DRUG MODELED AFTER MARIJUANA COULD HELP HEAD TRAUMA PATIENTS

A drug modeled after a chemical found in marijuana could save hundreds
of thousands of victims of severe head trauma and let more of them
resume normal lives, according to a recent study.

The findings are arousing substantial interest partly because head
injuries are the leading cause of death among young people in America,
and because there are few if any treatments for such injuries. If
early results of the study are substantiated, the drug, dexanabinol,
would be the most medically useful treatment derived from the cannabis
plant.

Dr. William Beaver, professor emeritus of pharmacology at Georgetown
University School of Medicine, is even more upbeat: "This kind of
treatment, if it works, would have tremendous impact on the treatment
of neural injury and it could, of course, also be of value in
something like strokes."

Beaver led a panel of experts last year in a National Institutes of
Health review of possible medical uses of marijuana.

Scientists have been searching for 40 years for medicinal uses of the
more than 400 chemicals in marijuana, some of which already are used
to treat nausea and severe weight loss. Researchers have focused on
how the drug interacts with brain receptors.

In creating dexanabinol, Prof. Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew University
in Jerusalem sought to capture the neuroactive properties of the
marijuana chemical, but not the psychoactive ones that induce a high.

Trauma to the head not only directly kills brain cells, but generates
the release of chemicals that can kill or dangerously inflame
surrounding cells. When given within six hours of an injury,
Dexanabinol protects the brain in three ways, said Anat Biegon, vice
president of Pharmos, the company that owns the license for the drug
and has tested it for safety and effectiveness. The drug mops up some
of the dangerous chemicals, it forms a protective barrier around
at-risk brain cells and it limits intracranial inflammation.

The mortality rate among the 30 head trauma patients who took the drug
in the study was 10 percent, compared with 13.5 percent for 37
patients who received placeboes. The drug also accelerated recovery
and let 50 percent more patients a normal lives six months after being
injured.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry