If you found out early in a pregnancy that the child would have both physical and mental handicaps, would you (and/or your partner) decide to terminate the pregnancy?
Marijuana and Cancer
Mounting evidence shows ‘cannabinoids’ in marijuana slow cancer growth, inhibit formation of new blood cells that feed a tumor, and help manage pain, fatigue, nausea, and other side effects.
Cristina Sanchez, a young biologist at Complutense University in Madrid, was studying cell metabolism when she noticed something peculiar. She had been screening brain cancer cells because they grow faster than normal cell lines and thus are useful for research purposes. But the cancer cells died each time they were exposed to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.
Instead of gaining insight into how cells function, Sanchez had stumbled upon the anti-cancer properties of THC. In 1998, she reported in a European biochemistry journal that THC “induces apoptosis [cell death] in C6 glioma cells,” an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Subsequent peer-reviewed studies in several countries would show that THC and other marijuana-derived compounds, known as “cannabinoids,” are effective not only for cancer-symptom management (nausea, pain, loss of appetite, fatigue), they also confer a direct antitumoral effect.
A team of Spanish scientists led by Manuel Guzman conducted the first clinical trial assessing the antitumoral action of THC on human beings. Guzman administered pure THC via a catheter into the tumors of nine hospitalized patients with glioblastoma, who had failed to respond to standard brain-cancer therapies. The results were published in 2006 in the British Journal of Pharmacology: THC treatment was associated with significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation in every test subject.
Around the same time, Harvard University scientists reported that THC slows tumor growth in common lung cancer and “significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.” What’s more, like a heat-seeking missile, THC selectively targets and destroys tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed. Conventional chemotherapy drugs, by contrast, are highly toxic; they indiscriminately damage the brain and body.
There is mounting evidence, according to a report in Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, that cannabinoids “represent a new class of anticancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis [the formation of new blood cells that feed a tumor] and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.”
Dr. Sean McAllister, a scientist at the Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, has been studying cannabinoid compounds for 10 years in a quest to develop new therapeutic interventions for various cancers. Backed by grants from the National Institute of Health (and with a license from the DEA), McAllister discovered that cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive component of the marijuana plant, is a potent inhibitor of breast cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, and tumor growth.
In 2007, McAllister published a detailed account of how cannabidiol kills breast cancer cells and destroys malignant tumors by switching off expression of the ID-1 gene, a protein that appears to play a major role as a cancer cell conductor.
The ID-1 gene is active during human embryonic development, after which it turns off and stays off. But in breast cancer and several other types of metastatic cancer, the ID-1 gene becomes active again, causing malignant cells to invade and metastasize. “Dozens of aggressive cancers express this gene,” explains McAllister. He postulates that CBD, by virtue of its ability to silence ID-1 expression, could be a breakthrough anti-cancer medication.
“Cannabidiol offers hope of a non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy,” says McAllister, who is seeking support to conduct clinical trials with the marijuana compound on breast cancer patients.
McAllister’s lab also is analyzing how CBD works in combination with first-line chemotherapy agents. His research shows that cannabidiol, a potent antitumoral compound in its own right, acts synergistically with various anti-cancer pharmaceuticals, enhancing their impact while cutting the toxic dosage necessary for maximum effect.
Breast cancer cells killed by CBD on right compared to untreated breast cancer cells on left. (Courtesy Pacific Medical Center)
“Cannabidiol offers hope of a non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy.
Investigators at St. George’s University in London observed a similar pattern with THC, which magnified the effectiveness of conventional antileukemia therapies in preclinical studies. THC and cannabidiol both induce apoptosis in leukemic cell lines.
At the annual summer conference of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, held this year in Freiburg, Germany, 300 scientists from around the world discussed their latest findings, which are pointing the way toward novel treatment strategies for cancer and other degenerative diseases. Italian investigators described CBD as “the most efficacious inducer of apoptosis” in prostate cancer. Ditto for cannabidiol and colon cancer, according to British researchers at Lancaster University.
Within the medical science community, the discovery that cannabinoids have anti-tumoral properties is increasingly recognized as a seminal advancement in cancer therapeutics.
DID YOU KNOW
Oculolinctus is the process of licking someone’s eyeball for sexual pleasure.
Hematidrosis (also called hematohidrosis) is a very rare condition in which a human sweats blood. It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, for example, facing his or her own death.
Surveys show that both men and women prefer an attractive face over an attractive body for a long-term mate.
All breasts have the same number of nerve endings, no matter what their size is. This is also why smaller breasts are more sensitive.
In the 1950s, women believed douching with Coca-Cola could prevent pregnancy.
Hypergargalesthesia is the condition of extreme sensitivity to tickling — Some people may pass out when tickled.
