Ethan Budd Russo

CReDO Science

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome presents as a complex of symptoms and signs encompassing nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and hot water bathing behavior, most typically in a heavy cannabis user. Its presentation is frequently associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation with stress and weight loss. Recent investigation has ident...

Cannabigerol (CBG) is a phytocannabinoid increasing in popularity, with preclinical research indicating it has anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. However, there are no published clinical trials to corroborate these findings in humans. The primary objective of this study was to examine acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress, and mood. Secondary...

Cannabigerol (CBG) is a phytocannabinoid increasing in popularity, with preclinical research indicating it has anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. However, there are no published clinical trials to corroborate these findings in humans. The primary objective of this study was to examine acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress, and mood. Secondary...

Dear Editor, To reiterate a previous Pain Medicine editorial [1], it is fallacious to conflate recreational/adult use of cannabis with its therapeutic application as the consumers’ intents are disparate: altered state of consciousness vs symptom relief, and the corresponding dosing requirements reflect that difference. Comparison of the relative ri...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, and currently there is no cure. New therapeutic strategies that have the potential to address the complex pathophysiology of AD are urgently required; medicinal cannabis offers this possibility. Several potential leads can be extracted from Cannabis sativa (cannabis) that can target AD p...

Previous studies have shown that cannabis consumers are willing to pay more money for higher-quality products; however, the definition of “quality” cannabis has not been defined. Despite the known health risks of THC overuse, THC potency has been adopted as the primary market-driving feature of cannabis products. The purpose of this study was to ob...

Introduction: Cannabigerol (CBG), and its precursor before decarboxylation, cannabigerolic acid is sometimes labeled the "mother of all cannabinoids." The purpose of the present study was to investigate reasons for use and self-reported therapeutic effects in CBG-predominant cannabis users. Usage patterns and adverse effects, including withdrawal s...

Despite its use by humans for thousands of years, the technology of cannabis usage and extraction is still evolving. Given that the primary pharmacological compounds of interest are cannabinoid and terpenoids found in greatest abundance in capitate glandular trichomes of unfertilized female inflorescences, it is surprising that older techniques of...

Background Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a diagnosis of exclusion with intractable nausea, cyclic vomiting, abdominal pain, and hot bathing behavior associated with ongoing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure. Increasing cannabis use may elevate CHS prevalence, exacerbating a public health issue with attendant costs and morbidity. Obje...

There is an active and growing interest in cannabis female inflorescence (Cannabis sativa) for medical purposes. Therefore, a definition of its quality attributes can help mitigate public health risks associated with contaminated, substandard, or adulterated products and support sound and reproducible basic and clinical research. As cannabis is a h...

The topic of Cannabis curries controversy in every sphere of influence, whether politics, pharmacology, applied therapeutics or even botanical taxonomy. Debate as to the speciation of Cannabis, or a lack thereof, has swirled for more than 250 years. Because all Cannabis types are eminently capable of cross-breeding to produce fertile progeny, it is...

Neurological therapeutics have been hampered by its inability to advance beyond symptomatic treatment of neurodegenerative disorders into the realm of actual palliation, arrest or reversal of the attendant pathological processes. While cannabis-based medicines have demonstrated safety, efficacy and consistency sufficient for regulatory approval in...

Cannabis has been employed medicinally throughout history, but its recent legal prohibition, biochemical complexity and variability, quality control issues, previous dearth of appropriately powered randomised controlled trials, and lack of pertinent education have conspired to leave clinicians in the dark as to how to advise patients pursuing such...

This short communication examines the question whether the experimental data presented in a study by Merrick et al. are of clinical relevance. These authors found that cannabidiol (CBD), a major cannabinoid of the cannabis plant devoid of psychotropic effects and of great interest for therapeutic use in several medical conditions, may be converted...

An advanced Mendelian Cannabis breeding program has been developed utilizing chemical markers to maximize the yield of phytocannabinoids and terpenoids with the aim to improve therapeutic efficacy and safety. Cannabis is often divided into several categories based on cannabinoid content. Type I, Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol-predominant, is the prevalen...

