Latest news with #Cannabissativa
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Cannabis Compound Could Protect Us From Deadly Fungal Disease
A dangerous fungal pathogen has proven no match for what may be one of the most useful plants in nature. Scientists studying the chemical properties of cannabis have found it kills one of the most dangerous fungal pathogens in the world – in a laboratory setting, at least. Cryptococcus neoformans, a species of fungus behind cryptococcosis and cryptococcal meningitis, appears to be vulnerable to topical treatment with cannabidiol and cannabidivarin, compounds found in the plant Cannabis sativa. "When Cryptococcus neoformans gets to your central nervous system, it causes life-threatening meningitis," explains biologist Hue Dinh of Macquarie University in Australia. "The mortality rate is very high, and it's really hard to treat." Fungal pathogens pose a pretty significant threat to human health, with around 300 species known to cause diseases in humans, with varying levels of severity. Because pathogens such as fungi and bacteria continually develop resistances to drugs, new treatment options are continually needed to keep them at bay. One strategy is to look at medications that have already been approved for human use for other ailments. Dinh and her colleagues turned their research to cannabis, isolating five compounds to test on C. neoformans and a range of other pathogens. They isolated the fungal species in a lab, and applied the compounds. Cannabidiol (CBD), which is non-psychoactive, and cannabidivarin (CBDV), which is psychoactive, both killed C. neoformans adroitly, acting even faster than current antifungal treatments. They were also effective at eradicating the fungal pathogens responsible for such conditions as jock itch and athlete's foot. "Proteomics analysis revealed that the antifungal activity of CBD and CBDV was linked to destabilization of the membrane, alterations in ergosterol biosynthesis, disruption of metabolic pathways, as well as selective involvement of mitochondrial-associated proteins," the researchers wrote in their paper. It's one thing to kill a fungus in a petri dish, but quite another to observe the treatment working in a living system. To test their findings further, the researchers turned to Galleria mellonella, the greater wax moth. The larvae of this moth possess an innate immune response that is similar to that of mammals. They are also inexpensive to obtain, have short lifespans, and require no special equipment to keep, making them an excellent model for large-scale studies of infectious pathogens and the treatments thereof. Moth larvae were given small burn wounds, and then divided into groups. One group was left alone with just the burn wounds as a control; the remainder were infected with C. neoformans, and treated with different medicaments. One group was treated with CBD dissolved in dimethyl sulfide. Another group was treated with dimethyl sulfide without the CBD. Finally, the last group was treated using Amphotericin B, a medication used to treat serious fungal infections in humans. The results were striking. The survival rate of the larvae treated with CBD was significantly higher than the survival rate of the larvae treated with the dimethyl sulfide alone, and also higher than the survival rate of the Amphotericin B group. In fact, it was nearly as high as the survival rate of the control group – the larvae that had not been infected with the fungus at all. Although the treatment of infections that reach the lungs and brain is a bit more complicated, the result suggests that, at the very least, the topical application of cannabidiol might be effective at treating a range of fungal skin infections. "If we can demonstrate that these ones work well for common infections," Dinh says, "you could actually just get some CBD oil and then rub it on your skin to treat it." The research has been published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Pooping Is a High-Stakes Event That Could Be Fatal For One Group Misophonia Has Genetic Links to Depression And Anxiety, Study Finds Experimental Drug Helped Cancer Patients Live 40% Longer in Clinical Trial
West Australian
5 days ago
- General
- West Australian
Belle Taylor: Playing the baby name game
