This past year was huge for medical breakthroughs in the field of cannabis research. Some of the studies can impact how we use marijuana to treat diseases, help with pain management and even help the elderly remember their families. Read on to see the biggest breakthroughs of 2015!
Is Cannabis the Future of Preventing Insulin Resistance?
Doctors have found that patients of theirs co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C (HCV) were less likely to develop diabetes and insulin resistance if they smoked pot.
Cannabis Reduces Opioid Consumption
Researchers interviewed hundreds of opiate users from San Francisco and Los Angeles and asked them how frequently they consumed cannabis and found cannabis use was associated with significantly lower opioid use.
Read about the top eleven medical cannabis updates of 2015. Research has progressed greatly on cannabis' potential applications for diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, epilepsy and general insight into the endocannabinoid system.
How Accurate Are Edible Potency Labels?
An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association had some damning conclusions about edible potency labels, but do they have the last word? High Times compared the results with lab tests from past cannabis cups, see how they compare.
Scientists Figured Out How To Block Pot’s Effect On Memory
Researchers in Barcelona uncovered more details about the neurochemical pathway that leads to marijuana’s psychoactive effects, specifically its effects on memory. Not only did they make a breakthrough in the neurochemistry of cannabis, they also designed a compound that was able to block THC’s effects on memory in mice.
CBD Improves Serious Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms
For the first time ever, scientists in Australia looked at what long-term oral CBD administration does, and found that it improves social recognition in mice with Alzheimer’s, One of the most dramatic and disturbing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
The latest research on THC shows that even extremely low doses of THC can help mouse livers, and potentially human livers, overcome ischemia-reperfusion injury, a common cause of liver transplant failure.
Science Shows Cannabis Doesn’t Shrink Brain
Two recently published studies might have put the last couple of nails in the coffin on the idea that smoking cannabis shrinks the brain.
Scientists Discover Exactly How Pot Effects Memory
The latest research on the effect of cannabis on memory has shows that it affects spatial memory but not associative memory. Smoking marijuana might not affect your memory of what you and your friends talked about while walking around town, but you might not remember exactly what route you took.
Research Says Cannabis Affects Intestinal Flora And May Prevent Obesity
Canadian researchers have recently published a study that shows the potential cannabis has for preventing and treating obesity. Mice fed a high-fat diet with daily THC administration gained significantly less weight than those without THC. Cannabis may have some protective effect against high levels of intestinal microbes associated with obesity.
Scientists Debunk Hair Testing For Pot
In a monumental scientific finding published on October 7, researchers from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Freiburg, Germany have concluded that finding cannabinoids in hair does not prove cannabis consumption. In a surprising discovery they found that THC and its metabolites do not pass from the bloodstream into hair follicles and hair in any relevant amount; any cannabinoids detected in people’s hair comes from external sources.
The Runner’s High Stems From Endocannabinoids
Research on mice has confirmed that a “runner’s high” arises from a release of anandamide, a neurotransmitter that stimulates the same cannabinoid receptors that cannabis does. If you have ever run, biked, lifted weights, or performed any kind of physical exercise, you may have noticed a sense of euphoria and the feeling you are relieved of physical pain and anxiety. They thought it came from β-endorphin, but now scientists have confirmed that anandamide is most likely the cause.