Introduction: The roots of the cannabis plant have a long history of medical use stretching back millennia. However, the therapeutic potential of cannabis roots has been largely ignored in modern times. Discussion: In the first century, Pliny the Elder described in Natural Histories that a decoction of the root in water could be used to relieve sti...

The golden age of cannabis pharmacology began in the 1960s as Raphael Mechoulam and his colleagues in Israel isolated and synthesized cannabidiol, tetrahydrocannabinol, and other phytocannabinoids. Initially, THC garnered most research interest with sporadic attention to cannabidiol, which has only rekindled in the last 15 years through a demonstra...

Cannabis or hemp has been employed medicinally in Ireland since at least the Anglo-Saxon era, more than 1000 years ago. Its use came to the fore, however when William B. O’Shaughnessy, an Irish physician in India, became familiar with the versatility of Indian hemp in the treatment of rheumatic diseases, tetanus, cholera and epilepsy in 1838. His k...

Once a widely ignored phytocannabinoid, cannabidiol now attracts great therapeutic interest, especially in epilepsy and cancer. As with many rising trends, various myths and misconceptions have accompanied this heightened public interest and intrigue. This forum article examines and attempts to clarify some areas of contention.

Dr. Ethan Russo, MD, is a board-certified neurologist, psychopharmacology researcher, and Medical Director of PHYTECS, a biotechnology company researching and developing innovative approaches targeting the human endocannabinoid system. Previously, from 2003 to 2014, he served as Senior Medical Advisor and study physician to GW Pharmaceuticals for t...

This overview covers a wide range of cannabis topics, initially examining issues in dispensaries and self-administration, plus regulatory requirements for production of cannabis-based medicines, particularly the Food and Drug Administration “Botanical Guidance.” The remainder pertains to various cannabis controversies that certainly require closer...

Medicine continues to struggle in its approaches to numerous common subjective pain syndromes that lack objective signs and remain treatment resistant. Foremost among these are migraine, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome, disorders that may overlap in their affected populations and whose sufferers have all endured the stigma of a psychosom...

Plants have been the predominant source of medicines throughout the vast majority of human history, and remain so today outside of industrialized societies. One of the most versatile in terms of its phytochemistry is cannabis, whose investigation has led directly to the discovery of a unique and widespread homeostatic physiological regulator, the e...

The 2016 HHS evaluation and the additional data gathered by the DEA constitute a document, entitled “Basis for the Recommendation for Maintaining Marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.” This document supporting the basis of the DEA recommendation was preliminarily scrutinized by ASA through use of a comparative reference analysis...

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the concept of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD), and the prospect that it could underlie the pathophysiology of migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis. METHODS: Available literature was reviewed, and literature searches pursued...

Cannabis sativa has a long history of medicinal use and contains phytocannabinoids that demonstrate therapeutic activity in preclinical models of numerous disease states. Widespread clinical use of cannabis has preceded the evidence base. Randomized controlled trials are needed to understand the safety, efficacy, and optimal dosages of standardized...

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)/cannabidiol (CBD) oromucosal spray has proved efficacious in the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. A thorough QT/QTc study was performed to investigate the effects of THC/CBD spray on electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters in compliance with regulatory requirements, evaluating the effect...

It is a curious fact that we owe a great deal of our insight into pharmacological treatment of pain to the plant world. Willow bark from Salix spp. led to development of aspirin and eventual elucidation of the analgesic effects of prostaglandins and their role in inflammation. The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) provided the prototypic narcotic an...

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been the primary focus of cannabis research since 1964, when Raphael Mechoulam isolated and synthesized it. More recently, the synergistic contributions of cannabidiol to cannabis pharmacology and analgesia have been scientifically demonstrated. Other phytocannabinoids, including tetrahydrocannabivarin, cannabigerol a...

This study aimed to evaluate the abuse potential and cognitive effects of nabiximols (Sativex, GW Pharma Ltd. Salisbury, UK), an oromucosal spray primarily containing delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). This was a single‐dose, randomized, double‐blind, crossover study comparing nabiximols (4, 8, and 16 consecutive sprays: 10.8...

