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Tag: alternative medicine

  • Doctors Are Prescribing House Plants To Treat Depression, Anxiety

    Doctors Are Prescribing House Plants To Treat Depression, Anxiety

    A new mental health initiative is taking a nature-focused approach to treating depression and anxiety.

    Doctors in the United Kingdom are recommending prescription greens for people with depression, but not the type you might think.

    While some people with depression turn to marijuana and other cannabis products, doctors in the UK say that garden-variety house plants can help improve mood and mental health. In fact, one clinic, the Cornbrook Medical Practice, has begun giving out prescriptions for plants. 

    “The plants we [are] giving people are mainly herbs—things like lemon balm and catmint, which all have mindful qualities,” Augusta Ward, a medical secretary at the practice, told Metro UK.

    Gardening For Mental Health

    In addition to sending plants home with people, the practice has a program where patients can garden with others.

    “The plant is then a reason to come back to the surgery and get involved in all the other activities in our garden and make new friends,” Ward said. 

    The new initiative to integrate plants into medicine is being done in conjunction with Sow the City, a nonprofit that promotes the health benefits of plants and gardening on an individual and social level. 

    “There’s evidence that people who are socially isolated have worse health outcomes,” Jon Ross, the organization’s director, told Fast Company. “We provide a kind of community project within the [doctor’s office] so that people can get together and do the food growing and the gardening together with other patients.”

    Dr. Philippa James, who practices at Cornbrook, said that the idea of health benefits from plants isn’t new. 

    “There’s a lot of evidence now about how two hours a week in a green space can lift mood—and then that too has physical, mental and emotional benefits. That’s something we need to harness,” she said. She added that she has seen patients benefitting from the program already. 

    Green Spaces For Better Moods

    “I’ve seen how our patients relax in the garden—and how they then get involved in wider events like picking litter, which all adds to pride in our area,” she said. 

    Ross said that Sow the City aims to set people up for success in caring for their plants and keeping them alive. 

    He said, “We try and make it as easy as possible, and we set it up so that the plants are healthy to start with, and we train them on how to look after them.” 

    Dr. Ruth Bromley, chair of the Manchester Health & Care Commissioning, which oversees health initiatives in the city where Cornbrook is located, said that she is happy to see a practice taking an unconventional approach to care. 

    “So much of what keeps people happy and well isn’t medical,” she said. “That’s why ideas like this one are so wonderfully effective, building on what is best about our communities and supporting patients close to where they live.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Could Cannabis-Based Meds Help Treat Cannabis Dependency?

    Could Cannabis-Based Meds Help Treat Cannabis Dependency?

    Researchers believe cannabis-based medicine could have a similar effect in cannabis-dependent patients as nicotine replacement therapy.

    The results of a new study suggest that cannabis-based medication could prove useful in treating patients who are seeking help with dependency on cannabis.

    Researchers from the Universities of Sydney, Tasmania and New South Wales, as well as health districts throughout Australia, claimed in the study that nabiximols, a cannabis concentrate containing equal amounts of cannabidiol (CBD) and THC could have a similar effect in cannabis-dependent patients as nicotine replacement therapy, which provides nicotine to individuals seeking to quit tobacco use, but without any of its harmful chemical content. 

    According to the researchers’ findings, a course of nabiximols given to study participants over a period of 12 weeks resulted in “significantly fewer days of illicit cannabis use,” as well as fewer health-related side effects.

    Nabiximols, sold by GW Pharmaceuticals under the brand name Sativex, has been used primarily in Australia to treat symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis, including neuropathic pain and spasticity. It is currently approved for use in over 25 countries worldwide, but not the United States.

    Epidiolex

    However, one of GW’s cannabis-based medications, Epidiolex, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat two types of rare epileptic syndromes in 2018.

    The study, published on July 15 in JAMA Internal Medicine, detailed the randomized clinical trial used by the researchers to determine their findings, which utilized 128 participants (30 women and 98 men) at four outpatient alcohol and drug treatment services in New South Wales, Australia. 

    The participants, all between 18 and 64 years of age, were seeking treatment for cannabis dependency—defined in the DSM-V as a “problematic pattern of cannabis use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress”—who had been nonresponsive to prior treatment attempts and had no other substance use disorder or medical or psychiatric conditions.

    Over the course of 12 weeks, the patients either received a nabiximols spray up to 32 times per day each week, or a placebo spray. Both applications were combined with cognitive behavioral therapy and other therapeutic support.

    The Results

    According to the study’s findings, the patients that received the nabiximols spray reported fewer days of cannabis use than the placebo group, and suppression of withdrawal and cravings. Both groups showed “comparable” improvements in health status, and tolerated the medication with few negative side effects. 

    The researchers reported their findings as a successful attempt to demonstrate the viability of nabiximols as a treatment for cannabis dependency.

    “We’ve never had the evidence before that medication can be effective in treating [it],” said lead author Nick Lintzeris. “This is the first big study to show this is a safe and effective approach.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Doctors Remain Skeptical Of Marijuana For Pain Relief

    Doctors Remain Skeptical Of Marijuana For Pain Relief

    “We have given marijuana the status of medicine with none of the standards,” said one medical official.

    As more and more patients turn to cannabis for pain relief in hopes of avoiding opioids, many doctors remain skeptical about what they see as an unproven and unregulated substance taking the place of a proven medication. 

    “We have given marijuana the status of medicine with none of the standards,” Stanford University psychiatrist Keith Humphreys told Pew Trusts. 

    New York, Illinois and Colorado now allow physicians to recommend cannabis instead of opioids for pain relief, while other states allow people with opioid use disorder to access a medical marijuana card. 

    Proponents of these measures, including Colorado Rep. Edie Hooton, say that there are few risks to cannabis, while opioids can be deadly. 

    “We’re talking about an alternative to managing symptoms to a narcotic, or to a pharmaceutical with severe side effects,” Hooton said. 

    Opponents Speak Out

    However, medical professionals aren’t convinced. In Colorado, fewer than 2% of doctors have recommended cannabis to patients. Some doctors, like pain specialist Ken Finn, say the policy is foolish. 

    Finn said that the new bill is “the worst policy I’ve ever seen,” and that the interest in it “tells me what lengths people will go to to try to get some relief.”

    Ziva Cooper, research director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative, said that studies have shown that cannabis has promise as a pain reliever. However, most of those studies were done using specific compounds in tightly-regulated circumstances.

    In addition, most of the study participants were on other pain medications, too. The results may be less predictable with bud from dispensaries. 

    Cooper said, “We don’t know yet how effective cannabis and cannabinoids are for pain when they’re administered by themselves. We also don’t know how cannabis and cannabinoids stack up next to opioids for pain relief.”

    Cooper added that powerful personal stories can sway lawmakers and public opinion, but they do little to prove the effectiveness of cannabis scientifically. 

    “It’s more based on anecdotes—people reporting that they can wean themselves off opioids,” Cooper said. 

    Robert Valuck, executive director of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, said that the benefits of cannabis haven’t been proven to outweigh the risks.

    “The science is thin,” he said. “We’re seeing increases in what people call cannabis use disorder.”

    Many doctors, including Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Jennifer Hagman, cannabis has not yet been proven as good medicine.

    “There’s no condition right now where I feel there’s enough information for me to recommend marijuana to a family for a child or an adolescent,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can CBD Help With Meth, Cocaine Addiction?

    Can CBD Help With Meth, Cocaine Addiction?

    Researchers examined whether CBD has the potential to treat meth and cocaine addiction.

    CBD could help treat methamphetamine and cocaine addictions, for which there are currently no medication-assisted treatment options, according to a study released earlier this month. 

