cannabis cough cure
in most countries, using cannabis is likely to land one in trouble with the law. but the substance has also inspired a cure for coughing fits discovered under sponsorship of the US government.tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive chemical found in cannabis, besides its well-known effect on the brain, also latches onto the nerve cells in the upper airways of mammals and short-circuits the signals that cause coughing spasms.
the US government's national institute of health (NIH) has been paying the university of california in oakland to develop a cough cure based on this effect. researchers found that a recently discovered relative of THC – arachidonylethanolamide (anandamide) – can have a similar cough-quelling effect, but without also making users high [er... what's the point again? ah yes, the coughing cure...].
anandamide can be puffed into a person's airways from an aerosol inhaler and latch onto the same nerve cells as thc. but it binds so tightly to the cells that it will not get into the bloodstream.
the drug has so far been tested on rats and guinea pigs, which were given the treatment and then sprayed with pepper. microphones inside the animal's cages counted the coughs – and they were significantly reduced after the aerosol cure was administered.
you may read the cannabis cough cure here.
source: new scientist.
