Search Results: refractory (3)

We Love The Herb

The use of marijuana is associated with lower mortality risk in patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, according to a new study to be published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.


Investigators from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and South Korea’s Inje University studied the effects of lifetime substance use on mortality in 762 patients with schizophrenia or related conditions, reports Paul Armentano at the NORML Blog.
“[W]e observed a lower mortality risk-adjusted variable in cannabis users compared to cannabis non-users despite subjects having similar symptoms and anti-psychotic treatments,” researchers reported.
The association between marijuana use and lessened mortality risk could be because “cannabis users may (be) higher functioning” and because “cannabis itself may have some health benefits,” the reports authors said.

Cannabis Culture

​A full decade after Canada legalized medical marijuana, most doctors in the Great White North are still refusing to sign the forms that patients need to get access to cannabis — meaning patients in pain risk jail if they use what works best to help keep them functional.

Far from improving, the predicament seems likely to get worse because of proposed changes to how Health Canada regulates access to marijuana, reports Sharon Kirkey of Postmedia News.
To the casual observer, it may seem that the government is actually easing up on the strict rules for obtaining medicinal cannabis. Health Canada has proposed removing itself as the ultimate authority in approving or rejecting medical marijuana applications.

Photo: TalkTalk

​The administration of oral synthetic THC is associated with improved symptoms of psychosis in patients with refractory schizophrenia, according to the findings of four case reports published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Investigators at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York, the Columbia University Medical Center, and the New York University School of Medicine assessed the efficacy of oral THC (Dronabinol) on eight patients with refractory psychosis, reports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The subjects in the trial had a history of symptomatic improvement when using cannabis and had been unresponsive to conventional medical treatments.