by Lisa Garber
September 8, 2012
from
NaturalSociety Website
Spanish version
In this research, Manuel Guzman located in Madrid, Spain
discovered that cannabinoids substantially inhibit the growth of
tumors in a variety of lab animals.
In the study he also found
that not one of these tested animals endured any kind of side
effects seen in many similar chemotherapy treatments.
If all of the research doesn’t appeal to you, then maybe the
2,500 total studied patients throughout these
37 controlled studies may.
None of the patients reported any
kind of adverse side effects from the use of THC and based
medication - further adding to the benefits of medical marijuana
and strengthening the positive connection between marijuana and
cancer.
So, does marijuana cause cancer, or does it fight cancer?
Does marijuana cause cancer?
The censorship-happy government’s war on
marijuana may be sorely misplaced, especially when considering all
the other issues in need of focus.
Dr. Sean McAllister of the
Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has spent years researching
cannabidiol, a cannabinoid found in cannabis, the plant that flowers
marijuana.
“Cannabidiol offers hope of a
non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer
without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy,” he
says.
You might remember Cash Hyde, the
3-year-old boy from Montana diagnosed with brain cancer but who beat
it with his father Mike’s help and
marijuana oil.
Well, Hyde’s case isn’t the only one
revealing the positive relationship between
marijuana and cancer.
Does Marijuana
Cause Cancer? THC as Therapy
In 1998, Cristina Sanchez of Complutense University in Madrid
reported in a
European biochemistry journal that THC - the famed psychoactive
component in marijuana - “induces apoptosis [cell death] in C6 glioma
cells,” which are a type of brain cancer.
Lead author of another study and Harvard University researcher Anju
Preet says,
“THC can have a potential therapeutic role.”
His
findings, presented in a 2007 American Association for Cancer
Research in Los Angeles, showed that THC has a direct antitumoral
effect.
THC’s
First Human Trial
The
first clinical trial studying THC’s antitumoral effect on
humans was conducted by Manuel Guzman and his team of Spanish
scientists.
Guzman administered THC to nine patients who had not
responded to traditional brain cancer therapies for the study.
As published in a 2006 issue of the British Journal of
Pharmacology, tumor cell proliferation reduced in response to
THC administration through a catheter - showing the
medical benefits of marijuana.
THC and
the Lungs
Another Harvard study reports that THC slows lung cancer
progress.
Moreover, unlike chemotherapy which damages all
cells - healthy or cancerous - THC specifically destroyed tumoral
cells without harming healthy ones.
In
another study published in the Journal of American Medical
Association, spanning from 1985 to 2006, over 5,000 men and
women smoked about one joint daily for seven years.
Co-author
Stefan Kertesz found that subjects, rather than having damaged
lungs, showed increases in lung air flow rates. Surprising
findings indeed.
Cannabidiol and Breast Cancer
With backing from the National Institute of Health, Dr. Sean
McAllister conducted a study and found that cannabidiol
inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, and
tumor growth.
McAllister
researched cancer’s relationship to the ID-1 gene - a protein
active during embryonic development but, in healthy subjects,
turns and stays off. In the case of breast cancer patients, the
gene turns back on, which causes malignant cells to metastasize.
In the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, McAllister wrote
that cannabidiol switches off the gene’s expression.
McAllister found that cannabidiol can even work alongside
standard chemotherapy treatments by performing synergistically
with pharmaceuticals. This means that maximum, toxic doses don’t
have to be administered.
Despite
accusations that marijuana smoking can compromise the immune
system, mountains of research indicate that the plant has more
to offer than a high. More studies are undoubtedly in the works.
Additional Sources
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