Drug goes from $50/vial to $28,000/vial. Best Healthcare in the world, Baby!

[RainDog]

37. Marijuana study: eases pain AND suppresses disease

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/33376.php

There is anecdotal evidence that cannabis can provide pain relief for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and in a recent survey 155 (16%) of 947 people who obtained cannabis on the black market for medicinal reasons said they did so to obtain relief from symptoms of RA. However, this study in Rheumatology journal, led by David Blake, Professor of Bone and Joint Medicine at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD), Bath, and the University of Bath, UK, is the first randomised controlled trial to investigate the effect of a CBM on RA. It is published online today (Wednesday 9 November).

In the double-blind trial, the researchers randomised 31 patients to receive the CBM and 27 the placebo. The CBM (brand name: Sativex) was in the form of an easy-to-use mouth spray that patients could administer themselves up to a maximum of six doses a day. The CBM consisted of a blend of whole plant extracts, standardised for content, that delivered approximately equal amounts of two key therapeutic constituents from the cannabis plant: delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Mouse studies have shown that THC and CBD have anti-inflammatory effects, and that CBD blocked progression of RA and produced improvements in symptoms.

Dr Ronald Jubb, Consultant Rheumatologist, at the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK, said: "Patients had a baseline assessment at the beginning of the trial and then were randomised to receive either the CBM or placebo. Patients only took the doses in the evening in order to minimise possible intoxication-type reactions. The starting dose was one actuation within half an hour of retiring, and this was increased by one actuation every two days to a maximum of six doses according to individual response over a period of two weeks. Stable dosing was then maintained for a further three weeks."

The researchers found that in comparison with the placebo, patients who had taken the CBM had statistically significant improvements in pain on movement, pain at rest, quality of sleep, inflammation (measured by a Disease Activity Score involving 28 joints - DAS 28) and intensity of pain (measured by the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire SF-MPQ).

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http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4560#research

Cannabis has a demonstrated ability to improve mobility and reduce morning stiffness and inflammation. Research has also shown that patients are able to reduce their usage of potentially harmful Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) when using cannabis as an adjunct therapy.

Medical researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem found that when Cannabidiol is metabolized, one result is the creation of an acid with potent anti-inflammatory action comparable to the drug indomethacin, but without the considerable gastrointestinal side effects associated with that drug.

In addition, when the body metabolizes tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of cannabis’ primary components, it produces a number of related chemicals. At least one of these metabolites has anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects. By modifying this metabolite, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center have produced a synthetic carboxylic acid known as CT-3 (also called DMH-11C, chemical name dimethylheptyl-THC-11 oic acid), which is more powerful than the natural metabolite itself, and thus can be given in smaller doses. Animal tests found CT-3 effective against both chronic and acute inflammation, and it also prevented destruction of joint tissue from chronic inflammation. The long safety record of marijuana – no one has ever died of an overdose – and the fact that a metabolite with the desired anti-inflammatory effect is produced in the body when marijuana is used, strongly suggest that safe and effective anti-inflammatory drugs may be developed from cannabinoids.

In addition, CT3 has demonstrated analgesic effects in animals. In some cases the dose-dependent effect of THC was equivalent to morphine, but with a much greater duration of action.

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And while I'm at it with the "fuck yous" - same to ANY politician that tries to continue to enforce prohibition on the American public so that big pharma can piss on patients.