Description
Research on the therapeutic efficacy of cannabinoids has demonstrated that cannabidiol (CBD), either alone or in 1:1 mixtures with delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can effectively treat animals in experimental models of neuroinflammatory, demyelinative, neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric, and neoplastic diseases. Short-term, small-scale, human cohorts, observational studies, randomized, non-randomized, placebo-controlled, and uncontrolled clinical trials have provided low-certainty and moderate-certainty evidence that medical marijuana can reduce spasticity, neuropathic pain, neuroinflammation, anxiety, sleep disturbance, urinary bladder dysfunction, frequency and duration of seizure, tumor size, and metastasis as well as promote overall cancer survival.
Medical Cannabis and the Effects of Cannabinoids on Fighting Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases presents the findings from clinical and basic medical scientists who are investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cannabinoid-mediated inhibition of innate and adaptive immune responses, mobilization of myeloid-derived immunosuppressive cells, enhancement of neuroprotection, facilitation of oligodendrocyte survival, promotion of CNS progenitor cell differentiation to support regeneration and remyelination, arrest of tumor cell proliferation, decrease in tumor cell adhesion, disruption of tumor angiogenesis, inhibition of endothelial cells, and prevention of cancer metastasis by inhibition of cell migration. The chapters further discuss pharmacologic challenges and precisely how the delicate balance between the opposing effects of various types of cannabinoid receptors can be controlled by manipulating specific membrane channels and signaling pathways to achieve favorable long-term clinicopathologic outcomes in oncology and neurology. Covering topics such as neurodegenerative diseases, spectroscopic applications, and ethical issues, this premier reference source is an essential resource for medical professionals, pharmacists, hospital administrators, government officials, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.
Reviews and Testimonials
"This book reviews the medical benefits of medicinal cannabis for cancers, neuroinflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases. The United States government plans to reclassify medical cannabis to allow for research that would revolutionize the practice of medicine."
– Rana Zeine, Kean University
Author's/Editor's Biography
Rana Zeine (Ed.)
Rana Zeine MD, PhD, MBA is adjunct faculty at Kean University and visiting professor at Chamberlain University College of Nursing, teaching Immunology, Biology of Cancer, Biological Aspects of Aging, and Microbiology. She was associate professor of Pathology at the Saint James School of Medicine. She earned her BS in Biology, Teaching Diploma and MD degrees from the American University of Beirut with elective rotations in neuropediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical. Her PhD from McGill University focused on cancer, autoimmunity and neuroimunology. She was research associate for multiple sclerosis at the University of Ottawa and Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she completed residency in pathology and fellowship in neuropathology (2004) at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. She was research scientist for dementia at Nathan Kline Institute, and research faculty for neuroblastoma at Northwestern Univ. and the University of Chicago. Dr. Zeine earned an MBA with Distinction (2012) from Keller Graduate School of Management and is accredited in organizational culture & effectiveness from Human Synergistics International.
Brian Teasdale (Ed.)
Dr. Brian W. Teasdale received his M.S. in Botany from the University of South Florida in 1998 and his Ph.D. in Plant Biology at the University of New Hampshire in 2004. After spending two years at Jacksonville University, he moved to Kean University in 2006 where he has remained and currently serves as both faculty and the Associate Dean of the Dorothy & George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology. He specializes in molecular genetics, population genetics, phycology, and medicinal plants. In addition to teaching a specialized course on Cannabis he has worked as a resource in Cannabis biology for the New Jersey Traffic Safety program.