Parkinson's

[DownOver]

Hi everyone,

Have a grandmother who is very shaky with Parkinson's.

She is on about 40 tablets of all colours and shapes, per day, and I was wondering if anyone had heard or knew of patients who are using MMJ to relieve their shaking? I have heard it is helpful for sufferers of other shaking type ailments but nothing on parkinson's.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

David

 

[patience777]

I have parkinsons,i experience pain, shaking and become spastic, and that pain is horrible especially when both legs go in to twisitng spasms. MM will help relax the muscles, and help with the pain,& shaking. I also suffer with degenerative arthritis, RSD ( reflex sympathetic dystrophy) more pain, numerous herniated disc's, cervical fusion, hip problems, knee problems, tear in the achilles, bi-lateral carpal tunnel, colitis.diabetes. If i continue to take narcotics for the pain i have ,it will destroy my liver, maraijuana will not.
Your mother, myself and countless others should be permitted to use medical maraijuana to help improve our quality of life. Living with pain 24/7 is not living its suffering

 

[ol hippy]

I recently saw a video of a test that was done in England where a parkinsons patient was put on a stationary bike and rode it for a half hour and when done his shaking had slowed way down and stayed that way for a good bit. Continued tests showed the more they rode the better and longer the periods of shaking were lessened ! I can't remember where that I saw this but it was very interesting !. Can't hurt to try ?!

 

[MedicalNeed]

The US Health Dept. has a patent on Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. Patent #6630507.
Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants - US Patent 6630507 Abstract


Press Ctrl+F on your keyborad then type in the word you wish to look for ie Parkinsons's, then click Highlight all. This will enable your research to be a lot faster. Good Luck I hope this will help you.

C&P from here.
Toronto Hemp Company (THC) - Information

From 1840 to 1900, more than 100 articles were published in European and American medical journals on the therapeutic use of the drug then known as Cannabis indica (or Indian hemp). It was recommended as an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, analgesic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant. In 1913, Sir William Osler reported it as the most satisfactory remedy for migraine. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of a seemingly infinite range of human conditions and has recently been proven to be the safest and most effective option for people with a variety of illnesses.

As of 1997, over 90 published reports and studies had shown marijuana has medical efficacy. There have been many more since then.
Source: Common Sense for Drug Policy, Compendium of Reports, Research and Articles Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Medical Marijuana, Vol. I & Vol. II, Falls Church, VA: Common Sense for Drug Policy (1997, March).

On September 6, 1988, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young, ruled: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. ...[T]he provisions of the [Controlled Substances] Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22] (1988, September 6), p. 57.

Judge Young concluded: "In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22], (1988, September 6), p. 57.

Medical conditions helped by marijuana
Pain - Acute pain, chronic pain, migraine headaches, chemotherapy pain, spinal cord injury pain, peripheral neuropathic pain, central poststroke pain, pain caused by AIDS and AIDS related syndromes, menstrual cramps, labour pains
"Severe chronic pain is usually treated with opioid narcotics and various synthetic analgesics, but these drugs have many limitations. Opioids are addictive and tolerance develops... analgesics... are not addictive, but they are often insufficiently powerful... [and] have serious toxic side effects... may be responsible for... more than 7600 deaths [in the USA] annually... cannabis, while it is not as powerful a pain reliever as the opioids, has fewer serious side effects and creates no risk of dependence." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine

Pain triggers the release of the brain's natural version of marijuana, researchers said on Monday... The secretion of anandamide eas[es] pain, they reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - Oct 11, 2000 Reuters
Nausea and vomiting (emesis) due, for instance, to acute viral illness, cancer, radiation exposure, cancer chemotherapy, postoperative recovery, pregnancy, motion and poisoning.
"In the spring of 1990 two investigators randomly selected more than two thousand members of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (one-third of the total membership) and mailed them an anonymous questionnaire to learn their views on the use of cannabis in cancer chemotherapy. Almost half of the recipients responded... Only 43 percent said the available legal antiemetic drugs (including synthetic oral THC) provided adequate relief to all or most of their patients, and less than 46 percent said the side effects of these drugs were a serious problem for only a few. Forty-four percent had recommended the illegal use of marihuana to at least one patient, and half would prescribe it to some patients if it were legal. On the average they considered smoked marihuana more effective than oral synthetic THC and roughly as safe. Since this survey was conducted, many more oncologists presumably have learned about the value of cannabis." - Lester Grinspoon M.D. and James B. Bakalaar, Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, January 30, 1997, "The advanced stages of many illnesses and their treatments are often accompanied by intractable nausea, vomiting, or pain. Thousands of these patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana."

