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Cannabis Cannabinoids, Terpenes and Disease Targets
"After dealing with about 10,000 patients in the last 15 years, I'd say about 200 different medical conditions respond favorably to cannabis," Dr. Tod Mikuriya.
Cannabinoids are a group of terpenophenolic compounds present in Cannabis (''Cannabis sativa'') and occur naturally in the nervous and immune systems of animals.
There are 483 different identifiable chemical constituents known to exist in cannabis. There may in fact be more. The most distinctive and specific class of compounds are the cannabinoids (66 known), that are only known to exist in the cannabis plant. Other constituents of the cannabis plant are: nitrogenous compounds (27 known), amino acids (18), proteins (3), glycoproteins (6), enzymes (2), sugars and related compounds (34), hydrocarbons (50), simple alcohols (7), aldehydes (13), ketones (13), simple acids (21), fatty acids (22), simple esters (12), lactones (1), steroids (11), terpenes (120), non-cannabinoid phenols (25), flavonoids (21), vitamins (1) [Vitamin A], pigments (2), and elements (9)
Some believe cannabis is not a medicine in the same sense as pharmaceutical medicine. They believe it does not treat the symptoms as much as it treats the cause. They claim the cause of various ailments, disease, disorders, boils down to one thing, the ECS (Endocannabinoid System) is not working properly due to a deficiency of cannabinoids. Science has proven exogenous (external) cannabinoids, which cannabis produces, act identically to endogenous cannabinoids, those our bodies make naturally. No amount of currently available pharmaceuticals can boost the ECS. Although the race is on to produce synthetic cannabinoids, which instigates anger by many cannabis advocates, and some scientists as well, as there is an emerging thought that the "entourage effect," which refers to all of the chemical constituents working in conjunction in their natural form rather than being isolated in a lab offer more of a benefit as nature intended, with all its subatomic quirks and quarks. This came to be true in the case of THCV, which was isolated, synthesized, and manufactured as a weight loss drug. However, after just a short time on the market, it was pulled due to patient complaints of major depression.
More recently there have been numerous patents filed on various processes, and chemicals of marijuana, which have been given the "green" light by the US patent office, as well as European patent offices, all while the natural raw form of cannabis remains prohibited, and likely safer. There is a synthetic anti-nausea drug based on the chemical composition of Delta9THC, however a great number of patients prefer the natural plant, stating that the synthetic form (marinol) is excessively psychoactive compared to the plant.
*Sources Used to Create the above Chart: Science Direct - Trends in Pharmalogical Sciences, PubMed.org, O'Shaughnessy's, Halent Labs