Meds Multiple Sclerosis

[Baron23]

Montel Williams reveals how smoking marijuana every day for 17 years changed his life

Former television personality Montel Williams has used cannabis nearly every day for 17 years. But he hasn't smoked it in over a decade.

"I have dexterity problems. I can't roll a joint to save my life," Williams tells Business Insider. He prefers vaporizing more concentrated forms of the drug.

Williams, who is also a retired Navy officer, suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease that causes his immune system to attack the insulation around his nerves. It produces intense, burning sensations from his head to his toes.

Every morning, Williams takes a fistful of pills to ease the pain. He supplements this cocktail with cannabis, which he started using after his diagnosis in 1999. The drug has been shown to improve symptoms in patients suffering from MS, according to a summary from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

In April, Williams became a "ganjapreneur," launching his own line of cannabis products. Lenitiv Labs makes high-quality, user-friendly marijuana products designed specifically for medical users. They're available in over 30 dispensaries in California.

The company uses a type of cannabis extract made from compressing carbon dioxide at high pressures, a process that does not require chemical solvents or artificial additives. The oil and drinks come in three formulas that vary the ratio of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) and CBD (a chemical compound thought to be responsible for many of the drug's therapeutic effects) so patients can control their doses with precision.

"The Montel Williams Show," which made Williams the first African-American to host a syndicated daytime talk show, ran for 17 seasons. He hid his disease for most of that time, until a tabloid threatened to print the story and forced him to reveal his diagnosis on air.

Williams has since described how he'd take long commercial breaks backstage, where he could cry from the pain in private. "[I would] let it go, refocus, come back out and sit down, and do another interview with a person," he told Oprah Winfrey in 2009. "I was doing that every day."

After his diagnosis, Williams jumped in front of a taxi cab in New York City in a suicide attempt. Around the same, time he started using cannabis — specifically kief, a fine powder made from the plant's dried resin glands — to help manage his pain and mood. Depression is one of the most common symptoms of MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Today, cannabis "helps me to function," Williams says.

He lives in New York, which is home to one of the country's more restrictive medical marijuana programs. But because he operates a business in California, Williams says he is qualified to buy and consume medical marijuana there. He sources his kief from a "compassionate caregiver" — an individual authorized by the state to grow the plant for medical users.

Williams says that since 2012, when the first US states legalized marijuana for recreational use, sugary, weed-laced junk food has dominated dispensaries.

"They're putting all kinds of junk in there. And I say, really, that's medicine?" he says.

An increased demand for recreational products has Williams and others worried that the needs of medical users will be ignored. "This industry has gotten so caught up in making money, they forgot they're leaving patients on the battlefield," Williams says.

He hopes to expand Lenitive Labs to every state where medical marijuana is legal, and is traveling the country this spring to give educational talks on cannabis.

 

[momofthegoons]

Multiple Sclerosis: Here’s Why Cannabis Is So Effective Against MS

Cannabis has been wildly successful in treating symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. Patients all over the world have found much-needed relief from pain, gastrointestinal distress, muscle spasms, and even paralysis thanks to cannabis. But, how can a herb possibly be so effective in treating an incurable neurodegenerative disorder? The answer to this question will amaze you. Here’s how cannabis eases symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

What is Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?




cont.....

 

[momofthegoons]

This Scientist Thinks Cannabis Could Be A Wonder Drug For Treating MS

Anecdotally, medical marijuana has been extremely successful for managing symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Researchers now want to find out why.

LARS HAGBERG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Many people with multiple sclerosis are turning to medical marijuana to ease their symptoms.
For the more than 400,000 Americans suffering from multiple sclerosis ― an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord ― the currently available treatments often fall woefully short.

There’s no cure for MS, and frequently prescribed immunosuppressant drugs such as corticosteroids aren’t always effective in addressing common symptoms like weakness, tingling, numbness, blurred vision and cognitive difficulties. They can come with significant side effects such as increased risk of infection, weight gain, emotional changes and high blood pressure.

