In a recent study done on lab rats the mixing of equal amounts of Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) (both compounds are found in marajuana) shrinks brain tumors. The reason why this works is because these compounds block cell communication barriers, making the cells not function properly, which triggers the body to kill the tumor cells. Glioma is a very aggressive cancer with a 5% survival. Those who do survive don't usually live past 3 years. Treatment of this cancer is very invasive and damaging, and doesn't always work. THC and CBD have been used to cure glioma in rats, which will change how scientists think about cancer and medical treatments in the future. The benefit of treating cancer with marajuana is that there are no harmful side effects. The impossible cure for cancer might be here....
Read more about this: http://www.medicaldaily.com/cannabis-shrinks-brain-tumors-associated-highly-aggressive-form-cancer-310720
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis could be groundbreaking! Do you know if the FDA has approved this for human trials yet?
ReplyDeleteI think it's really impressive that marijuana blocks cell communications, which then triggers the body to kill the tumor cells. This technique sounds very promising and I hope the FDA does approve it.
ReplyDeleteIf it blocks cell communication for cancer cells, wouldn't it also block cell communication for healthy cells? What would be the effects of that?
ReplyDeleteGood question! The answer is "yes" it does block the communication of healthy cells, which is what makes you high (THC binds to your cannabis receptors, distorting the signal to your cells). However, healthy cells are able to quickly recover from such a block with no damage, because they are healthy and do not rely on each other as much to survive. A cancer cell relies on chemicals released by other cancer cells in order to know when to divide.
DeleteWould this work with all types of cancer, or just this one? How much higher does the chance for survival become with this treatment?
ReplyDelete