Wasting caused by HIV/AIDS, cancer, anorexia nervosa and Alzheimer's disease.
"Cannabis has become increasingly popular as a treatment not only for nausea, vomiting, and weight loss but for other AIDS symptoms [and side effects of AIDS drugs]... The time has clearly come to integrate cannabis into AIDS treatment." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine

Neurological Disorders causing muscle spasticity and other abnormal skeletal muscle movements (Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal cord injury, movement disorders such as dystonia, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Tourette's syndrome)
A British study found that Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive cannabinoid of marijuana, helped patients with Huntington's Disease, epilepsy, Tourette's Syndrome, and was found to be more effective than aspirin as an anti-inflammatory agent.

"Although the anticonvulsant properties of cannabis have been known since ancient times and were explored in the nineteenth century, this therapeutic use of the drug has been largely ignored in the past hundred years... more and more epilepsy sufferers are discovering the usefulness of cannabis... some people are helped by cannabis and nothing else... The use of marihuana in multiple sclerosis is illustrated in this account by Greg Paufler... while I was bedridden, some friends came to visit and we smoked a few marihuana cigarettes. Afterward I felt better, but attributed that effect to the mild 'high.' My spasms also became less severe, but I gave the daily injections of ACTH credit for that... months later... unable to walk, read, or be with my family, I began smoking marihuana to relieve the boredom, four to six joints a day. One evening some old friends came to visit and we smoked several joints. When they rose to leave I stood up to say gooddbye. Everyone in the room suddenly stopped talking and stared at me... I soon discovered that when I did not smoke marihuana my spasms were more frequent and intense. When I smoked it, my condition stabilized, then dramatically improved. I could walk unaided, and my vision was less blurred. But my doctor and my wife remained skeptical... I decided to stop smoking marihuana for six months. When I could no longer sit up, much less walk, I resumed smoking marihuana daily. Within a ew weeks I was able to walk again unaided... I felt reborn... To show myself it was not really the marihuana helping, I decided to stop smoking yet again. At first gradually and then more rapidly, the muscle spasms returned... Eventually I was bedridden again. After four months I decided to start smoking again. My condition immediately stabilized, then began to improve. I was happy but very confused. This pattern continued... For reasons I cannot explain, I found it hard to believe that marihuana was really the cause of these dramatic changes in my health... In 1980 my brother showed me a newspaper article about an MS patient in Washington... I was astonished to learn that I was not the only MS patient getting relief from marihuana. It was even more astonishing that doctors, researchers, and other MS patients had supported Mr. Diana's claim and the court had ruled in his favour... there are hints in this case and others that cannabis not only relieves the symptoms of multiple sclerosis - muslce spasms, tremor, loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) and bladder control, insomnia - but also retards the progression of the disease... [in another case] motor functions and sexual functions improved immediately" - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine

"Marijuana or the use of other cannabinoids as human therapies might be considered for treating spasticity and nocturnal spasms complicating MS and spinal cord injury, for various active epilepsy states, for some forms of dystonia, and perhaps most interestingly, for treating neuropathic pain (Zeltser et al. 1991)...Neuropathic pain complicates many CNS diseases. Few available therapies provide even partial relief... Movement disorders are often transiently exacerbated by stress and activity and improved by factors that reduce stress. This is of particular interest because for many people marijuana reduces anxiety" - Marijuana and Medicine

Glaucoma, the second-leading cause of blindness in the world
Marijuana has been shown to substantially reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) when administered orally, intravenously, or by inhalation. Marijuana has prevented glaucoma sufferers from losing their eyesight.

