>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <016001bf175d$f98c92c0$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: more on pain >Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 15:38:17 -0700 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Pubdate: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 >Source: Reuters >Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. > > >STUDY SHOWS HOW MARIJUANA AFFECTS PAIN > > >WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Pain triggers the release of the brain's >natural version of marijuana, researchers said on Monday. > >Their finding helps explain why marijuana can act to relieve pain and adds >to a whole series of studies that show the chemical, one of a class known as >anandamides, has a range of important roles in the brain. > >Michael Walker, a psychology professor at Brown University in Providence, >Rhode Island, and colleagues tested pain and anandamide in rats. > >They found the brain produced anandamide when they stimulated an area -- the >periaqueductal gray -- known for its role in modulating pain. It also >released anandamide in response to a painful injection of the chemical >formalin. > >The secretion of anandamide eased the pain, they reported in the Proceedings >of the National Academy of Sciences. > > >The researchers anaesthetised their rats, but were able to follow the pain >signals and the passage of anandamide in the brain using a new type of mass >spectrometry, which is able to detect minute amounts of a substance. > >Walker said the knowledge might be used to devise new painkillers or >analgesics. Perhaps a drug that made more anandamide available would be >useful, he said. > > >"There are some types of pain that do not respond well to current >treatments," he said in a statement. "The fact that you have different >modulatory systems that are effective for different types of pain may offer >hope." > > >Anandamides are neurotransmitters -- message-carrying chemicals -- and are >known to be chemically very similar to cannabinoids in cannabis or >marijuana. > >Cannabis has been used for centuries to help relieve pain. > >Other research has found a range of uses for anandamides. > >In May, researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that >people with schizophrenia have twice the normal levels anandamide in their >brains. > > >Anandamides have also been found to help regulate body movement and >coordination, and may also be important in helping sperm get to and >fertilise an egg > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------