Imagine welcoming the arrival of a perfect little baby, staring down at it lovingly and thinking: 'I'm going to call you Sativa.' Yes Sativa, as in the plant, Cannabis sativa. Seems unlikely, but that's exactly what three sets of new parents in New Zealand tried to do last year. Luckily for the would-be Sativas, their folks were stopped by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (if you're picturing a bunch of people in black suits and bulletproof vests bursting into maternity wards saying 'That name is NOT choice bro', then same), who have taken on the important task of not letting Kiwis name their kids dumb stuff. The list of names that were rejected by New Zealand last year was recently released and it makes for quite the roll call. Topping the list was King, requested by 11 sets of parents. Three different families tried and failed to name their children Kyng, Kingz and Kingi. There were 10 requests for Prince and four for Princess. Two families went rogue and requested Prinz and Prynce. Three families literally went for Rogue. Also on the list: Magesty (yes, that was the spelling), Major, Messiah and Mighty. Roil, Royal, Royallty, Crown and Crownos. Duke, Juke, Solvreign and for one particularly big Enid Blyton fan: Fanny. Some of these parents need to lay off the Sativa. Australian authorities don't release such a list, but we do have 89 banned names. I am unsure if anyone has actually attempted to name their offspring Bonghead, G-Bang, iMac or Scrotum — all of which are among the 89 banned Australian names. But I sincerely hope no one is out there crocheting a Bonghead baby blanket because that's going to be a waste of yarn. Naming a child is fraught everywhere, it seems. A recent survey by UK website Gransnet found one in five grandparents hated their grandchild's name. I'm surprised it's only one in five considering the list they then gave of their most disliked monikers. You would think it would be full of the type of names on the New Zealand banned list, but instead the names they can't stand sound like any kindergarten roll call: Aurora, Charlotte, Elijah, Finn, Jack, Lindsay, Noah, Sally and Tabitha. These grandparents don't know how good they got it. The parents need to try a little reverse psychology. Tell Nan and Pop you're naming the kid Solvreign and then at the last minute: 'Surprise! We settled on Jack.' They'll be thrilled. I learnt the hard way that you should never reveal the potential name of a child before you have inked it on the birth certificate. Not long after discovering I was pregnant with my son, my partner and I settled on the perfect name: Julian. My dad reacted as if we were naming him Humperdinkle Trusiwotsit. 'You can't name him that Belle!' he moaned. And then would call me at odd hours to shout new, increasingly weird, suggestions down the phone, like: 'Dusty! We can give him a tiny neck tattoo!' (It was 2017, Dustin Martin was everywhere.) We relented, Julian was off the list (to any Julians out there: you have a lovely name. To any Humperdinkle Trusiwotsits out there: good luck with that). Mum was no help either. After 40 plus years of teaching, she would look through my list muttering things like, 'Won't sit on the mat . . . runs with scissors . . . always with the runny nose . . . STOP rocking on that chair!' until she entered some sort of trance and I had to gently lead her to a chair with a nice cup of tea and say something soothing like: 'It's OK, you're not on playground duty today.' Of course, the grandparents don't get the final say. Parents should be able to name their kid whatever they like. But perhaps stay away from royal titles, military ranks, insults and slang for genitalia. And whatever you do, don't tell the grandparents.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- General
- Perth Now
Maybe some parents shouldn't get naming rights
Imagine welcoming the arrival of a perfect little baby, staring down at it lovingly and thinking: 'I'm going to call you Sativa.' Yes Sativa, as in the plant, Cannabis sativa. Seems unlikely, but that's exactly what three sets of new parents in New Zealand tried to do last year. Luckily for the would-be Sativas, their folks were stopped by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (if you're picturing a bunch of people in black suits and bulletproof vests bursting into maternity wards saying 'That name is NOT choice bro', then same), who have taken on the important task of not letting Kiwis name their kids dumb stuff. The list of names that were rejected by New Zealand last year was recently released and it makes for quite the roll call. Topping the list was King, requested by 11 sets of parents. Three different families tried and failed to name their children Kyng, Kingz and Kingi. There were 10 requests for Prince and four for Princess. Two families went rogue and requested Prinz and Prynce. Three families literally went for Rogue. Also on the list: Magesty (yes, that was the spelling), Major, Messiah and Mighty. Roil, Royal, Royallty, Crown and Crownos. Duke, Juke, Solvreign and for one particularly big Enid Blyton fan: Fanny. Some of these parents need to lay off the Sativa. Australian authorities don't release such a list, but we do have 89 banned names. I am unsure if anyone has actually attempted to name their offspring Bonghead, G-Bang, iMac or Scrotum — all of which are among the 89 banned Australian names. But I sincerely hope no one is out there crocheting a Bonghead baby blanket because that's going to be a waste of yarn. Naming a child is fraught