GoldNApel 10-17-13 Answers to Facebook Questions. Tom asked about CBD suppressing metastasis (invasive spreading) in cancer and if Dhrmanol™ works the same way. Hi Tom, Thanks for the question. Although Dr. Apel has a far greater understanding of the inner workings of the molecules than I, I think I can answer your questions here. Dr. McAllister and his crew have done spectacular work with CBD, and vast amounts of research shows that the inhibition of the spreading of cancer is one of the chief attributes of the molecule. Dr. McAllister and his group have been working with CBD almost exclusively, as have many other researchers in the field who have decided that the chances to actually be allowed to do research on cannabis were greatly increased if they concentrated on the non-psychoactives. Demonstrating a significant inhibition of the metastasizing of breast cancer to the lungs was one of the positive results of the very first scientific studies on cannabis in the modern era. In 1975, the NIDA funded Munson and his crew at the Univ. of Virginia Medical Center to try to prove that marijuana caused cancer. They proved just the opposite, in lab animals and in glass, and the phenomenal results of their study did not usher in a new era of cancer research, as we would expect; the results were buried, their funding withdrawn, and no future studies were allowed for twenty years. Some claim that the government actually contacted universities who had done a few studies and asked that the research be destroyed. It took the small group led by Manuel Guzman at the University of Madrid to revive the experiments, and restart the modern scientific research, and, shortly thereafter, their efforts were joined by many other researchers around the world and the first experiments showing the efficacy of cannabinoid medicine were confirmed again and again … recently Harvard validated the tumor-fighting properties of cannabis medicine. All of the politics have forced many researchers to focus on the non-psychoactives, that is why we have so much research on CBD. Also, medical research traditionally utilizes isolated and purified single-molecule medicines for study, as opposed to a blend of similar compounds such as the entire array of cannabinoids and related compounds found in marijuana and hemp. Because of these two factors, many people attribute specific actions of cannabinoid medicine to specific molecules. THC does that, CBD does this, CBN does something altogether different, etc. While there is certainly a lot of truth in the specific actions of the different cannabinoids against various medical conditions, the ultimate benefit in treating the great majority of conditions that cannabis works well against comes from what we refer to as “whole-plant” medicine. There are a number of different figures quoted for the number of chemical compounds that may have medicinal benefit in the cannabis plant. I like the number 421 … I figure they counted one of them twice. All the anecdotal evidence, as well as some of the scientific research, shows that cannabis medicine works better as a whole-plant preparation, providing the widest array of cannabinoids, terpenes, etc. that the plant has to offer in the medicine. The exception to this is when psychoactive THC causes unwanted side effects that limit the amount of medicine that a patient can consume. In this case, it is helpful to eliminate the THC, as is the case with medicines focused on the delivery of pure CBD, or consume the THC in it’s carboxylate (non-psychoactive) form, as happens when one juices fresh cannabis plants, or uses Dharmanol™. Berkeley Bio did not pioneer the use of the carboxylates in cannabis medicine. That honor belongs to Dr. William Courtney of Willits, CA. Another true hero of the movement, Dr. Courtney has been treating patients with fresh cannabis juice for years, and his wonderful results can be seen on a number of videos on YouTube. The biggest drawback to Dr. Courtney’s work is that a patient must maintain forty to eighty living cannabis plants to get enough juice for the daily treatment. That isn’t that hard to do in Willits, California – the heart of the Emerald Triangle – but it can be impossible for someone who is not deeply immersed in the culture, or lives in another part of the country. Dr. Apel’s new technology has allowed us to medicinalize the carboxylates, so they can be taken in tablet form … far more convenient than maintaining forty to eighty live cannabis plants. We have been able to extract and stabilize certain components of hemp/cannabis yielding an oil with about 60% mixed cannabinoids and less than .2 (point 2) percent THC. When this concentrate is tableted with 5 mg. of mixed cannabinoids, the amount of THC will be well below that in many of the health food products found on US shelves today. Along with the 5 mg. of mixed cannabinoid carboxylates, each Dharmanol™ tablet also contains 5 mg. CBD, for a total of 10 mg. of mixed phyto-cannabinoids. Also included is a steam-extracted mixture of a wide array of terpenes and terpenoids, taken from a number of different strains of cannabis. The medicinal activity of the cannabinoids is enhanced by the naturally-occuring terpenes and terpenoids in the plant. These are the