A Review of Cannabis in Chronic Kidney Disease Symptom Management Claudia Ho, Dan Martinusen, and Clifford Lo2,4,5 Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease, 2019, Volume 6, 1–14 DOI: 10.1177/2054358119828391 journals.sagepub.com/home/cjk Abstract Purpose of Review : Physical and psychological symptom burden in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is significantly debilitating; yet, it is often inadequately treated. Legalization of cannabis in Canada may attract increasing interest from patients for its medical use in refractory symptom management, but its indications and long-term adverse health impacts are poorly established, creating a challenge for clinicians to support its use. In this review, we summarize key clinical studies and [...]
Lire la suiteA burning problem: cannabis lessons learned from Colorado Jamie E. Parnes, Adrian J. Bravo, Bradley T. Conner and Matthew R. Pearson ADDICTION RESEARCH & THEORY, 2018, VOL. 26, NO. 1, 3–10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2017.1315410 ABSTRACT With recent increases in cannabis’ popularity, including being legalized in several states, new issues have emerged related to use. Increases in the number of users, new products, and home growing all present distinct concerns. In the present review, we explored various cannabis-related concerns (i.e. use, acquiring, growing, and public health/policy) that have arisen in Colorado in order to provide information on emerging issues and future directions to mitigate negative outcomes that could [...]
Lire la suiteSpectral signatures of serotonergic psychedelics and glutamatergic dissociatives Carla Pallavicini, Martina G. Vilas, Mirta Villarreal, Federico Zamberlan, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, David Nutt, Robin Carhart-Harris, Enzo Tagliazucchi NeuroImage, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.06.053 Abstract Classic serotonergic psychedelics are remarkable for their capacity to induce reversible alterations in consciousness of the self and the surroundings, mediated by agonism at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. The subjective effects elicited by dissociative drugs acting as N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists (e.g. ketamine and phencyclidine) overlap in certain domains with those of serotonergic psychedelics, suggesting some potential similarities in the brain activity patterns induced by both classes of drugs, despite different pharmacological mechanisms of action. We investigated source-localized [...]
Lire la suiteCannabinoids: potential antitumoral agents ? Manuel Guzmán Cannabinoids, 2006, 1, 2, 15-17 © International Association for Cannabis as Medicine Mini-review Abstract Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa L., act in the body by mimicking endogenous substances - the endocannabinoids - that activate specific cell surface receptors. Cannabinoids exert palliative effects in cancer patients. For example, they inhibit chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, stimulate appetite and inhibit pain. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell signaling pathways, thereby inducing antitumoral actions such as the apoptotic death of tumor cells as well as the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. Of [...]
Lire la suiteHallucinatory altered states of consciousness Levente Móró Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 2010, 9, 2, 241-252. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-010-9162-2 DOI: 10.1007/s11097-010-9162-2 Abstract Altered states of consciousness (ASC), especially hallucinatory ones, are philosophically and scientifically interesting modes of operation of the mind–brain complex. However, classical definitions of ASC seem to capture only a few common characteristics of traditionally regarded phenomena, thus lacking exact classification criteria for assessing altered and baseline states. The current situation leads to a priority problem between phenomena-based definitions and definition-based selection. In order to solve the problem, this paper introduces a self-mapping procedure that is based on a three-part analysis on certain aspects of consciousness. [...]
Lire la suitePrevalence and epidemiological associates of novel psychedelic use in the United States adult population James D. Sexton, Michael S. Crawford, Noah W. Sweat, Allyson Varley , Emma E. Green and Peter S. Hendricks Journal of Psychopharmacology, 1-10 DOI : 10.1177/0269881119827796 journals.sagepub.com/home/jopract Abstract Background : Novel psychedelics approximate classic psychedelics, but unlike classic psychedelics, novel psychedelics have been used by humans for a shorter period of time, with fewer data available on these substances. Aims : The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of novel psychedelic use and the associations of novel psychedelic use with mental health outcomes. Methods : We estimated the prevalence of self-reported, [...]
Lire la suiteDisruptive Psychopharmacology Boris D. Heifets, MD, PhD1; Robert C. Malenka, MD, PhD2 JAMA Psychiatry. Published online June 26, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1145 The paucity of medications with novel mechanisms for the treatment of mental illnesses combined with the delayed response to currently available medications has led to great excitement about the potential therapeutic utility of previously demonized drugs, which offer the hope of generating rapid symptom reductions in some of the sickest patients. Within the past 2 years, the US Food and Drug Administration approved esketamine for treatment-resistant depression and 2 compounds that are still on the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s most restrictive schedule, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin, [...]
Lire la suite