During the last decades, much research has shown the therapeutic potential of cannabis, of course going beyond the simple relief of nausea...
During the last decades, much research has shown the therapeutic potential of cannabis, of course going beyond the simple relief of nausea or pain in patients. Moreover, a biologist has discovered that cannabis causes suicide of tumor cells!
This molecular biologist is Cristina Sanchez, and she has been studying the molecular activity of cannabinoids for over 10 years at the Compultense University in Madrid. During all this time, she learned with her colleagues that tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, induces the "suicide" of tumor cells while leaving healthy cells intact.
Cannabis against cancer?
Dr. Sanchez and his team initially aimed to study brain cancer cells in order to better understand how they work. But during the process, they observed that when these tumor cells were exposed to THC, they not only ceased to multiply and proliferate, but also destroyed themselves, during successful tests with cells grown in Petri dishes. , and during laboratory tests on animals with cancers. They treated rodents with breast and brain tumors with cannabinoid therapies. The results showed that cannabinoids can be useful and powerful for the treatment of breast cancer.
Dr. Sanchez had already addressed the issue for the first time in 1998, publishing an article on the anticancer effects of THC in the European biochemistry journal FEBS Letters.
The human body is designed to use cannabis compounds
Previous research during the 1980s revealed that the human body contains two specific targets for THC: an endogenous structure that treats THC and other cannabinoids, called the endocannabinoid system, and various cannabinoid receptors found in the body. Together, these two natural systems allow the body to benefit from the cannabinoids found in cannabis, some of which are found nowhere else in nature.
According to Cristina Sanchez, the endocannabinoid system regulates many essential biological functions such as: appetite, food consumption, motor behavior, reproduction, and many other functions. And that's why the plant has such a therapeutic potential.
When inhaled or consumed, cannabis cannabinoids are incorporated into the body's natural endocannabinoid system, binding to cannabinoid receptors in the same way as endogenous cannabinoids. Following this phenomenon, and as has been demonstrated in animals with breast and brain cancers by Cristina Sanchez's team, the tumor cells are in a state of apoptosis, which means that they self-destruct.
Indeed, according to the study conducted by Cristina, the cancer cells died after a treatment with cannabinoids, and this in a clean way, because they committed suicide. One of the benefits of cannabinoids is that they specifically target tumor cells. They have no toxic effect on normal cells. And it's an important advantage over standard chemotherapy that can even destroy healthy cells.
The biologist stated that she did not understand why cannabis is still listed in Schedule I, that is, prohibited substances, while it is clear that her research and other research in the same field, that this plant has a great therapeutic potential.
What Cristina Sanchez has revealed is very similar to what Canadian scientist Rick Simpson did with his cannabis oil he named Phoenix Tears, who reportedly treated many people with cancer over the years with no side effects.
Cristina Sanchez's study paves the way for further research that will finally convince governments to consider the therapeutic virtues of cannabis in the treatment of cancer and thus take a big step in the fight against this deadly disease.