The world is going to end in 2060″,was the conclusion drawn by Newton after carefully researching the Bible. The Mayans do believe the world will end 21st December this year.
Nipples stimulate the same area of the female brain as genitals do.
In a recent survey it was stated that men who helped their wives with housework had more sex on average.
Lack of sleep increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
Pygophilia is a condition in which a person gets sexually aroused by the ass.
The growth of cancer cells can be slowed down by using marijuana.
1 out of 5 million male born with a condition called Penile Agenesis, which is being born literally without penis.
Human male possesses bigger heart and bigger brain than their female counter part.
In a study, the majority of women claimed that they found kissing to be more intimate than sex.
To describe a situation when a girl looks good from the back but actually has butter face, Japanese use a term called Bakku-shan.
Cap d’Agde is a village and tourist spot in France famous because it was an officially declared nudist village.
Jehs Lehmann studied Economics at University of Munster between 1992 and 1998.
Before the 1940s, Pink was a masculine color and was preferred by boys, while blue was more of a feminine color.
Research on pigs led to the development of CAT scans.
DID YOU KNOW
Vagina dentata (Latin for toothed vagina) describes a folk tale in which a woman’s vagina is said to contain teeth, with the associated implication that sexual intercourse might result in injury or castration for the man.
St. Nicholas (AKA Santa Claus), is buried in Ireland.
Deep voice is considered as a sex appeal in men but deep voiced men actually tend to have lower sperm counts.
70 year old twin prostitutes from Amsterdam have slept with over 300,000 men in 50years.
A Nigerian footballer, Joshua Pepple on died on the pitch while in action for his Polish Regional League side, Pomorzanin Nowogard on saturday.
A Nigerian couple was recently caught in £3.8m UK scam using 1,400 identities.
A recent study shows 3 out 10 Nigerian men aren’t fathers of their kids.
Nigeria’s active mobile lines have hit 105.2 Million
Defecation syncope is a disease that causes you to faint when you poop.
China, during the 2008 Olympics used airplanes, rocket launchers and anti aircrafts guns to stop rain by shooting chemicals into the clouds.
In US, a single mom can call any guy as her child’s dad. If he can’t prove he isn’t in 30 days, he is ruled as the child’s father.
There are GPS shoes available that will guide you home by simply clicking the heels together.
3 People stole the secret recipe of Coke and contacted Pepsi to sell it, Pepsi immediately informed the FBI and Coke about it.
There is a condition known as the White Coat Hypertension. It makes a patient’s blood pressure rise only while inside a doctor’s office.
Hollywood stars actually sniff powdered vitamin B when you see them sniffing cocaine in the movies.
Only in the United States of America, May is labelled as National Masturbation Month.
In order to treat female hysteria in 1800’s, doctors used to massage women’s genitals until they reached orgasm.
Cryptorchidism is the absence of one or both testes from the scrotum. It is the most common birth defect regarding male genitalia.
Monorchism is the state of having only one testicle within the scrotum.
P. Diddy was sued for $1 trillion by a woman named “Valerie Turks”, also his ex, who claimed that he caused 9/11.
The highest score made in a Soccer game was 149-0, one of the team started scoring own goals to protest against the referee’s decision so I suggest anti-Manchester United fans to implore their teams to do so in protest against any refereeing decision.
Rumpology is a practice from ancient times where an individual reads a person’s butt just like the palm is read.
The vagina is acidic and has a ph of 4.5; it also harbours a bacteria, Lactobacilli, which is the normal flora of the vagina giving it a distinctive smell.
Photic sneeze reflex is when you uncontrollably sneeze when exposed to bright light, the cause of which scientists are still unable to find.
Phthalate, is a toxin found in plastics used in packing food items, that can shrink the size of a baby’s penis if ingested during pregnancy.
G-spot is actually known as Gräfenberg Spot and it is located at the anterior wall of the vagina, about five centimetres in from the entrance. Its position varies from woman to woman and can be non existent in some women.
A belly button might have more than fifty bacteria species living in it.
The UEFA Champions League anthem, was written by Tony Britten, and is an adaptation of George Frideric Handel’s “Zadok the Priest”.
Antonio Nocerino, who plays for AC Milan and Italy, has a diploma in Accounting.
Enoch Baruwah, the younger brother of Mario Baruwah Balotelli had a trial at English Premier League side Stoke City in December 2011 and Sunderland in January 2012.
Musician Tinchy Stryder recorded a song in Balotelli’s honour.
Croatia’s government has proposed fines of $1,700 – about twice the average monthly salary – for prostitutes and their customers, targeting the buyers of sex for the first time.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?
Random Thoughts Of A Nigerian Youth 