Muscular dystrophy

Rheumatic diseases such as osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

Paraplegia or quadriplegia
"Many paraplegics and quadriplegics have now discovered that cannabis not only relieves their pain more safely than opioids but also effectively suppresses their muscle jerks and tremors." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine

Hepatitis C

Fibromyalgia

depression and other mood disorders.
"At present we do not know how many patients with bipolar disorder would benefit from cannabis. The promising anecdotal evidence points to the need for more systematic clinical investigation... We are left with the tantalizing possibility that cannabis (or one or more of its constituent cannabinoids) is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder" - Lester Grinspoon M.D. & James B. Bakalar, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Volume 30(2) April-June 1998 p 171-177

Head Injury
Raphael Mechoulam, PhD, of Hebrew University, a natural products chemist and pioneer in the research of medical marijuana, says human studies have shown marijuana prevents brain damage from head injuries and holds promise for treating stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome and possibly even Parkinson's disease.

Pruritus,

PMS,

Asthma,

Insomnia,

Dystonias,

Adult ADD,

Schizophrenia,

Systemic sclerosis,

Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis,

High blood pressure / hypertension

diabetic gastroparesis,

pseudotumor cerebri,

tinnitus,

violence,

PTSD,

Phantom limb pain,

Alcoholism and other addictions,

Terminal illness


International Classification of Diseases 9 - CM 1996
Chronic Conditions Treated With Cannabis
Encountered Between 1990-2001
Copyright 2001 Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D.