Increasingly, many people with MS are turning to medical marijuana to ease their symptoms. A growing number of anecdotal reports describe the drug’s benefits for treating common symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness, anxiety and sleep deprivation, according to Dr. Thorsten Rudroff, a Colorado State University neurophysiologist who has conducted research on the effects of marijuana on multiple sclerosis symptoms. One patient even called cannabis a "miracle cure" for MS.

But these reports haven’t yet been verified by scientific research. Scientists have had a hard time conducting the clinical trials necessary to determine efficacy and dosing guidelines for the drug because of its status as a Schedule 1 drug.

Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and recreational use is allowed in a handful of others, BUT cannabis research has been heavily obstructed ― even in states where medical use is allowed. A National Academies of Sciences report including data from over 10,000 studies, which was published Jan. 12, noted that scientists who want to study cannabis have to seek approval from federal, state and local agencies for their research, and are only able to get their samples from a single lab.

Because of these restrictions, Rudroff’s team at the Integrative Neurophysiology Laboratory has been able to conduct only observational studies rather than clinical trials.

In a recent observational study, Rudroff’s team analyzed data on the health status, symptom severity and use of medical marijuana from 139 MS patients in Colorado who were already using cannabis. The results showed that the majority of users showed fewer signs of neurological disability, and they were also able to reduce or discontinue their use of other medications as a result of their cannabis use.

The Scope caught up with Rudroff to learn more about the potential of cannabis for treating multiple sclerosis, and why the drug has been so difficult for scientists to study.

What are the most striking findings so far from your studies on patients who have been using cannabis to treat their MS symptoms?

Our experience here is that these patients reported less pain, less muscle spasticity compared to other patients with multiple sclerosis.

Also, we looked at some physical functions, and they performed better. These patients were stronger in the legs, they were less fatigable, and they also showed better balance. These are some of the preliminary findings we’ve had so far, but of course we need more subjects to validate this and to make sure that this is really an effect of cannabis.

I have a lot of interactions with these patients, and they have reduced other medications, they have less pain, they are more physically active. It’s very exciting for me.

Do we have a sense of why, at least anecdotally, cannabis seems to work so well for MS symptoms? Is it that the drug is acting as an anti-inflamatory agent?

The exact mechanisms we don’t know, and this is what I want to find out. Some people say it’s anti-inflammatory, but we don’t know.

Another study we are doing right now is using brain imaging. So we look at some patients with MS who are regularly using cannabis, and put them into a PET/CT scanner to investigate which brain areas are more or less active. Then, we can say something about what the mechanisms are here. This is an ongoing study that we just started here.

What are the most common currently available treatment options for MS? What are some challenges with current treatments?

Well, many patients have pain, so they are using opiates, for example. Opiates have many side effects ― you can get addicted to these dangerous drugs and often they are not even working very well. I know many patients who stopped using opiates and switched to cannabis products, and this is working much better for them.

And in many cases, when the patients start taking cannabis, they don’t stop using the other medication. They are using these other kinds of drugs in addition to cannabis. The problem is that we don’t know the interactions between all the drugs, and this is an area that needs further research. Usually these patients are using many drugs at the same time.

There’s a clear need for more research, as you suggest. So why is it so difficult for scientists to conduct trials using medical marijuana?

The thing is that it’s a Schedule 1 drug, so it’s at the same level as heroin and all these other dangerous drugs. We’re not allowed to do intervention studies ― I can’t give patients cannabis, and I can’t tell them how to use cannabis. You need a special license to do this, which I applied for from the Drug Enforcement Administration and hopefully will get within the next year so that then I can do these intervention studies. Right now, I can only do observational studies. So I invite patients who are currently using cannabis to the lab for some experiments.

It’s difficult to give this drug to patients. It takes time and lots of special requirements are there. For example, we have to order the products from the National Institutes of Health, then we have to have a safe room to lock them in. There are very strict rules.

