cannabisnews.com: Israel: Using Pot To Save Brains! 





Israel: Using Pot To Save Brains! 
Posted by FoM on August 02, 1999 at 07:12:12 PT
Cannabis-Derivative Stops Brain Swelling
Source: CBS
(CBS) A year ago, Assaf Yefet was out riding his horse and got hit by a car. The head injury he received put him in a coma for ten days and could have left him brain damaged for life. But an experimental new drug has put him back in the saddle again, reports CBS News Correspondent Jesse Schulman. 
"Chances were against him," says Israeli neurosurgeon Dr. Nachshon Knoller. "He didn't react to any commands, he didn't open his eyes, he didn't talk." What improved Yefet's odds was a dose of dexanabinol, a cannabis derivative being tested by Knoller for an Israeli pharmaceutical company. The new treatment could turn out to be a life saver for tens of thousands of accident victims every year. Dexanabinol's developers were searching for a way to exploit medicinal powers ascribed to marijuana since antiquity, by using the tools of modern science. "Cannabis has both good things and bad things and so the idea was how to separate the good from the bad," says Haim Aviv, the CEO of Pharmos, Inc. They accomplished the feat with a synthetic form of cannabis that's chemically stripped of psychedelic powers - starting with a drug that blows minds and ending up with a medicine that heals brains. Given within a few hours of a head injury, dexanabinol helps keep the brain from swelling up and literally crushing itself inside the skull. Only a few dozen patients have been treated so far, but a top U.S. brain surgeon says the results are the most promising he's seen in twenty years. "The pressure inside the head was reduced very dramatically in these patients and that is one thing that we've been looking for and this is most exciting," says Dr. Lawrence Marshall, the head of University of California San Diego's Neurosurgery Department. Dexanabinol still has to go through a final round of clinical trials to make sure it lives up to its early promise. The developers are hoping to get on the FDA's "fast track" for approval. If they are successful, dexanabinol could be at work in U.S. emergency rooms in about two and half years REHOVOT, IsraelMonday, August 02,1999 - 09:29 AM ET Reported by Jesse Schulman©1999, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved. http://www.cbs.com/flat/story_173302.html 
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Comment #1 posted by Pat on August 03, 1999 at 01:25:25 PT
Yes-We Could Have Had This ~40 Years Ago And....
Hi FoM and Folks,If it were not for our government's perverted "WoDs" which causes thousands of extra needless deaths each year by increasing our murder rate by at least about 38%, perhaps we could have had a drug like this on the marketplace 40 years or more ago, in time to help me and the millions of other humans who suffered from concussions. Almost certainly, the lives of many, many thousands of accident victims could have been saved by this compound or something similar to it, if it were not for our "WoDs."Also, if it were not for the same "WoDs", perhaps doctors and patients would NOW be using THC and/or a mixture of natural cannabinoids from the Cannabis Plant for patients with head injuries, as well as for many other major and minor health problems. In all likelihood, the real THC from the Cannabis Plant will work better for accident patients with head injuries than this artificial substitute for THC. Only our present National Psychosis called the "War on Drugs" prevents doctors and patients from legally benefiting from this marvelous plant.Choose LIFE - Help End The "War On Drugs."Thank you.Pat Whelan
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