    The study, published in the journal Molecules, found that CBD helped reduce cocaine and methamphetamine use in rodents, and lowered their risk of relapse after a period of sobriety. The study authors say that the findings indicate that CBD should be explored as a treatment option for humans. 

    “While preliminary, there is some preclinical evidence showing that treatment with CBD might promote resilience to developing cocaine and meth use disorders and might prevent relapse into drug use after a period of abstinence,” the study authors wrote, according to Marijuana Moment.  

    Other Studies

    Studies have shown that mice that are given higher doses of CBD are less likely to continue seeking out cocaine or methamphetamine. After 14 days without meth or cocaine, mice that were given CBD over an extended time period were less likely to relapse. 

    “A limited number of preclinical studies indicate that CBD could have therapeutic properties on cocaine and meth addiction and some preliminary data suggest that CBD may be beneficial in cocaine-crack addiction in humans,” the study authors wrote. “CBD has shown promising results in reducing the inflammation and seizures induced by cocaine and in several preclinical models of addiction to amphetamine, cocaine and meth. Importantly, a brief treatment of CBD induces a long-lasting prevention of reinstatement of cocaine and meth-seeking behaviors.”

    While medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder has become the standard of care, there is currently no option for treating cocaine or meth addiction with medication. 

    “We’re realizing that we don’t have everything we might wish we had to address these different kinds of drugs,” psychiatrist Margaret Jarvis, a distinguished fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said earlier this year. 

    This isn’t the first time a study has indicated that CBD has potential for treating addiction. Last year a study also found that rats who received CBD were less likely to administer cocaine or alcohol, even when they were cued to take the substances. 

    Researcher Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, has studied the potential of CBD for treating addiction. 

    “When we started investigating CBD, we hypothesized that perhaps it could decrease drug-taking behavior, but instead we saw that it actually decreased craving,” she said last year. “It was very specific about what it decreased, and that was surprising. Other researchers have replicated what we found, so we are confident in our results.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Oakland Decriminalizes Shrooms & Other Natural Psychedelics

    Oakland Decriminalizes Shrooms & Other Natural Psychedelics

    Over 100 people testified about how they have been helped by natural psychedelics.

    The use of psilocybin, mescaline or other natural psychedelic “drugs” can no longer be policed in the city of Oakland, California.

    Last Tuesday (June 4), the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and other entheogenic plants including ayahuasca, cacti (mescaline) and iboga—i.e., “the full spectrum of plants, fungi, and natural materials… that can inspire personal and spiritual well-being, can benefit psychological and physical wellness, and can reestablish human’s inalienable and direct relationship to nature.”

    Police can no longer “impose criminal penalties… or use any city funds to investigate or enforce the criminal penalties,” CNN explained. And according to the resolution, even people who are currently being prosecuted for the natural psychedelics in question will no longer be punished.

    Denver was the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin in early May. Oakland’s resolution, meanwhile, covers a greater spectrum of natural psychedelics. However, synthetics such as LSD or MDMA are not included in the resolution.

    Councilman Noel Gallo, who introduced the measure after being approached by Decriminalize Nature Oakland, said that growing up in a Native American family, he was familiar with the use of natural medicine. “We didn’t go to Walgreens for medication,” he told CNN. “My grandma had plants in her backyard that would heal us.”

    During the night of the resolution’s passing, over 100 people testified about how they have been helped by natural psychedelics.

    Researcher Matthew Johnson of Johns Hopkins University says there is reason to be optimistic about the ability of psilocybin, in particular, to positively impact mental health issues such as PTSD, depression, addiction and more.

    “The data are really impressive,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We should be cautiously but enthusiastically pursuing these threads.”

    Native communities have a long history of consuming peyote for ritual and medicinal use. Councilman Gallo referred to this fact in his agenda report.