There are so many promising results out there, so why is it still a Schedule 1 drug? Why has it not been reclassified to Schedule 2? I really don’t know.

What do we know about the importance of THC versus CBD [the two main active compounds in marijuana] when it comes to treating MS symptoms?

My impression right now is that THC has more of the psychoactive effects, and the medical benefits are coming from the CBD (cannabidiol). So right now, I’m thinking the more CBD, the better in a cannabis product.

CBD binds to the receptors in the human body and alters the way the receptors act to our body’s natural signals. In MS, we have too much activity of the immune system. CBD may inhibit this increased activity, which may result in the medical benefits.

What needs to happen for doctors to be able to prescribe medical cannabis to patients who need it?

We’re getting closer and closer. In Colorado, doctors can provide the patients with a medical card, and then the patients can go to the shop and buy these products. But what we need is more guidelines for these patients. They don’t know how much they should take, the best ratio of THC to CBD, or how often they should take it. Should they smoke cannabis or use edibles?

These are all things we have to figure out, and then doctors can prescribe cannabis and give their patients proper guidelines. Right now it’s all self-medication, and that can be dangerous. For example, some patients are using cannabis with opioids and we don’t know the interactions between these drugs. We really need some guidelines to provide these patients.

 

[Baron23]

@momofthegoons - get that pee-pee slapping ready again cause I just think this needs to be said. I have read these articles you posted, I have read other articles, I have seen videos of MS patients dramatically and positively responding to cannabinoids.

Then we have Chuck Rosenburg again stating this past week and medical marijuana is "not medicine, is a hoax and is wishful thinking.

My main thought about Rosenberg is somebody sure ruined a good dick when they put ears on that jerk-off.

Just expressing myself

 

[momofthegoons]

@momofthegoons - get that pee-pee slapping ready again cause I just think this needs to be said.

Uh huh.....

I'm thinking you just like to test the limits. Either that or you really like getting 'slapped.'

 

[Baron23]

Uh huh.....

I'm thinking you just like to test the limits. Either that or you really like getting 'slapped.'

Nah, I just intensely dislike Rosenberg and don't think that he should have any voice, whatsoever, in setting policy. His is an enforcement agency only, IMO.

I was engaged to a gal with MS. Interferon shots every Friday night followed by at least 2-3 days of feeling like she had the flu.

She wanted to have babies while she had MS and would need to stop taking medication and I was busying trying to die from heart attacks....so, I didn't think that was such a good idea so she went elsewhere to have babies.

She had two, during both pregnancies she had to stop taking her meds. First one she lost sight in one of her eyes as a result of the MS attacking her optic nerve. The other one....well, it just let the MS progress overall.

So, I guess this topic feels a bit personal to me as is my enmity toward Rosenberg.....the little shit.

 

[momofthegoons]

Study Finds Nearly Half Of Patients With MS Report Cannabis Use​

A new survey shows that more MS patients are using cannabis to cope with their illness.

More than 40% of patients with multiple sclerosis have used cannabis or cannabinoid products in the last year, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan. The study, “Cannabinoid use among Americans with MS: Current trends and gaps in knowledge,” was published recently in Multiple Sclerosis Journal – Experimental, Translational and Clinical.

To conduct the research, investigators with the University of Michigan collected data from a nationwide sampling of more than 1,000 patients with multiple sclerosis. The study revealed that 42% of respondents reported using cannabis or cannabinoid-based therapies such as cannabidiol (CBD) in the prior year, a rate of use that is nearly twice that of the national average, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“These national survey data highlight the rising prevalence of cannabinoid use in Americans with MS, and, among users, an abiding perception of benefit for multiple chronic symptoms,” the researchers wrote.

Among the survey respondents who used cannabis or cannabinoid products, 90% said that their cannabis use was medicinal. The researchers noted that many patients with MS experience chronic symptoms that have an insufficient number of quality treatment options. More than half of all patients experience chronic pain, which can also affect sleep. At least 60% experience sleep disturbances, which can lead to fatigue and other chronic symptoms.

