The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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  • Recent Comments

    Cannabinoids to treat Tourette’s Syndrome?

    marijuana leafThe Cochrane review concludes there’s not enough supporting data.

    First, the details.

    • Only 2 studies in a total of 28 patients met the inclusion criteria.
    • Both compared a cannabinoid, delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9THC), either as monotherapy or combined with other therapy vs placebo.

    And, the results.

    • Both studies reported a positive effect from cannabinoid.
    • But improvements in tic frequency and severity were small and were only detected by some of the tests used to measure outcomes.

    The bottom line?
    Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome is a disorder in which patients have involuntary movement and vocal tics. Drugs used in the treatment Tourette Syndrome either lack efficacy or are associated with intolerable side effects.

    Support for cannabinoids comes from anecdotal reports only.

    It has been suggested that for Tourette’s and many other diseases, “We need to work on the development of more selective cannabinoid receptor agonists/antagonists and related compounds.”

    10/27/09 21:09 JR

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