    Another benefit to decriminalization, Gallo said, is freeing police from having to enforce the prohibition of natural psychedelics so they may focus on larger crimes.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kratom-Related Deaths Analyzed By The CDC

    Kratom-Related Deaths Analyzed By The CDC

    The herbal supplement has been targeted as a “drug of concern” by the FDA and DEA.

    The number of deaths associated with kratom appears to be rising.

    A new report by the CDC analyzed data from 27 states on 27,338 overdose deaths between July 2016 and December 2017. A small number was attributed to kratom.

    “Kratom was determined to be a cause of death (i.e., kratom-involved) by a medical examiner or coroner for 91 of the 152 kratom-positive decedents, including seven for whom kratom was the only substance to test positive on postmortem toxicology, although the presence of additional substances cannot be ruled out,” the report read.

    The herbal supplement credited with helping recovery from substance use disorder has been targeted as a “drug of concern” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

    Some people in recovery say the plant, native to Southeast Asia, was vital to their recovery from drugs and alcohol, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more. But with every success story, there is a person struggling to quit kratom as well.

    A majority of the kratom-involved deaths involved people with a history of substance use disorder. A significant majority of the kratom-positive decedents were Caucasian.

    The data also showed that “multiple substances [were] detected for almost all decedents.” The most common were fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, then heroin, benzodiazepines and prescription opioids.

    The FDA has railed hard against kratom, stating last year that “compounds in kratom make it so it isn’t just a plant—it’s an opioid.”

    The February 2018 statement cited 44 deaths associated with kratom use. Prior to that, in a November 2017 advisory, the FDA reported 36 deaths related to kratom.

    The FDA said it is “especially concerned” about people who use kratom to treat opioid withdrawal, and though it states that it is open to reviewing evidence that kratom does have healing properties, it so far has not come across any “that would meet the agency’s standard for approval,” and warns against using kratom to treat medical conditions or as an alternative to prescription opioids.

    “While kratom may have useful effects, right now, it’s wholly unregulated,” Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, told ABC News.

    Only a few U.S. states have outright banned the plant. Some states are considering legislation to regulate the plant, rather than prohibiting it.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Olivia Newton-John Opens Up About Using Cannabis For Cancer Pain

    Olivia Newton-John Opens Up About Using Cannabis For Cancer Pain

    “I use a lot of cannabis in my healing. It helped me incredibly with pain and sleep. Opiates are killing people and cannabis doesn’t,” the prolific entertainer explained.

    Olivia Newton-John, the Australian star of Grease and Xanadu, is known for her bright and positive public persona, even in the face of fighting cancer. Newton-John has had to endure three bouts with it over the last 27 years, including her current fight with stage four breast cancer. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle that one of the key ingredients in fighting the disease is “a lot of cannabis.”

    As the singer explains, “I use a lot of cannabis in my healing. It helped me incredibly with pain and sleep. Opiates are killing people and cannabis doesn’t.”

    Newton-John’s husband, John Easterling, is in the wellness industry, and he grows cannabis in their home. Olivia told People, “He grows the plants and makes them into liquid for me. I take drops maybe four to five times a day.”

    Newton-John hadn’t indulged in cannabis much in her life, and at first she was “a little nervous” about taking it. But she then discovered that it was remarkably beneficial to managing her pain and contributing to her overall wellness. (Her daughter Chloe is also a cannabis farmer.)

    The singer-songwriter was pleasantly surprised to find that cannabis is “an amazing plant, a maligned plant, but it’s helping so many people.”

    Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, but she refused to let her diagnosis affect her mental health. “I had to make a decision that no matter what, I was going to be OK,” she explains. “My main decision was, ‘I’m going to get better, and I have a young child to raise.’” (Her autobiography is titled, appropriately enough, Don’t Stop Believin’.)

    In addition to cannabis, Newton-John also prays and meditates as part of her wellness routine. “The first time I had breast cancer in 1992, I had a transcendental meditation teacher come and give me a mantra,” she said. “And Deepak Chopra, who was a friend, gave me a mantra [too].”