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the abuse potential and cognitive effects of nabiximols (Sativex ® , GW Pharma Ltd. Salisbury, UK), an oromucosal spray primarily containing delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Methods This was a single‐dose, randomized, double‐blind, crossover study comparing nabiximols (4, 8, and 16 con...

This study examines the concept of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD), and the prospect that it could underlie the pathophysiology of migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis. Available literature was reviewed, and literature searches pursued via the National Library o...

This article reviews recent research on cannabinoid analgesia via the endocannabinoid system and non-receptor mechanisms, as well as randomized clinical trials employing cannabinoids in pain treatment. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol((R))) and nabilone (Cesamet((R))) are currently approved in the United States and other countries, but not for pa...

The Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. A multidisciplinary international team demonstrated through botanical examination,...

This article reviews recent research on cannabinoid analgesia via the endocannabinoid system and non-receptor mechanisms, as well as randomized clinical trials employing canna- binoids in pain treatment. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol ® ) and nabilone (Cesamet ® ) are currently approved in the United States and other countries, but not for pain...

Cannabis sativa L. is possibly one of the oldest plants cultivated by man, but has remained a source of controversy throughout its history. Whether pariah or panacea, this most versatile botanical has provided a mirror to medicine and has pointed the way in the last two decades toward a host of medical challenges from analgesia to weight loss throu...

Cannabis sativa L. has been utilized for treatment of pain and sleep disorders since ancient times. This review examines modern studies on effects of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) on sleep. It goes on to report new information on the effects on sleep in the context of medical treatment of neuropathic pain and symptoms of m...

simple relationships in favor of more abstract assignations [3]: “…the word Vayu , does not imply ‘Wind’ in Ayurvedic literature, but

This study examines the current knowledge of physiological and clinical effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) and presents a rationale for their combination in pharmaceutical preparations. Cannabinoid and vanilloid receptor effects as well as non-receptor mechanisms are explored, such as the capability of THC and CBD to act as...

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major, biologically active, but psycho-inactive component of cannabis. In this cell culture-based report, CBD is shown to displace the agonist, [3H]8-OH-DPAT from the cloned human 5-HT1a receptor in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, the major psychoactive component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) does not...

This article reviews recent research on cannabinoid analgesia via the endocannabinoid system and non-receptor mechanisms, as well as randomized clinical trials employing canna-binoids in pain treatment. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol ®) and nabilone (Cesamet ®) are currently approved in the United States and other countries, but not for pain in...

Dipropyltryptamine (DPT) is a synthetic indolealkylamine first characterized in the 1960s. Largely forgotten since the discovery of multiple serotonin receptor subtypes, some of the properties of DPT at the cloned human 5-HT1a receptor are described here. When [3H]8-OH-DPAT is bound to the receptor, DPT inhibits the interaction with an IC50 of 0.1...

Tis research was performed as part of a larger study on the effect of Cannabis on vision process, including study of retinol levels in serum of VAD animal model. In a another study, Etnobotanical data background reveals the use of cannabis for respiratory ailments. In this way, respiratory parameters (FVC, IVC, ERV, IRV..etc) were estimated by micr...

Previous reports have documented an improvement in night vision among Jamaican fishermen after ingestion of a crude tincture of herbal cannabis, while two members of this group noted that Moroccan fishermen and mountain dwellers observe an analogous improvement after smoking kif, sifted Cannabis sativa mixed with tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). Field-...

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the concept of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD), and the prospect that it could underlie the pathophysiology of migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis. METHODS: Available literature was reviewed, and literature searches pursued via t...

Cannabis has been employed in human medicine for more than 4000 years. In the last century, political prohibition led to its disappearance from the conventional pharmacopoeia, but this trend is reversing due to the broad acceptance and application of this forbidden medicine by patients with chronic and intractable disorders inadequately treated by...

