preclinical data published this month in the journal Neuron.

Investigators at the Johannes Guttenberg University in Mainz and the Max Planck Institute in Munich reported that endocannabinoids, acting upon the brain's CB1 (cannabinoid) receptors, directly target hippocampal glutamatergic neurons to mediate against experimentally induced seizures and cell death in mice. "CB1 exp ression on hippocampal glutamatergic circuits accounts for this protection and might represent a suitable target for the treatment of neurological disorders associated with excessive neuronal excitation," authors concluded.

Separate preclinical studies have previously demonstrated that natural cannabinoids such as THC and cannabidiol (CBD) are neuroprotective against ethanol-induced cell death, cerebral infarction, and glutamate toxicity. Glutamate, a neurotransmitter, may be produced at toxic levels following strokes or severe head trauma often leading to irreversible brain damage.

In recent years, researchers have identified the endocannabinoid receptor system to be involved in the regulation of several primary biological functions including appetite, body temperature, mood elevation, blood pressure, bone density, embryonic implantation, learning capacity, and motor coordination.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "The endocannabinoid system controls key epileptogenic circuits in the hippocampus," appears in the August 17, 2006 edition of Neuron.

source: http://norml.org/ind...m?Group_ID=6995

 

 Oregon Medical Marijuana Program