Now we're talkin'!

[Seascamp]

Early in the last century the Colt semi-auto .45 was developed and it?s my understanding that at least part of the need for this heavy pistol was to have some real knock down power. As I understand the situation the US Army was up against the Moro (Moslem) fighters in Mindanao and the Moros would get all jacked-up on something or other and were unstoppable with the sidearm of the time. I think it was a .38 revolver, but I?m not sure.

The coveted side arm of the PNP and PA (Philippine National Police & Philippine Army) is the Colt .45 and probably for the same reasons or maybe just for macho things, I don?t know. The Moros are now the MILF or Moro Islamic Liberation Front and still battling to gain control of Mindanao but currently are being shoved out of the way by the Abu Sayeff which is a subset of Al Qaeda. It would be pleasing and a positive thing if the MILF and Abu Sayeff continued their territorial dispute battles with each other in a big way and both continued to get all jacked up and just let it rip, big time. May they both rest in pieces and the more pieces the better, eh.

Scamp


And Andy, the more things change the more they stay the same. A while back I lived in the town of Hamhamamet which is in fact ancient Carthage, more or less. Anyway, the morning routine was for the Arab Gents to go to the local coffee shop, BS about the morning conspiracy theory de jour, drink their mega high octane coffee and grab a hit or so from the shop hash water pipe. Now talk about wired and good to go, yikes!!! And then the faithful would meander off to morning prayers to presumably get the latest jet blast form the Mullah I reckon.

[revwardoc]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3561686.stm

'Cannabis' brain tumour drug hope

An ingredient in marijuana may be useful for treating brain cancers, say Spanish researchers from Madrid.

Chemicals called cannabinoids could starve tumours to death by halting the growth of blood vessels that feed it, the Complutense University team hope.

By studying mice, the team has shown for the first time how these chemicals block vessel growth. Their study, published in Cancer Research, also shows the treatment appears to work in humans.









Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common brain cancer and is notoriously difficult to treat. It can evade destruction by radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. Dr Manuel Guzm?n and colleagues set out to determine whether they could prevent the cancer from growing by destroying its blood supply. Previous research has shown cannabinoids block the growth of blood vessels in mice, but little is known about how these chemicals do this and whether they might do the same in human tumours.

Starving tumours

The researchers first gave mice cancer resembling the human form of brain cancer they wanted to study. They then treated the mice with cannabinoid and examined the genes of the mice. The activity of genes associated with blood vessel growth in tumours through the production of a substance called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was reduced. Cannabinoids appeared to stifle VEGF production by increasing the activity of a substance that controls cell death, called ceramide. Lead researcher Dr Guzm?n said: "As far as we know, this is the first report showing that ceramide depresses VEGF pathway by interfering with VEGF production." Their next challenge was to see if cannabinoids had the same effect in humans. They took samples from two patients with glioblastoma multiforme who had not responded to surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.

Treatment for humans

Samples were taken before and after the patients were treated with cannabinoid solution infused directly into the tumour. In both patients, VEGF levels in the tumour were reduced following treatment with cannabinoids. Although they only looked at two patients, the researchers hope their findings could lead to new treatments. "The present findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies," said Dr Guzm?n. Dr Richard Sullivan, Head of Clinical Programmes at Cancer Research UK, said: "This research provides an important new lead compound for anti-cancer drugs targeting cancer's blood supply. "Although this work is at an early stage of development, other research has already demonstrated that VEGF is an important drug target for a range of cancers. "The key now will be to show further activity in pre-clinical cancer models, find out in which combinations cannabinoids show greatest activity and formulate a product that can be tested in man. "It is important to note that cannabinoids would need to generate very strong data in the future as there are already a number of VEGF inhibitors in clinical development," he said.

[Dragon Lady]

Right here in Albany, NY the State University of New York (SUNY) was granted the authorization and given a government grant to come up with a "Pot" patch. Much like the estrogen patches that they give to menopausal women. They are trying to develope a way to administer the helpful properties of cannibis to those with cancer without the harmful effects that smoking it can bring.

With luck and patience, someday they may succeed.