The lack of effective treatment options leads many patients with MS to seek out alternative therapies, including cannabis and cannabinoid products such as CBD. However, little information on the proper use and dosage of cannabis needed to effectively treat MS is available, leading the study’s authors to call for more research on the subject.

“Many Americans with MS use cannabinoids, and CBD-predominant products in particular, to self-manage a wide range of symptoms,” they wrote. “These findings highlight crucial gaps between community use and clinical care, and illustrate an immediate need for prospective, mechanistic studies focused on the effects of cannabinoids for chronic MS symptoms, as well as interactions between MS symptoms.”

Cannabis Effective For A Range Of MS Symptoms​

The patients who used cannabis to treat their MS noted that it was most effective for improving sleep and reducing tremor frequency, as well as mitigating nausea and anxiety. The researchers noted most of the patients who chose to use cannabis to treat their MS wanted more information on its use but did not receive such advice from their health care provider.

“Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of respondents expressed a desire to receive more guidance from healthcare providers on cannabis use, yet fewer than 1% received information from their provider about the type of cannabinoid product that they used,” the authors noted.

The researchers concluded that the popularity of cannabis use among MS patients and the perceived range of benefits of THC and CBD illustrate the need for more research and for “personalized, evidence-based guidelines regarding cannabinoid use.”

“Our findings also demonstrate a growing discrepancy between cannabinoid utilization and clinical guidance regarding use, underscoring a growing need to determine if and how cannabinoids can be more effectively leveraged to treat some of the most disabling MS symptoms that currently lack high quality interventions, and a need to enhance more open educational discussions between providers and patients to optimize cannabinoid use,” they wrote.

 

[RobbIt]

Montel Williams reveals how smoking marijuana every day for 17 years changed his life

Former television personality Montel Williams has used cannabis nearly every day for 17 years. But he hasn't smoked it in over a decade.

"I have dexterity problems. I can't roll a joint to save my life," Williams tells Business Insider. He prefers vaporizing more concentrated forms of the drug.

Williams, who is also a retired Navy officer, suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease that causes his immune system to attack the insulation around his nerves. It produces intense, burning sensations from his head to his toes.

Every morning, Williams takes a fistful of pills to ease the pain. He supplements this cocktail with cannabis, which he started using after his diagnosis in 1999. The drug has been shown to improve symptoms in patients suffering from MS, according to a summary from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

In April, Williams became a "ganjapreneur," launching his own line of cannabis products. Lenitiv Labs makes high-quality, user-friendly marijuana products designed specifically for medical users. They're available in over 30 dispensaries in California.

The company uses a type of cannabis extract made from compressing carbon dioxide at high pressures, a process that does not require chemical solvents or artificial additives. The oil and drinks come in three formulas that vary the ratio of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) and CBD (a chemical compound thought to be responsible for many of the drug's therapeutic effects) so patients can control their doses with precision.

"The Montel Williams Show," which made Williams the first African-American to host a syndicated daytime talk show, ran for 17 seasons. He hid his disease for most of that time, until a tabloid threatened to print the story and forced him to reveal his diagnosis on air.

Williams has since described how he'd take long commercial breaks backstage, where he could cry from the pain in private. "[I would] let it go, refocus, come back out and sit down, and do another interview with a person," he told Oprah Winfrey in 2009. "I was doing that every day."

After his diagnosis, Williams jumped in front of a taxi cab in New York City in a suicide attempt. Around the same, time he started using cannabis — specifically kief, a fine powder made from the plant's dried resin glands — to help manage his pain and mood. Depression is one of the most common symptoms of MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Today, cannabis "helps me to function," Williams says.

He lives in New York, which is home to one of the country's more restrictive medical marijuana programs. But because he operates a business in California, Williams says he is qualified to buy and consume medical marijuana there. He sources his kief from a "compassionate caregiver" — an individual authorized by the state to grow the plant for medical users.