    Newton-John also told The Telegraph that her dream is that the medical marijuana laws will change in her native Australia and that “it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • NIDA's Nora Volkow: There's No Evidence That Cannabis Can Treat Opioid Addiction

    NIDA's Nora Volkow: There's No Evidence That Cannabis Can Treat Opioid Addiction

    Volkow says that patients using cannabis for opioid use disorder treatment may be putting themselves at risk of relapse.

    National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow has stated that there is no evidence that cannabis use is an effective treatment for opioid use disorders.

    This statement comes as NIDA is planning to assess the possibility of such a treatment, with two or three studies either planned or already underway, according to USA Today. 

    Though Volkow says it’s not impossible that cannabis compounds could help treat addiction to opioids, she stresses that no evidence exists yet.

    Meanwhile, the Maryland General Assembly is currently considering allowing medical marijuana for this purpose, and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have already passed laws green-lighting cannabis as an acceptable treatment for this growing issue.

    Volkow’s concern is that if cannabis compounds are not effective for treating opioid addiction, then patients being treated in this way are at high risk of relapse, and by extension, overdose and death.

    “If you don’t treat it properly, your risk of dying is quite high,” Volkow said in an interview with USA Today. “My main concern is by basically misinforming potential patients about the supposedly beneficial effects of cannabis, they may forgo a treatment that is lifesaving.”

    Opioid addiction relapse is particularly dangerous due to the fact that opioid tolerance can be drastically reduced by extended periods of non-use. If an individual relapses by going back to the same dose they were using before they quit, there is a greater chance of overdose and death.

    However, there may be some preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of cannabis in treating opioid use disorder. One 2018 study by Beth Wiese of the University of Missouri, St. Louis and Adrianne R. Wilson-Poe of the Washington University School of Medicine reviewed “emerging evidence” of this type of therapy.

    In their conclusion, they wrote that the “compelling nature of these data and the relative safety profile of cannabis warrant further exploration of cannabis as an adjunct or alternative treatment” for opioid addiction.

    For the most part, the only accepted treatments for opioid use disorders are methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—which reduce cravings without producing a full-blown high.

    However, access to these medications can be restricted due to price, stigma, lack of education, and regulatory limits. Young people, people of color, and those living in rural communities have the most difficulty accessing this type of treatment.

    Cheryl Glenn, Maryland delegate and sponsor of the Maryland bill to allow cannabis as treatment for opioid use disorder, argues that the situation is too dire to bar people addicted to opioids from any treatment that could be effective.

    The Maryland legislature will soon consider an amendment to Glenn’s bill that would require patients to try other treatments before resorting to cannabis. Glenn currently opposes this amendment, arguing for patient choice in their health care.

    “My mother died from kidney cancer, and no one told the doctor he had to try this medication first, second or third,” she said. “I think the same respect ought to be given when you look at opioid disorders.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Gwyneth Paltrow Thinks Psychedelic Drugs May Be Next Wellness Trend

    Gwyneth Paltrow Thinks Psychedelic Drugs May Be Next Wellness Trend

    Paltrow believes that ibogaine—a psychoactive substance made from a West African plant—has the potential to help the culture “evolve,”

    No one really knows what’s next in the wellness world — but according to Gwyneth Paltrow, it may be psychedelic drugs.

    In a recent interview with the New York Times, the actress and founder of the wellness brand goop was asked about what may be the next big thing. 

    “I think how psychedelics affect health and mental health and addiction will come more into the mainstream,” she told the Times. “I mean there’s undeniably some link between being in that state and being connected to some other universal cosmic something.”

    Paltrow tells the Times that she has never tried any type of psychoactive drug herself, though she said she believes that ibogaine — a psychoactive substance made from a West African plant —  has the potential to help the culture “evolve,” according to Page Six. 

    Paltrow told the Times that she and goop have been ahead of the curve with other trends. 