molecules that are responsible for the taste and smell, and they vary greatly from plant to plant. There is the wonderful sweet smell of the strains called “pineapple”, the aroma of blueberry cannabis can be indistinguishable from that of the actual berry, and at the whole opposite end of the spectrum is the aptly named “Skunk #1”, winner of the very first High Times Cannabis Cup, and the marijuana which, in my opinion, provides the happiest high of all. Certain terpenes and terpenoids found in the cannabis plant, as well as many other plants, have been tested for their medicinal efficacy. And … guess what? The medicinal efficacy of the ones found in cannabis is very, very promising. (Pardon my personal opinion here and let me again note that I will never claim cure until we have double-blind placebo-controlled proof, but I gotta ask myself: “Is there ANY part of this plant that doesn’t fight disease in every possible way it can?”. I can’t find one.) The overall purpose of the Dharmanol™ technology, and the low-dose tablets in particular, is to combine many of the healing factors of the kind herb together into one medicine – a medicine which allows the patient to benefit from phyto-cannabinoid therapy stimulation of the internal cannabinoid receptors on a regular basis, with no THC psychoactivity. At the opposite end of the spectrum is high dose cannabis therapy with Dharmanol™. The removal of the psychoactivity from larger doses allows consumption of doses far in excess of those recommended by Mr. Simpson. We have been working on appropriate delivery systems for whole-plant extracts and today announced Mary Ann’s Canna-Loz™ product , which makes the recommended gram each day regimen far more palatable. Shortly the Canna-Loz™ will be available in most of the dispensaries that carry YAK edibles, and the lozenges will supplement the Organakoil that the Care and Hospice Program has been supplying to patients in need for several years. Mary Ann has always been the heart of the Care and Hospice Program, (even back when it was Dharma Patient’s Cooperative, Inc.) making sure that new patients were able to legally begin treatment as soon as they applied for help. She was also responsible for the interface between the patients, their caregivers, the doctors, etc. She has taken it as her personal mission to see that all the patients in the program are taken care of in the best possible manner, as soon as possible. The absolute yuckiness (excuse the medical term and no puns, please) of taking cannabis rubbed on the gums is overwhelming, especially to a patient who is frail and has trouble keeping down food and fighting nausea. The relief of being able to slowly let a lozenge dissolve in the mouth is a great improvement. And while Mary Ann had been working on this for a few months, it was recent events that caused us to bring it out now. Recently a friend of Liani’s had her 22 month-old son diagnosed with a brain tumor. There were numerous MRI’s, numerous doctors were consulted, and chemo was insisted upon by all, even though the doctors said the treatment would ruin the child’s quality of life, and would probably make little difference in treating the cancer. Mom refused, went and got her own caregiver card, found the right private doctor to OK things, and started treating the child with Organakoil, and other cannabis products. The child responded well, but hated the oil. Mary Ann made a special batch of lozenges and the child was able to chew on a thin slice, which he liked. I will try to get Mary Ann and Liani to write a bit on this; it is a fascinating story. But suffice it to say here that, the cancer is gone … and the kid is doing great. Another Question: Brad asked if Dharmanol contained THC. Here is how I replied: Hi Brad, To answer your question, Dharmanol does contain some active THC. It also contains a full spectrum of all the other cannabinoids contained in the source material. The big difference here is that the great bulk of the THC has been preserved (extracted and stabilized) in its non-psychoactive form as THCA. It will not get one high. While the total cannabinoids in each tablet is 10 mg., the amount of psychoactive THC in Dharmanol is less than that found in many hemp products that can be purchased at the health food or nutrition store. The laws and regulations on THC in hemp-based health products are as convoluted as other parts of cannabis law. Right after the turn of the century, the DEA made a high-handed proclamation that no hemp products could exist in the US if they had any amounts of THC. Thankfully, they were sued by a hemp advocacy group, led by David Bronner, son of Dr. Bronner of soap and health food fame, and the hemp forces won in around 2006. The court basically told the DEA to keep their hands off hemp-based products that were not meant to get someone high. And this is the situation we work under today ... and why we have hemp-based beer, salad dressing made from hemp oil, and a myriad of similar products. Thanks for the questions, Please keep them coming. Sorry if I take a few days sometimes, or if I might miss some. Real busy these days. Dave
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 00:03:53 +0000
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