Hotlist - Health
Observatory - Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria - NYTimes.com
nytimes.com - Marijuana may be something of a wonder drug — though perhaps not in the way you might think.
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Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.
It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.
The current research, by Giovanni Appendino of the University of the Eastern Piedmont and colleagues and published in The Journal of Natural Products, looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were found effective against several common multi-resistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.
The researchers say they don’t know how the cannabinoids work, and whether they would be effective as systemic antibiotics would require much more research and trials. But the compounds may prove useful sooner as a topical agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, to prevent the microbes from colonizing on the skin.
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very interesting!
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bump!!
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bump
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BUMP!
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I think that any and all research in any and all natural compounds, plantlife etc should be researched for their usefulness.
There is much to be learned about so many of these things, and if we could get people passed the mindset of 'but it's illegal' (WHO made it so?)so much more could be learned.
Imagine what/how useful something like this could be to hospitals/hospices with bed-ridden or terminal patients who are at a high risk for bedsores and skin infections simply by virtue of the fact that they are IN a hospital and that they cannot shift their own body weight! Many times it is the complications of some other infection that they are too weak to fight off that these people succumb and die. ANYTHING that could give them a better chance at defending against secondary infections should be considered.
Good article, Friday.
Thanks
Pati -
Awesome.Bump
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INTERESTING...... BUMP
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Bumpity bump bump
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Uh oh... I smell trouble.
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