Truth Seeker
New Member
Researchers at the Center for Sleep and Ventilatory Disorders at the University of Illinois in Chicago investigated the effects of THC and the endocannabinoid oleamide on sleep, respiratory pattern and sleep apnoea in rats. Professor David W. Carley and colleagues found that THC and oleamide each stabilized respiration during all sleep stages and decreased apnoea.
Authors conclude from their results that the study suggests an important role for endocannabinoids in maintaining autonomic stability during sleep, that it further demonstrates potent suppression of sleep apnoea by both THC and endocannabinoids, and that this observation may be relevant to the medicinal treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders.
Sleep apnoea (American English: apnea) is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. These breathing pauses are almost always accompanied by snoring between apnoea episodes, although not everyone who snores suffers from apnoea. The frequent interruptions of deep, restorative sleep often leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and may be associated with irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
The reduction of sleep apnoea by cannabinoids may be related to their interaction with the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin can increase sleep-related apnoea. Cannabinoids are known to inhibit the stimulating effects of serotonin on nodose ganglion cells. The nodose ganglion is a set of nerve cells outside the spinal cord, which transport information about blood pressure, carbon dioxide concentration, and other information on the state of the body via the spinal cord to the brain.
Source: International Association for Cannabis as Medicine
Authors conclude from their results that the study suggests an important role for endocannabinoids in maintaining autonomic stability during sleep, that it further demonstrates potent suppression of sleep apnoea by both THC and endocannabinoids, and that this observation may be relevant to the medicinal treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders.
Sleep apnoea (American English: apnea) is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. These breathing pauses are almost always accompanied by snoring between apnoea episodes, although not everyone who snores suffers from apnoea. The frequent interruptions of deep, restorative sleep often leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and may be associated with irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
The reduction of sleep apnoea by cannabinoids may be related to their interaction with the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin can increase sleep-related apnoea. Cannabinoids are known to inhibit the stimulating effects of serotonin on nodose ganglion cells. The nodose ganglion is a set of nerve cells outside the spinal cord, which transport information about blood pressure, carbon dioxide concentration, and other information on the state of the body via the spinal cord to the brain.
Source: International Association for Cannabis as Medicine
