Research Study on Marijuana and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
"We found that there is a 'window of opportunity' during which administering synthetic marijuana helps deal with symptoms simulating PTSD in rats," Dr. Irit Akirav of the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology, who led the study, said.
It is interesting to note that the study was based on synthetic cannabinoids, when many patients who have tried both natural marijuana and the synthetic, man made version, have overwhelmingly reported better results from the natural plant. So if the natural plant is reported as more effective, and with less side effects, yet the study had positive results, just imagine how much more beneficial the results would have shown, had the natural plant been used in the study.
Dr. Akirav along with research student Eti Ganon-Elazar
exposed a group of rats to extreme stress, and observed that the rats
did indeed display symptoms resembling PTSD in humans, such as an
enhanced startle reflex, impaired extinction learning, and disruption of
the negative feedback cycle of the stress-influenced HPA axis.
The rats were then divided into four groups. One was given no marijuana
at all; the second was given a marijuana injection two hours after
being exposed to a traumatic event; the third group after 24 hours and
the fourth group after 48 hours.
A week later, the researchers
examined the rats and found that the group that had not been
administered marijuana and the group that got the injection 48 hours
after experiencing trauma continued to display PTSD symptoms as well as a high level of anxiety.
By contrast, the PTSD symptoms disappeared in the rats that were given
marijuana 2 or 24 hours after experiencing trauma, even though these
rats had also developed a high level of anxiety.
"This
indicates that the marijuana did not erase the experience of the trauma,
but that it specifically prevented the development of post-trauma
symptoms in the rat model," said Dr. Akirav.
Dr. Akirav added
that the results suggest there is a particular window of time during
which administering marijuana is effective, and since human life span is
significantly longer than that of rats, one could assume that this
window of time would be longer for humans.
The second stage of the study sought to understand the brain mechanism that is put into operation during the administering of marijuana.
To do this, they repeated stage one of the experiment, but after the
trauma they injected the synthetic marijuana directly into the amygdala
area of the brain, the area known to be responsible for response to
trauma.
The researchers found that the marijuana blocked development of PTSD symptoms in these cases as well.
From this the researchers were able to conclude that the effect of the marijuana is mediated by a CB1 receptor in the amygdala.
The findings have been published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology The Times of India reports.