Mad Cow Disease! An opportunity for legalizing cannabis

Storm Crow;1504647 said:

Are you willing to be an activist? Do a little (easy) work to help get cannabis legal? This news article, or ones like it, will be soon be showing up in your local online paper.

Mad cow case confirmed in California | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Horrible as that headline is, this could be a golden opportunity for cannabis activists! I have translated an abstract of a study that shows that the #2 chemical in cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), slows diseases like Mad Cow Disease!

Please comment in your local news. Tell the people what cannabis can do, besides get you high!
Once the medical facts are known, the need for legalization becomes obvious!

Nonpsychoactive Cannabidiol Prevents Prion Accumulation and Protects Neurons against Prion Toxicity
(full - 2007) Nonpsychoactive Cannabidiol Prevents Prion Accumulation and Protects Neurons against Prion Toxicity

Prion diseases are transmissible neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the accumulation in the CNS of the protease-resistant prion protein (PrPres), a structurally misfolded isoform of its physiological counterpart PrPsen.

Prion diseases are catchable, nerve and brain-destroying illnesses that are caused by a twisted, mutated form of a naturally found protein.

Both neuropathogenesis and prion infectivity are related to PrPres formation.

Both the destruction of neurons and actually getting a prion disease, like Mad Cow Disease (MCD) are caused by the multiplying of prions.

Here, we report that the nonpsychoactive cannabis constituent cannabidiol (CBD) inhibited PrPres accumulation in both mouse and sheep scrapie-infected cells, whereas other structurally related cannabinoid analogs were either weak inhibitors or noninhibitory.

Here we report that cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical that CAN’T get you high even though it is found in marijuana, slowed down the accumulation of prions in cells infected with the mouse and sheep versions of Mad Cow Disease, but the other cannabinoids just didn’t work, or barely worked.

Moreover, after intraperitoneal infection with murine scrapie, peripheral injection of CBD limited cerebral accumulation of PrPres and significantly increased the survival time of infected mice.

Also, when we infected mice with mouse MCD, we gave them some injections of CBD and this cut down on the number of prions in their brains and significantly increased their lifespans!

Mechanistically, CBD did not appear to inhibit PrPres accumulation via direct interactions with PrP, destabilization of PrPres aggregates, or alteration of the expression level or subcellular localization of PrPsen.

CBD didn’t stop the accumulation of prions in any of the ways that we expected it to work!

However, CBD did inhibit the neurotoxic effects of PrPres and affected PrPres-induced microglial cell migration in a concentration-dependent manner.

But somehow, CBD is stopping the brain cells from dying due to the poisonous effects of the prions and affects the migration of “clean-up crew” microglial cells to the affected areas – heavier doses worked better!

Our results suggest that CBD may protect neurons against the multiple molecular and cellular factors involved in the different steps of the neurodegenerative process, which takes place during prion infection.

Our results show that CBD protects the nerve and brain cells against various factors that cause the death of brain cells and nerves that occurs when Mad Cow Disease strikes!

When combined with its ability to target the brain and its lack of toxic side effects, CBD may represent a promising new anti-prion drug.

When combined with its ability to get into the brain (when many drugs can’t), and its lack of toxic side effects (translation- it won’t get you high or kill you), CBD may be our best bet for a safe, anti- prion medicine!

More articles about CBD vs Mad Cow Disease-

Recent News: Marijuana (Cannabis) May Prevent Mad Cow Disease
(news - 2007) Mad Cow Disease Facts, News, and Humor - EvilMamaCow Homepage

Cannabidiol May be Effective in Preventing Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) (news - 2007) AAMC: Cannabidiol may be effective in preventing bovine spongiforme enzephalopathy (mad cow disease)

Pot Compound Protective Against ‘Mad Cow’ Disease, Other Fatal Brain Disorders, Study Says (news - 2007) Pot Compound Protective Against

Pot smoking could stop Mad Cow Disease? (news - 2008)
Pot smoking could stop Mad Cow Disease? | ChattahBox News Blog

There is no cure for Mad Cow Disease. It is 100% fatal. You get it by eating infected meat, but the symptoms don’t show up for YEARS! CNN is showing video of a young woman dying of MCD- it is not pretty to watch.

If injections of CBD slow the prions in a dose related manner, does this mean that HUGE doses of CBD could STOP the prions completely? (You can't say "kill" since they are not really "alive") Could people infected with MCD live normal lives with CBD therapy and not deteriorate into mindless, dying, cripples?

Nobody knows, because research with natural cannabis is all but forbidden. I for one, do not wish to have our researchers wait until we have a MCD epidemic on our hands (like we did with AIDS). Let's get cannabis legal by educating everyone about what it does!


Granny

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