. This study reviews human clinical experience to date with several synthetic cannabinoids, including nabilone, levonantradol, ajulemic acid (CT3), dexanabinol (HU-211), HU-308, and SR141716 (Rimonabant ®). Additionally, the concept of "clinical endogenous cannabinoid defi-ciency" is explored as a possible factor in migraine, idiopathic bowel dis-e...

This study reviews results in recent human clinical trials with cannabis based medicine extract (CBME), THC or cannabis. In a study performed at Queen's Square, London, both High THC and THC:CBD fixed ratio sublingual CBME demonstrated significant bene- fits on mean maximum cystometric capacity, mean daytime frequency of urination, frequency of noc...

. Cannabis has an ancient tradition of usage as a medicine in obstetrics and gynecology. This study presents that history in the literature to the present era, compares it to current ethnobotanical, clinical and epide-miological reports, and examines it in light of modern developments in cannabinoid research. The author believes that cannabis extra...

The Missoula Chronic Clinical Cannabis Use Study was proposed to investigate the therapeutic bepnefits and adverse effects of prolonged use of “medical marijuana” in a cohort of seriously ill patients. Use of cannabis was approved through the Compassionate Inves-tigational New Drug (IND) program of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Cannabis i...

Cited By (since 1996): 18, Export Date: 23 July 2009, Source: Scopus

EDITOR—Campbell et al's paper on whether cannabinoids are effective and safe in the management of pain purports to be qualitative and systematic,1 but it is neither. Because it focused on two clinically questionable synthetic cannabinoids and oral delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) without providing any focus on the synergistic components of herbal...

. A central tenet underlying the use of botanical remedies is that herbs contain many active ingredients. Primary active ingredients may be enhanced by secondary compounds, which act in beneficial syn-ergy. Other herbal constituents may mitigate the side effects of dominant active ingredients. We reviewed the literature concerning medical can-nabis...

Cannabis, or ''marijuana,'' has been employed in various forms throughout the millennia for both symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine. This document examines its history of medicinal use by smoking and other methods in ancient cultures, including the Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and Roman, as well as in the Islamic world...

Portrait of Moreau in 1845, by N.E. Maurin, Library of the Academy of Medi-cine, Paris, France.Ethan Russo, MD, is a neurologist with Montana Neurobehavioral Specialists inMissoula. In addition, Dr. Russo is Clinical Assistant Professor, Department ofMedicine, Univeristy of Washington and Adjunct Associate Professor, Univeristy ofMontana.Journal of...

The herb cannabis is derived from the Old World species Cannabis sativa L. Cannabis indica and C. ruderalis may also merit species status. Cannabis has a history as an analgesic agent that spans at least 4000 years, including a century of usage in mainstream Western medicine. Quality control issues, and ultimately political fiat eliminated this age...

Cannabis, or marijuana, has been used for centuries for both symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine. It was highly esteemed as a headache remedy by the most prominent physicians of the age between 1874 and 1942, remaining part of the Western pharmacopoeia for this indication even into the mid-twentieth century. Current ethnobotanical an...

Parthenolide displaces [3H]ketanserin from 5HT2A receptors from rat and rabbit brain and cloned 5HT2A receptors. Ki's are in the 100-250 microM range. These results suggest that parthenolide may be a low-affinity antagonist at 5HT receptors; it is unlikely that the entire mechanism of action can be explained by its modest 5HT2A receptor affinity.

Headache, specifically migraine, is an extremely frequent and debilitating syndrome with worldwide prevalence, including indigenous cultures of Amazonia. This paper considers headache as perceived within the medical philosophy of 5 Indian tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin. Their ethnobotanical treatments for headache are examined, along with th...

Damit Ärzte und medizinische Konsumenten ihnen umfassend vertrauen, müssen Cannabinoid-Arzneimit- tel standardisierte, wirksame und sichere Zubereitun- gen sein, wie in statistisch signifikanten, randomisier- ten klinischen Studien nachgewiesen, für Zulassungs- behörden in verschiedenen Ländern akzeptabel sein und sich an die moderne wissenschaftli...