Xhosa Styles!: CAN CANNABIS CURE CHILDREN? ~ IN HONOUR OF PROFESSOR ESTER FRIDE

CAN CANNABIS CURE CHILDREN?

While most of the world is rushing around playing legal games about how to deliver Cannabis to the people instead of simply giving it back to us…the biggest question on my mind is What about the children?

So now we know and have known since the early 1990’s that all humans and animals excepting the bee have a physiological system known as The Endocannabinoid System (EC System) which exists because the human body produces a substance which mimics THC.

While it is true that many plants produce Cannabinoids only Cannabis produces THC and so the system got its name from the Cannabis Plant. Humans have been using Cannabis medicinally for over 5000 years, this is a scientific fact. The plant is referred to in the Bible and it is now also a scientific fact that Kaneh-bosm, one of the ingredients in the Holy Anointing Oil is in fact Cannabis. We have had proof of this since 1936.

HOW DOES CANNABIS AFFECT CHILDREN?

Since the discovery of the presence of Endocannabinoids Anandamide and (2-AG) in human breast milk scientists now know that the role of the EC System begins at gestation and continues throughout pregnancy and beyond to ensure overall optimal health of the living human being.

THE UNBORN BABY

If you look at previous papers ii have written extensively about the functions of The EC System.

So besides homeostasis, neurogenesis, pain and inflammation, hormone absorption, regulation of metabolism and autophagy, there is ONE very important function of the EC System which is critical to the survival of the developing organism.

Professor Ester Fride Ph.D passed away 1 January 2010 age 56. She was the Dutch born Israeli scientist who worked with Professor Mechoulam in the 1990’s and became known for revealing the fact that a new born mammal cannot suckle and survive without a functional EC System.

She was the Chairperson at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and the Department of Molecular Biology at The College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel Israel and in 2000 she was given her own lab and began researching the role of the EC System in the nursing process.

She co-authored over 40 research papers where she released research which suggested a very promising future for the study of Cannabinoids in paediatric medicine and indeed we are seeing miracles on this level each day as more and more Cannabis Medicine research is revealed especially in respect of cancers, epilepsy, autism and other neurological conditions.

Her work proved that in Infants Growth Failure due to the inability to take up food was attributed to an under developed EC System and in particular the inactivation of the CB1 receptor which we now know directly affects the suckling process.

In mice studies at birth there is a high concentration of the Endocannabinoid 2-AG in the brain which stimulates the suckling response.

Once the baby starts suckling, the Anandamide and 2-AG from the maternal milk automatically increases these levels in the brain which in turn stimulates feeding.

The fact that CB1 receptors are present in the white matter regions of the pre and post natal nervous system strongly suggests that these receptors play a specific role in early brain development. Professor Fride’s studies also revealed that Anandamide displayed a neuro-protective role on the post natal brain.

It was Professor Fride’s theory that blockages of CB1 receptors contributes to “infant failure to thrive” conditions because of the failure to stimulate the suckling response in infants.

She strongly advocated the use of Cannabinoids in paediatric practise and the net is now filled with medical papers proving that Cannabis cures children with no side effects.

POST NATAL DEVELOPMENT

Professor Fride’s work also indicated that developmental observations proved that CB1 receptors develop very slowly during the post natal stage which ties up with the observations that small children appear to be insensitive to the psychoactive effects of controlled Cannabinoid treatment.

By controlled Cannabinoid treatment ii am referring to the assistance of a recognized Cannabis Medicine Practitioner or a Rastafari Bush Doctor or a conventional medical doctor who is skilled in the administration of Cannabis Medicine. Unfortunately they do not teach medical students about the EC System in university so as ii always say medical doctors will end up learning about Cannabis Medicine from their patients.

Too often ii have witnessed parents ‘over dosing’ their young children and the guilt is a tremendous load to carry and can greatly disadvantage the child’s treatment which usually stops at this point. So please it is important to get proper advice on how to administer Cannabis Medicine treatments.

Because of Professor Fride’s revelation we now know that this gradual increase of Anandamide and the CB1 receptors is also accompanied by a gradual maturation in the response to the psychoactive properties of THC.

In studies of post natal mice a gradual increase in the density of CB1 receptors was recorded in the brain.

This is valuable medical research because it has proven that small children may benefit from Cannabis Medicine without any harsh side effects.

In numerous research studies at Hebrew University in Israel children between the ages of 3 and 13 undergoing chemotherapy were administered high THC doses, approximately 0.64 mg/kg per treatment. Some of these children were given doses for long periods of time up to 114 treatments based on 4 treatments per 24 hour period. The anti-emetic effects were also impressive with no real side effects at all.

In another of Professor Fride’s studies eight children between the ages of 3 and 14 years with severe neurological damage were treated with between 0.04 – 0.12 mg/kg per day.

Extensive improvements in behavior included reduced spasticity, improved dystonia (muscle movements), increased interest in surroundings and anti-epileptic activity, all with no notable adverse effects.

This same study included the case of an 11 year old girl who after a motor accident suffered a spinal contusion with total paraplegia and a frontal skull fracture. She suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disturbances and lack of appetite.

The daily THC dose administered improved appetite and mood as well as spasticity in sick children across the board of conditions.

Positive neurological benefits were achieved in the absence of any severe psychological effects.

Over the past twenty years we have seen really excellent clinical results of Cannabis treatment in small children and young adults especially in paediatric oncology cases and in cases where children have been suffering with serious neurological conditions and brain trauma such as epilepsy.

But it is really interesting to note that only a temporary presence of CB1 receptors are expressed during development but not during adulthood in certain regions of the brain such as the Corpus Callosum and the anterior commissure which connects neuronal pathways between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

We believe from the Professor Fride’s research that this is exactly why we are having such success with healing small children. Research into this field of medicine will never end.

Furthermore it is important to realise that these expressions were noted between gestational day 21 and post natal day 5 which clearly proves the role for Cannabinoids in brain development.

What about Human studies?

In her human studies the findings were spectacularly similar to mice studies and CB1 receptors were identified in the human embryo at week 14 of gestation.

In the 20^th week of gestation in the human embryo a selective (lesser) expression of CB1 receptors was identified in the hippocampus compared with a much wider expression in the adult human brain.

An advanced increase in the concentration of CB1 receptors was found in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia and cerebellum between the foetal period and adulthood proving that CB1 receptors are functionally active at all stages of human development.

So in other words the CB1 receptors concentration in these parts of the brain increased progressively with development.

The most important finding is that the psychoactive effects of Cannabinoid treatment is virtually absent or extremely reduced in children (controlled studies) and we believe that this is due to the lower concentrations of CB1 receptors at younger ages.

Professor Fride passed away on New Year Day 2010 after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. It seems strange to me that such a healthy athletic minded person who understood the EC System and the benefits of Cannabinoids would not actually use Cannabis Medicine to heal herself.

Never in my life have ii ever heard of Cannabis not healing lung cancer and even ii have had to treat lung cancer patients who had been given three days to live by their medical practitioners and survived. It is also strange that Wikipedia does not have any history loaded on the net about the Professor.

Over the years ii could not help but notice how natural healers and truth revealers seem to mysteriously disappear, pass away or are involved in accidents and so…ii myself have had to endure numerous death threats over the years. So truly ii believe that something is not right with her passing especially since she was heavily involved in working with the synthetic THC product called Rimonabant which is a highly controversial product which induces suicidal thoughts and has been recalled many times over the years…

And so ii dedicate this work to the honour of Professor Ester Fride and we give thanks for her outstanding works in Paediatric Cannabis Medicine.