PTSD: There is Hope.
- Dr. Dan Menard
- Aug 12, 2016
- 3 min read
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex anxiety condition that results from exposure to a violently traumatic event. Patients respond to stimuli that trigger a response to the initial trauma event even when no longer appropriate. PTSD is characterized by anxiety due to flashbacks, social avoidance, anhedonia, strong feelings of guilt, depression, insomnia, uncontrolled anger, memory and learning deficits and suicide. Although currently thought of a disorder associated with war veterans, 67% of people exposed to violent trauma will develop PTSD such that there are currently an estimated 7 million Americans currently diagnosed with PTSD. Because war veterans have a higher exposure to violent trauma the prevalence of PTSD in returning combat veterans is much higher. These war veterans also suffer from chronic pain that may exacerbate PTSD. For the 2.16 million US troops deployed in combat zones between 2001 and 2010 the total estimated two-year costs of treatment for combat-related PTSD are between 1.54 billion and 2.69 billion. In this patient population, 22 veterans will commit suicide every day in the United States.
Although the FDA has approved two antidepressants, Zoloft and Paxil, for the treatment of PTSD, these medications are not successful in treating the wide range of symptoms presented by the syndrome. War veterans are typically prescribed at least 10 different medications to address different symptoms specific to the patient. Medicinal treatment is not effective as the veterans affairs department estimates that current treatment strategies will reach no more than 20% of veterans diagnosed with the disorder, and those that do receive treatment are unlikely to continue with taking medicines due to a sense of hopelessness and non-desirable side effects. There is a growing number of veterans who are turning to alternative treatments such as medicinal marijuana to alleviate pain and PTSD symptoms.
The treatment of PTSD using marijuana is largely anecdotal due to the US government’s extreme restrictions on marijuana research. Clear evidence indicates that the endogenous cannabinoid system is integrally related to memory, specifically memory extinction. In rats, controlled studies have shown that cannabinoid receptor signaling deactivates traumatic memories allowing the memory to be forgotten. People with PTSD have lower levels of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid compound, compared to those who did not show signs of PTSD demonstrating that this disorder is an endocannabinoid deficiency: the body stops producing enough endocannabinoids to fill receptor sites. By replacing the missing endocannaboids with those found in cannabis, marijuana has great promise to bring PTSD patients relieve from traumatic memories.
Marijuana contains two major classes of compounds, THC and more than 100 other cannabinoids (e.g. cannabidiol, cannabinol, and cannabigerol), that regulate pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, body movement, awareness of time, appetite, pain, and the senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight). THC increases appetite and reduces nausea and may also decrease pain, inflammation (swelling and redness), and muscle control problems. Two FDA-approved drugs, dronabinol and nabilone, contain THC and are used to treat nausea caused by chemotherapy and increase appetite in patients with extreme weight loss caused by AIDS. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid that does not possess hallucinogenic properties and may be useful in reducing pain and inflammation, controlling epileptic seizures, and possibly even treating mental illness and addictions.
MyCROsite is proposing a cost and time efficient strategy to assess cannabinoid extracts for efficacy in the treatment of PTSD using rodent models of memory extinction and depression. Because there is a large variety of different cannabis preparations that include variations of THC content, concentration of cannabidiols, and route of administration, the MyCROSite approach will allow the optimization of cannabis extracts for the treatment of PTSD.
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