Hemp, mice and prudence

2000/03/07 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Etika
• Botanika
• Medikuntza

The possibility of curing brain cancer and multiple sclerosis has just been published

In recent days there have been numerous news about the medical uses of hemp. The substance extracted from this plant has been very successful among laboratory mice. The reader also opens his eyes the simple word hemp. Craving or need?

The hemp plant has long been used. It is a known drug, not too hard and relatively easy to get. It has also been used in medicine. Within a week, cannabis has become a healer of almost any brain disease. There is no more attractive news.

In the hemp plant there is a substance called tetrahydro cannabinol, which most of us know as THC. It is a molecule with a fun structure, with a large head formed by three rings and five carbon atoms in the form of a tail. It also has a group of alcohol (-OH) for contact with the water of the molecule, since the other part is hydrophobic. THC, as it is known within the brain, is found with specific proteins (receptors) and starts many processes. So far there is nothing new.

Totally fashionable

In recent times, however, we have been able to read numerous articles in specialized journals on the effects of THC (and of course the hemp plant). One published last Tuesday reveals brain cancer treated with THC. The work was done by a Madrid group and the news had great repercussion. Five days earlier another article linking THC to multiple sclerosis was published. This is an investigation conducted in the UK. In both cases the mouse tests were quite complex, that is, it cannot be said that cannabis cures brain cancer or multiple sclerosis.

There is a great tendency to disparities in both newspapers and television, especially in headlines. Consequently, we have been able to read the following types of headlines: "Hashish cures the most deadly brain cancer of rats." Be wise.

Despite the success of the experiment, we must not forget that the results are not at all so correct. Only one in three mice that participated in the experiment was completely cured, the tumor of another was reduced without disappearing and had no effect on another. It is true that mice with a very developed disease were used, but also in laboratory conditions. A single type of tumor was studied. The press reports that it may be useful for other types of tumors, but no evidence has yet been done. However, scientists are more cautious. “We don’t know if it will work, but we have to test it,” explains Manuel Guzman, head of the research team. On the other hand, it can be thought that in the mouse the disease has been caused and therefore does not have the same origin as in nature. We know little about the origin of cancers. Therefore, let us rejoice, but let the researchers work quietly.

Need for honest communication

It is very dangerous to foster hope in these areas. Reading the original articles slowly feels great satisfaction, but only that.

As mentioned above, cannabinoids (including the famous THC) have also been studied in the case of multiple sclerosis. Reading slowly, we realize that it was only sclerosis modelling, and again in the mouse. Two types of studies were carried out for the study of animal health. On the one hand, the vibration of the hind legs and on the other, the ability to lift them. The latter as a model of cerebral palsy. The results are representative. Researchers conclude that THC can participate in vibration and cerebral palsy processes. As it is not water-soluble, it is a substance that moves very quickly within the brain.

However, according to the authors, "the use of hemp in the treatment of multiple sclerosis is, for the moment, a mere anecdote".