    “When we talk about something that is incendiary, I always see in six months other people starting to write about it, and 18 months later, businesses popping up around it,” she said. “It’s always confirmation to me that we’re on the right track. I mean, when I did my gluten-free cookbook in 2015, the press was super negative and there were personal attacks about what I was feeding my children and what kind of mother I am. Now the gluten-free market is huge.”

    Paltrow began goop about 10 years ago as a newsletter of sorts, and in the time since it has grown into a “modern lifestyle brand,” according to the website. 

    “We believe that the little things count, that good food is the foundation of love and wellness, that the mind/body/spirit is inextricably linked, and we have more control over how we express our health than we currently understand,” goop’s website reads.  

    In the past, according to Page Six, goop has faced some backlash for its “misleading” claims and it even paid $145,000 in civil penalties in September of last year in a case involving a vaginal egg. 

    Paltrow acknowledges the company’s mistakes, but says it never has claimed to be “prescriptive” with its recommendations. 

    “When we were young and not even monetizing the business and just sort of creating content, we didn’t necessarily understand anything about claims. We just thought, ‘Oh, this is a cool alternative modality, let’s write about it,’” she told the Times. “Of course we’ve made some mistakes along the way, but we’ve never been prescriptive. We’ve never said, ‘You should try this,’ or ‘This works.’ We’re just saying, ‘Wow, this is interesting, let’s have a Q and A with this person who practices this.’ And then that somehow gets translated into, ‘Gwyneth says you should do this.’”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Modest Mouse On Medical Marijuana For Mental Health

    Modest Mouse On Medical Marijuana For Mental Health

    “After taking the antidepressants, I started to realize cannabis was probably the better way to go,” Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green says about his medical marijuana use.

    Some members of the band behind the album The Moon & Antarctica are turning to marijuana to help deal with anxiety.

    Jeremiah Green, the drummer of Modest Mouse, was forced to temporarily leave the band due to his depression. He’s been trying to treat it over the past few years with marijuana.

    “I went on antidepressants, and I got all manic and weird,” Green explains to High Times. “I just blew up one day. I was acting hella weird. I ended up in the hospital for six hours and realized pretty quick I didn’t want to be there.”

    Green never intended to quit the band, it just kind of happened that way, he says.

    “It basically took me a long time to call them because I was embarrassed,” Green confesses. “All of a sudden all of that happened, and within a week or so, I was off antidepressants and I figured out what the fuck had gone on. I got back to normal and was like, ‘Holy shit, I ruined my whole life basically.’ [Laughs] I sat around depressed for like a year. I didn’t do shit. Luckily, those guys were cool and got me back in the band.”

    Despite Green’s absence, the band moved forward with Benjamin Weikel in his place. With Weikel on the drummer’s stool, the band found commercial success in their 2004 album Good News for People Who Love Bad News. When Green finally did return, his bandmates weren’t sure what to expect.

    “It was a good opportunity for him to see if he wanted to be a part of the band,” said Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock.

    Things were rough with Green self-medicating with marijuana all the time.

    “When he got back, he was getting super-high all the time. He had normal-people weed-smoking abilities at that point. It was super-weird, because he’d be [drumming] super-slow or super-fast. It was never right. Then he got super-good at weed smoking, if that’s a thing—and I think it is,” Brock recalled. “Master-expert level is where he is now. He can walk on tight ropes and do trigonometry with it and shit. He’s always Jeremiah. I love the guy. Even when he was crazier than a shit-house rat, I had patience for it. His crazy was kind of interesting.”

    Nowadays, Green’s bandmates, including Brock and Tom Peloso, sometimes smoke with him. However, Green still does most of the smoking.

    “I smoke regularly,” Green said. “After taking the antidepressants, I started to realize cannabis was probably the better way to go. I’ve smoked for so long I don’t really get high anymore. I just sort of smoke on a low.”

    The band is currently on tour for their album Strangers to Ourselves.

    View the original article at thefix.com