MrFixit
June 10th, 2007, 09:00 AM
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New frontier for medical cannabis -- topical pot
Anti-inflammatory traits helped heal skin of mice in study
Kavita Mishra, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 9, 2007
sfgate_get_fprefs(); Skin allergies may be the next reason to use marijuana -- a topical form, at least.
Scientists have long suspected that marijuana, used for recreational purposes and to help fight chronic pain, nausea and even some mental disorders like anxiety and depression, also had anti-inflammatory effects in the body.
Now they think they know why.
In a study published in the current issue of the journal Science, researchers show exactly how they think that works, elucidating how the body's own cannabinoids, compounds that are similar to the ones found in marijuana, reduce inflammation.
Mice had a harder time healing from wounds caused by ear tags used to identify them when researchers blocked their internal cannabinoids, said Dr. Meliha Karsak, lead author and scientist in molecular neurobiology at the University of Bonn in Germany. Cannabinoids are involved in many of the body's daily functions, scientists believe, but they're still trying to figure out how.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/09/BAG4AQCISK1.DTL
New frontier for medical cannabis -- topical pot
Anti-inflammatory traits helped heal skin of mice in study
Kavita Mishra, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 9, 2007
sfgate_get_fprefs(); Skin allergies may be the next reason to use marijuana -- a topical form, at least.
Scientists have long suspected that marijuana, used for recreational purposes and to help fight chronic pain, nausea and even some mental disorders like anxiety and depression, also had anti-inflammatory effects in the body.
Now they think they know why.
In a study published in the current issue of the journal Science, researchers show exactly how they think that works, elucidating how the body's own cannabinoids, compounds that are similar to the ones found in marijuana, reduce inflammation.
Mice had a harder time healing from wounds caused by ear tags used to identify them when researchers blocked their internal cannabinoids, said Dr. Meliha Karsak, lead author and scientist in molecular neurobiology at the University of Bonn in Germany. Cannabinoids are involved in many of the body's daily functions, scientists believe, but they're still trying to figure out how.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/09/BAG4AQCISK1.DTL