Williams says that since 2012, when the first US states legalized marijuana for recreational use, sugary, weed-laced junk food has dominated dispensaries.

"They're putting all kinds of junk in there. And I say, really, that's medicine?" he says.

An increased demand for recreational products has Williams and others worried that the needs of medical users will be ignored. "This industry has gotten so caught up in making money, they forgot they're leaving patients on the battlefield," Williams says.

He hopes to expand Lenitive Labs to every state where medical marijuana is legal, and is traveling the country this spring to give educational talks on cannabis.

That was a great story. I knew Montel was an MS sufferer but hadn’t seen this one. I have found cannabis to be very helpful for MS muscle spasms, pain and anxiety.

 

[momofthegoons]

Review Paper Examines Cannabis as a Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis​

A team of US-based researchers published a review paper that analyzes the results of studies that have focused on cannabis as a treatment for multiple sclerosis over the past 15 years.

The authors of this review paper are representatives of Saint James School of Medicine in Illinois and School of Natural Sciences at Kean University in New Jersey. Their review paper, “Neurological Benefits, Clinical Challenges, and Neuropathologic Promise of Medical Marijuana: A Systematic Review of Cannabinoid Effects in Multiple Sclerosis and Experimental Models of Demyelination,” was published in the journal Biomedicines on February 24 and analyzes 28 different studies in relation to multiple sclerosis. These final studies were chosen from a pool of 119 articles that were eligible for consideration in this review.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms often include fatigue, mobility impairment, speech impairments, chronic neuropathic pain, anxiety, depression, and a range of other effects. In their review, researchers state that patients are dissatisfied with current treatments available for their condition, which motivates researchers “to search for adjunctive remedies in the hope of preventing breakthrough relapses and worsening of disability.”

Fourteen of the 28 studies involved using animal models while exploring the effects of cannabis. Overall, the authors of the study determined that “The experimental results combined adequately demonstrate that cannabinoid treatments are effective” with diminishing a variety of symptoms. The authors determined that the studies were promising but cannot replace tests conducted on human subjects. “While internal validity was very good in the preclinical studies because experiments were well designed and well controlled, the external validity of animal studies is less certain due to differences in the cannabinoid systems between species that may affect safety, dose responses, tolerability, and homeostasis.”

The researchers also evaluated 14 human-based studies, which utilized Sativex®, which is a cannabis-based oral spray approved for multiple sclerosis in the EU, UK, and Canada, but not yet in the US. “The growing body of moderate-quality evidence for the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid treatment using 1:1 THC/CBD mixtures has led to its approval in some countries for the management of spasticity, pain, and bladder dysfunction in MS,” the authors wrote. “Our assessments agree with others, finding that the magnitudes of effects on short-term neurological outcomes in MS patients are either small, limited, or moderate, and that the benefits are more easily detected by subjective rather than objective measures.”

Nine of the studies analyzed the efficacy of cannabis on muscle spasms, five evaluated cannabis and pain, three examined lower urinary tract function, and three explored sleep quality.

The authors of this review conclude that, similarly to most other research initiatives involving cannabis, while there is promising evidence that cannabis can help treat multiple sclerosis and a variety of symptoms, more studies are necessary. “Future studies are recommended to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cannabinoid effects on MS lesions and to evaluate whether medical marijuana can accelerate remyelination and retard the accrual of disability over the long term.”

The National MS Society states that there are 2.3 million people who suffer from multiple sclerosis worldwide, and that over one million people suffer from the condition in the US. The organization’s stance on medical cannabis is supportive, and also calls for more research to bolster evidence for cannabis as a multiple sclerosis treatment. “The [National MS] Society supports the rights of people with MS to work with their health care provider to access cannabis for medical purposes in accordance with legal regulations in those states where such use has been approved. In addition, the Society supports the need for more research to better understand the benefits and potential risks of cannabis and its derivatives as a treatment for MS and its symptoms.”