Epilepsy
AIDS Related Illness 042
Post W.E. Enephalitis 062.1
Chemotherapy Convales V66.2
Shingles (Herpes Zoster) 053.9
Radiation Therapy E929.9
Viral B Hepatitis, chronic 070.52
Viral C Hepatitis, chronic 070.54
Lyme Disease 088.81
Reiters Syndrome 99.3
Post Polio Syndrome 138.0
Testicular Cancer 186.9
Adrenal Cortical Cancer 194.0
Brain malignant tumor 191.
Cancer, site unspecified 199
Lympho & reticular ca 200
Myeloid leukemia 205
Diabetic Gastroparesis 250.6
Porphyria 277.1
Amyloidosis 277.3
Autoimmune disease 279.4
Henoch-Schoelein Purpur*** 287.0
Schizophrenia(s) 295.x
Major Depression, Sgl Epis 296.2
Major Depression, Recurrent 296.3
Bipolar Disorder 296.6
Anxiety Disorder+ 300.00
Panic Disorder+ 300.01
Agoraphobia 300.22
Obsessive Compulsive Dis. 300.3
Dysthymic Disorder 300.4
Neurasthenia 300.5
Writers? Cramp**** 300.89
Impotence, Psychogenic 302.72
Alcoholism+ 303.0
Opiate Dependence+ 304.0
Sedative Dependence+ 304.1
******* Dependence+ 304.2
Amphetamine Dependence 304.4
Alcohol Abuse+ 305.0
Tobacco Dependence 305.1
Psychogenic Hyperhidrosis 306.3
Psychogenic Pylorospasm** 306.4
Psychogenic Dysuria 306.53
Bruxism 306.8
Stuttering* 307.0
Tic disorder unspec 307.20
Tourette's Syndrome 307.23
Persistent Insomnia 307.42
Nightmares 307.47
Bulimia 307.51
Tension Headache 307.81
Psychogenic Pain 307.89
Post Traumatic Stress Dis. 309.81
Org. Mental Dis.hd inj 310.1
Nonpsychotic Org Brain Dis. 310.8
Brain Trauma 310.9
Intermittent Explosive Dis 312.34
Trichotillomania 312.39
ADD w/o hyperactivity 314.00
ADD w hyperactivity 314.01
ADD other 314.8
Pschogenic PAT 316.0Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland :: Steps to the Cure
Parkinsons Disease 332.0
Huntingtons Disease+ 333.4
Restless legs syndrome 333.99
Friedreich?s Ataxia 334.0
Cerebellar Ataxia 334.4
Spinal mm atrophy II 335.11
Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis 335.2
Other spinal cord disease 336
Syringomyelia 336.0
Reflex Sympath Dystrophy 337.2
Multiple Sclerosis 340.0
Other CNS demyelinating 341.
Hemiparesis/plegia 342
Cerebral Palsy+ 343.9
Quadriplegia(s) 344.0x
Paraplegia(s) 344.1x
Paralysis, unspecified 344.9
Epilepsy(ies)+ 345.x
Grand Mal Seizures** 345.1
Limbic Rage Syndrome** 345.4
Jacksonian Epilepsy** 345.5
Migraine(s)+ 346.x
Migraine, Classical+ 346.0
Cluster Headaches 346.2Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland :: Steps to the Cure
Tic Doloroux+ 350.1
Bell?s palsy 351.0
Thoracic Outlet Synd 353.0
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 354.0
Mononeuritis lower limb 355
Charcot-Marie-Tooth 356.1
Neuropathy+ 357
Muscular dystrophies 359
Macular Degeneration** 362.5
Glaucoma 365.23
Dyslexic Amblyopia** 368.0
Color Blindness* 368.55
Conjuctivitis 372.9
Drusen of Optic Nerve 377.21
Optic neuritis 377.30
Strabismus & other binoc 378
Nystagmus, Congenital 379.5
Meniere's Disease 386.00
Tinnitus 388.30
Hypertension+ 401.1
Post Cardiotomy Syndrome 429.4
Raynaud?s Disease 443.0
Thromboangiitis Obliterans 443.1
Polyarteritis Nodosa 446.0
Asthma, unspecified 493.9
Cystic Fibrosis 518.89
Dentofacial anomaly pain 524.
T.M.J Sydrome 524.60
Gastritis+ 535.5
Peptic Ulcer/Dyspepsia 536.8
Colitis, Ulcerative 536.9
Pylorospasm Reflux 537.81
Regional Enteritis & Crohns 555.9
Colitis+ 558.9
Colon diverticulitis 562.1
Constipation 564.0
Irritable Bowel Synd. 564.1
Dumping Sydrome Post Sur 564.2
Pancreatitis 577.1
Nephritis/nephropathy 583.81
Ureter spasm calculus 592
Prostatitis 600.0
Epididymitis** 604.xx
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease 614
Endometriosis** 617.9
Premenstrual Syndrome+ 625.3
Pain, Vaginal 625.9
Menopausal syndrome 627.2
Eczema 692.9
Psoriatic Arthritis 696.0
Psoriasis 696.1
Pruritus, pruritic+ 698.9
Alopecia 704.0x
Lupus 710.0
Scleroderma 710.1
Dermatomyositis 710.3
Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syn. 710.5
Arthritis, Rheumatoid+ 714.0
Felty?s Syndrome 714.1
Arthritis, Degenerative 715.0
Arthritis, post traumatic+ 716.1
Arthropathy, Degenerative+ 716.9
Patellar chondromalacia 717.7
Ankylosis 718.5
Multiple joints pain 719.49
L-S disk dis sciatic N irrit 722.1
IVDD Cerv w Myelopathy 722.71
Cervical Disk Disease 722.91
Cervicobrachial Syndrome 723.3
Lumbosacral Back Disease 724.x
Spinal Stenosis 724.02
Lower Back Pain 724.5
Peripheral enthesopathies 726
Tenosynovitis 727.x
Dupuytens Contracture 728.6
Muscle Spasm 728.85
Fibromyagia/Fibrositis 729.1
Melorheostosis 733.99
Scoliosis 754.2
Spina Bifida Occulta 756.17
Osteogenesis imperfecta 756.51
Ehlers Danlos Syndrom 756.83
Nail patella syndrome 756.89
Peutz-Jehgers Syndrome** 756.9
Mastocytosis 757.33
Marfan syndrome 759.82
Sturge-Weber Eye Syn** 759.6
Insomnia+ 780.52
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 780.7
Tremor/Invol Movements 781.0
Myofacial Pain Syndrome** 782.0
Anorexia+ 783.0
Hiccough+ 786.8
Vomiting 787.01
Nausea+ 787.02
Diarrhea 787.91
Pain, Ureter 788.0
Cachexia 799.4
Whiplash 847.0
Back Sprain 847.9
Shoulder Injury Unspec 959.2
Knee, ankle & foot injury 959.7
Motion Sickness 994.6
Anaphylactic or Reaction 995.0
Trachoria Growths

+ Represents citations from pre-1937 medical literature
* From Eugene Schoenfeld, M.D.
** From Dale Gieringer, PhD CA NORML Hotline
*** From Robert Wilson, Hayward Hempery
**** Barry R. McCaffrey 12-30-96 (quote from John Stuart Mill 1867)
_______________________________________





Brazilian Scientists Show How Marijuana Can Help in Treating Parkinson

C&P
Release Date: May 19, 2010

Contact: Paul Francuch, (312) 996-3457, francuch@uic.edu

Chicago and Montreal researchers studying the lowly lamprey eel have identified an overlooked nervous system pathway running parallel to known brainstem locomotor command circuitry in vertebrates such as birds, fishes and mammals.

