Auto-SummaryResearchers are finding that illicit substances, often associated with widespread misery and suffering, may also have health benefits. Studies are exploring the potential of cannabis, amphetamines, and ecstasy to treat a range of conditions, including arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and depression. Cannabis, in particular, has been extensively studied and has shown promise in reducing muscle spasticity, pain, and nausea in various conditions. It may also have a protective effect on nerves and has been found to be effective in treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis, cancer, and heartburn. Amphetamines, also known as speed, have been used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, while ecstasy is being investigated as a therapy for anxiety related to cancer and post-traumatic stress. Additionally, LSD has been shown to provide relief from cluster headaches and may be a potential treatment for addiction. While the research is promising, more studies are needed to fully understand the benefits and risks of these substances.
Illicit highs wreck lives - but scientists are discovering they could also treat conditions from depression to strokes and cancer.
By Roger Dobson
Published: 05 June 2007
They cause widespread misery and suffering, as well as mental and physical illnesses, and they destroy thousands of lives, but recreational drugs may have health benefits.
Research is increasingly showing that drugs may be able to help some patients with conditions as diverse as arthritis, cancer, and Parkinson's, to chronic pain, headaches, and heartburn.
Some, like cannabis, were used as medicine for centuries before they became illegal, and have been investigated as potential therapies for many disorders, but newer drugs, such as ecstasy and LSD, are also being investigated.
CANNABIS
What is it?
First used as a medicine 5,000 years ago, it comes from the plant Cannabis sativa. The main psychoactive chemical is THC or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which gives the high that makes it the most widely used illicit drug. But it also contains more than 460 other chemicals, around 60 of which are cannabinoids that work on brain receptors, and which may have a protective effect in a number of diseases.
What is it used for?
As well as being the most widely used illicit drug, cannabis is also the most studied by medical researchers. Much of the research has centred on its effects in a dozen conditions - cancer, nausea, loss of appetite, chronic pain, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, glaucoma, Parkinson's disease and dystonia (a neurological movement disorder). A Naples University report suggests benefits, too, in diarrhoea and stomach ulcers.
Research
Multiple sclerosis:
Cannabis has been investigated in more than a dozen clinical trials and used to treat many symptoms of the disease. Two trials are under way at Rome University and at Montreal Neurological Institute, where cannabis-based extracts are being used for treating spasticity and pain. "There is evidence to support the view that cannabinoids can reduce muscle spasticity in people with MS,'' say the Rome team
Results from trials have been mixed. A Liverpool University study concluded, "Cannabis-based medicine is effective in reducing pain and sleep disturbance in patients with multiple sclerosis-related pain.'' Another UK trial with 18 patients found a significant reduction in muscle spasms and pain, but some have found little or not effect. A report from the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, suggests cannabis may work by protecting nerves from the kind of damage that occurs in the disease.
Cancer
Cannabinoids are used with cancer patients to stimulate appetite and to prevent nausea, vomiting and pain, but according to researchers at Salerno University, they may also halt tumours.
Rheumatoid arthritis
A study at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath, has found it is effective against pain: a "significant analgesic effect" was seen with rheumatoid arthritis.
Heartburn
An Amsterdam study is looking at the effects of a cannabis-based medicine on reflux and heartburn. It may have a beneficial effect on the valve that stops stomach contents flowing back into the oesophagus.
AMPHETAMINES
What are they?
Drugs that have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, they are also know as speed and can be addictive. During the Second World War, amphetamines were widely used to keep soldiers alert. Amphetamines speed up the nervous system and trigger the release of adrenalin, which increases heart rate, blood pressure and alertness.
What are they used for?
Dextroamphetamine is used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that involves sudden attacks of sleep. According to the State University of New York, amphetamines have also been used for obesity and depression. Another study says it is being looked at for improving recovery from stroke.
Research
A Harvard University study found that a once-a-day mixture of amphetamine salts reduced symptoms of ADHD in teenagers. Its authors say 60 per cent of patients were very much or much improved, while 33 per cent were unchanged.
ECSTASY
What is it?
MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug. It acts as both a stimulant and psychedelic, and is thought to act on the brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine.
What is it being used for?
It's being investigated as a therapy for anxiety related to cancer and post-traumatic stress. Work on animals suggests a role in Parkinson's
Research
Parkinson's disease
Researchers at Duke University, North Carolina, have found that ecstasy may reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mice. The researchers say the findings indicate that drugs could be made with similar effects to offer useful alternatives to current therapies.
Cancer
Patients given a diagnosis of cancer can feel frightened, depressed, and have intense anxiety. One of the effects of the drug is to produce feelings of closeness to other people, empathy, and a sense of well being, all of which reduce anxiety. Doctors leading a clinical trial at Harvard University and its affiliated McLean Hospital say MDMA can produce effects uniquely suited to reducing anxiety from a cancer diagnosis.
LSD
What is it?
Discovered in 1938, lysergic acid diethylamide is made from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. It is hallucinogenic and triggers distortions in perception of reality and has an effect on serotonin, the neurotransmitter involved in mood, hunger, sexual behaviour, and muscle control.
What is it used for?
Has been tried for cluster headaches, and as a treatment to help people trying to give up other drugs.
Research
Harvard Medical School researchers interviewed cluster headache patients who had used LSD to treat their condition. Seven out of eight LSD users reported relief and some remission. "Research on the effects of LSD on cluster headache may be warranted,'' say the researchers. According to a US Food and Drug Administration report, scientists in Baltimore have looked at whether LSD could be a treatment for addiction to heroin, opium, alcohol, and sedative hypnotics. "Other scientists are focusing their psychedelic research on learning about the human brain, discovering antidotes to drug overdoses, and relieving pain in cancer patients.''
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2614895.ece
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