everywhere, it seems. A recent survey by UK website Gransnet found one in five grandparents hated their grandchild's name. I'm surprised it's only one in five considering the list they then gave of their most disliked monikers. You would think it would be full of the type of names on the New Zealand banned list, but instead the names they can't stand sound like any kindergarten roll call: Aurora, Charlotte, Elijah, Finn, Jack, Lindsay, Noah, Sally and Tabitha. These grandparents don't know how good they got it. The parents need to try a little reverse psychology. Tell Nan and Pop you're naming the kid Solvreign and then at the last minute: 'Surprise! We settled on Jack.' They'll be thrilled. I learnt the hard way that you should never reveal the potential name of a child before you have inked it on the birth certificate. Not long after discovering I was pregnant with my son, my partner and I settled on the perfect name: Julian. My dad reacted as if we were naming him Humperdinkle Trusiwotsit. 'You can't name him that Belle!' he moaned. And then would call me at odd hours to shout new, increasingly weird, suggestions down the phone, like: 'Dusty! We can give him a tiny neck tattoo!' (It was 2017, Dustin Martin was everywhere.) We relented, Julian was off the list (to any Julians out there: you have a lovely name. To any Humperdinkle Trusiwotsits out there: good luck with that). Mum was no help either. After 40 plus years of teaching, she would look through my list muttering things like, 'Won't sit on the mat . . . runs with scissors . . . always with the runny nose . . . STOP rocking on that chair!' until she entered some sort of trance and I had to gently lead her to a chair with a nice cup of tea and say something soothing like: 'It's OK, you're not on playground duty today.' Of course, the grandparents don't get the final say. Parents should be able to name their kid whatever they like. But perhaps stay away from royal titles, military ranks, insults and slang for genitalia. And whatever you do, don't tell the grandparents.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas Bans Delta-8 THC, Which Is Only Popular Because of Prohibition
This week, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill outlawing an intoxicating substance derived from hemp, just six years after legalizing it. Ironically, prohibition is what created the problem in the first place. Senate Bill 3, which passed the Texas Senate in March, would ban all forms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the state. "Since 2019, retailers across Texas have exploited a state agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of Tetrahydrocannabinol to Texans, including children," Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (a Republican) said in March, in support of the bill. "These stores which often target children with their marketing have popped up across the state, threatening the safety of our communities." The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 officially legalized hemp at the federal level, by defining it as any part of the Cannabis sativa plant "with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent." Many states, including Texas, soon followed suit, passing farm bills at the state level using the same percentage. Hemp and marijuana both come from the Cannabis sativa plant. Delta-9 THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, which causes a "high" when ingested. While THC occurs naturally in marijuana—at a 15 percent concentration, on average—it's only present in trace amounts in hemp. In 1967, an Israeli chemist synthesized a separate compound, delta-8. On a molecular level, delta-8 is nearly identical to delta-9, and it produces a similar but milder intoxicating response when ingested. Delta-8 also only occurs in small amounts but it can be synthesized using CBD, which comes from hemp. Once the farm bills became law, hemp production exploded, flooding the market within a growing season. The industry pivoted, using hemp surpluses to manufacture intoxicating delta-8 products. It worked: A 2022 whitepaper from the Brightfield Group, a market research firm, found the industry grossed nearly $2 billion from delta-8 in two years. This is why unregulated delta-8 products of dubious quality started popping up in gas stations and convenience stores all across the country. Texas alone now has more than 7,000 registered hemp retailers. "State regulations governing hemp products vary widely and are unevenly enforced, creating a patchwork of rules that can change dramatically from one state to the next," according to a 2024 report by Michelle Minton and Geoffrey Lawrence of Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this magazine. "Consumers face an increasingly confusing array of products of uncertain quality while businesses must navigate a shifting and uncertain regulatory environment." Patrick is right that delta-8 