The finding is reported in Nature Neuroscience, online May 16, and highlighted in the magazine's "news and views" section.

Simon Alford, University of Illinois at Chicago professor of biological sciences and the article's corresponding author, said the role of a neurotransmitter associated with this parallel pathway may also suggest new research directions for treating Parkinson's disease.

Alford, along with his former graduate student and lead author Roy Smetana, now a University of Pittsburgh resident in psychiatry, worked with Université de Montréal and Université de Québec à Montréal neurobiologist Réjean Dubuc and his post-doctoral researcher Laurent Juvin in trying to sort out how the neurotransmitter analog muscarine modifies sensory information going to the brain.

Their work determined that muscarine stimulated neural activity, leading to locomotion in the laboratory lampreys.

The group focused its attention on a collection of brainstem neurons that tell the spinal cord to generate motor output that enables walking and other locomotion.

"We started looking at this group of neurons, which in the lamprey are conveniently very large, so they're easy to plant electrodes and record from," said Alford. "We discovered the muscarinic excitation was not working on these cells, but on a previously unknown group of cells within the brainstem."

What's more, these newly discovered brainstem neurons showed what Alford called a "very odd response" to the muscarine.

"Instead of just turning on -- like a synapse turns on a neuron and makes it fire -- when you put muscarine on these cells, they turn on and stay on"

for a minute or longer which he said for a neurological reaction can be a very long time.

The researchers discovered the actual brain neurotransmitter that activates muscarine receptors -- another chemical, acetylcholine -- sends a signal to these newly discovered brainstem neurons, switching them on for the lengthy minute or so durations.

Alford said the finding opens up new insights into animal locomotion.

"It's a system for turning on your locomotor system and making you walk or run in a very coordinated, straight-line fashion sustaining locomotion for a considerable time," he said. "This simply was not known to exist before we discovered it."

The role of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine may ultimately suggest new Parkinson's disease treatments. While a key Parkinson's symptom is tremor, an advanced stage symptom is the inability to start a movement, such as walking. Symptoms associated with Parkinson's can be helped by reducing acetylcholine-mediated neurotransmission in the brain, but little work has focused on brainstem muscarine receptors in this disease.

"This may be a backdoor finding into a secondary effect of Parkinson's disease that's not well studied because most research emphasis has been on dopamine and the basal ganglia, a different neurotransmitter and region of the brain," Alford said.

Major funding for the research came from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

For more information about UIC, visit


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Brazilian Scientists Show How Marijuana Can Help in Treating Parkinson

C&P from here.
Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland :: Steps to the Cure


Brazilian researchers from prestigious University of São Paulo (USP) have discovered that marijuana contains substances that can help ease the collateral effects of medicines prescribed to patients suffering from Parkinson disease.

Six patients with Parkinson were given during a whole month small doses of Cannabidiol (CBD) one of the 400 substances in marijuana, following which encouraging results were confirmed according to scientists from the Ribeirão Preto Medicine School from the SP University.

"Patients with Parkinson developed improvements in their sleeping alterations, in their psychotic symptoms and could even reduce their trembling," said psychiatrist Jose Alexander Crippa, Neuro-sciences Department professor.

The paper on the discovery was published last November and an additional paper with test results on the anxiolytic effects of Cannabidiol in patients with obsession and compulsion disorders will be released in 2010.

A group of voluntary patients with obsessive and compulsive conducts were medicated with the substance 70 minutes before facing situations that forced them into anxiety fits, and "improvements were evident."

Crippa underlined the significance of the research which scientifically establishes the positive effects of Cannabidiol but warned that "the non therapeutic use of marijuana was not recommended since it could only lead to worsen the psychotic symptoms and consequences of patients."

Parallel Brainstem Circuit Discovery Suggests New Path in Parkinson's Research