appeals to young people: A 2023 study found more than 11 percent of high schoolers reported having used delta-8 products in the previous year. (In the same period, over 30 percent reported using marijuana.) But it should come as no surprise that prohibition—specifically, of marijuana—has the most direct impact on delta-8's sudden popularity. As that same 2023 study pointed out, the prevalence of delta-8 use was higher "in the South and Midwest US and in states without legal adult-use marijuana." "Higher [delta-8] use in states without medical or adult-use cannabis laws suggests that cannabis prohibition may unintentionally promote [delta-8] use," according to another study the following year. It's not that people are excited to use a substance that is like marijuana, but less potent and potentially more dangerous; rather, consumers are choosing an inferior product because it's easier to get and not illegal. By passing S.B. 3, Texas is criminalizing a product sold by thousands of stores that only opened because the state government legalized it. State Rep. James Talarico (D–Austin) called the repeal "the nanny state at its worst" in comments from the chamber floor. "Instead of regulating this booming industry in our state, we are now going backwards to the days of prohibition. This bill is not going to stop Texans from smoking weed or eating edibles, just because a bunch of politicians in Austin tell them not to. Texans will still use THC, but instead of getting it safely from a local small business, they'll now get it from the black market, from the drug cartels. This ban is a gift to the cartels." The post Texas Bans Delta-8 THC, Which Is Only Popular Because of Prohibition appeared first on
Daily Record
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
'I'm changing my name because my parents named me after a drug'
A 28-year-old woman has taken to the internet to ask for help on choosing a new name for herself - after disclosing that her parents named her after a herbal drug. A woman is considering a name change due to her parents' decision to name her after a drug. Naming a child is a significant task for many parents, as they must select a moniker that will suit their offspring both in childhood and adulthood. While some parents opt for popular, traditional names, others choose unique ones, which can sometimes lead to issues for the child. Most people retain the names given to them at birth, but there are instances where individuals decide to change their names in adulthood, a decision that can be even more challenging. A 28-year-old woman turned to Reddit to seek advice on choosing a new name, revealing that her parents named her after a recreational narcotic. She told the forum that her birth name was Sativa, "as in Cannabis sativa." In her post, she elaborated: "Although I think my name is pretty, I have faced a few problems. "As a child, friends' parents not wanting their kid to hang out with me because of my name, odd stares and jokes when i'm introduced ('Do you have any twin named Indica?' is one I get a lot), having trouble applying to jobs, and just not being taken seriously. So I have decided to change it." Cannabis sativa plants are tall and slender with finger-like leaves, known for producing a 'mind high' or an energising, anxiety-reducing effect. In contrast, Cannabis indica plants are short and stout with bushy greenery and chunky leaves, reports the Mirror. According to Healthline, Indica is "sought after for its intensely relaxing effects". Sativa has decided to change her name, particularly as she plans to have children soon and the thought of her child introducing her as 'my mum, Sativa' makes her feel "uncomfortable." But she also realised that choosing a new name for herself is not as straightforward as she initially believed. The Reddit user elaborated: "I would like something classic but unique since having a different name is one of the things I do enjoy about my name. I need help choosing a name for myself. Help me, Reddit." Her plea has attracted 1,500 upvotes and nearly 800 comments with name suggestions. And several users offered ideas that were close to her birth name. The top comment suggests: "Sylvia? Kinda similar to Sativa, but it's an established name that I don't hear very often." Another person proposed: "Or Sylvie. Prettier in my opinion." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. A third chimed in: "One of my partner's friends named his baby Sylvia, and I loved the name immediately. It's a good choice if OP doesn't want to change the sound of their name too much." Another commenter recommended the name Saskia, with someone responding: "I was going to suggest this. "It has similar sounds, so will most likely be easier to get used to than something that sounds completely different. "Really pretty and uncommon, but not so unusual that people would have a hard time with it. Truly a beautiful option."
