Drugs in My Pocket (Health)

[Ishmael]

Fascinating.

THC, the active agent in Marijuana, has a demonstrated psychoactive effect that triggers psychosis in some people and, over time, can trigger schizophrenia.

However, Marijuana also contains another agent known as CBD and recent research has shown that CBD protects against the psychosis-inducing effects of THC.

It's almost as though Marijuana had been designed for the human brain.

Link

[DPCrisp]

Or vice versa.

[Ishmael]

[Mick Harper]

I presume skunk has upset this finely-wrought balance.

[Ishmael]

[Chad]

[Chad]

Whilst out walking the dog the other day, I stumbled across a cluster of fly agarics. I impulsively gathered them and popped them into a plastic bag that that I had in my pocket.

When I got home I consumed a piece about the size of a ten pence piece (there was no noticeable intoxication). The remainder are currently in a paper bag (didn't want to leave in plastic) sitting on a pile of logs in the garage.

Any suggestions?

[Grant]

Mushroom risotto is very nice. Although the cooking might remove the hallucinatory effect - see this website

http://honest-food.net/2011/12/24/eating-santas-shroom/

I'm fascinated now and will look out for them when I walk my dog.

[Chad]

Thanks for the link Grant.

Unfortunately when I retrieved them from the garage, they hadn't kept very well and looked rather unappetizing, so ended up in the bin.

Next time I'll dry them, in a low oven, as soon as I get home which should give me longer to experiment and get the dose right.

By the way, cooking them shouldn't remove the hallucinogenic effect (unless you boil them and throw away the water) so risotto would be perfect.

[Boreades]

Err, doesn't that depend on what the psycho-active part is?

For example, there are beneficial enzymes in raw honey (as still used for medical purposes) but these break down if the honey is heated above 50 deg C.

[Chad]

I can set the fan oven as low as 40 degrees.

I wouldn't expect too much harm to come at that sort of temperature... but I haven't found any more fly agarics to try it out.

I'll have one last hunt this weekend.

[Boreades]

More from the garden that just keeps giving.

Last weekend, M'Lady Boreades sought my help in clearing a patch of nettles that have made an early start. Feeling philosophical about grasping the nettle got me thinking. Nature usually has a place and a use for everything, so what are nettles good for?

Two days later, my question is answered.

Formic acid, found in nettles and ants, could massively improve the effectiveness of a new cancer drug, researchers have said. The Warwick University researchers have combined a chemical made with formic acid, sodium formate, with a drug they have developed based on the metal ruthenium. They had already shown the drug, JS07, could disrupt energy generation in a cancer cell.

The latest finding suggests its effectiveness could be increased by 50 times by the addition of sodium formate. The researchers say this could help reduce the side-effects of treatment by enabling small doses to be used. They have reported their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

Researcher Dr Romero Canelon said: "Current statistics indicate that one in every three people will develop some kind of cancer during their life time, moreover approximately one woman dies of ovarian cancer every two hours in the UK according to Cancer Research UK.

"It is clear that a new generation of drugs is necessary to save more lives and our research points to a highly effective way of defeating cancerous cells."

Transfer hydrogenation catalysis in cells as a new approach to anticancer drug design. Nature Communications 20 March 2015

[Hatty]

'Healing' water comes up repeatedly in folklore along with votive offerings, or tolls as we call them, particularly with reference to eye complaints. It's possible that silver may have anti-septic properties but whether this is just base commercial interest or certified medical fact isn't clear-cut because as usual all sorts of panacea-like claims are made.

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver indicates silver doesn't cause (much) harm though presumably this depends on amount/ratio and how it's ingested. Folklore suggests that silver coins were placed in a deceased person's mouth or over their eyes, most likely to pay the undertaker ferrying the body away but perhaps insurance if life continues on the other side.

Still, it ties in rather neatly with water resources, silvery fish cleaning well water and no doubt all manner of botanical associations of silver-coloured plants.

[Boreades]

Silver does seem to have healing properties; IIRC it was Dr Robert Becker that demonstrated this, and wrote about it in his book "The Body Electric"

Ref http://www.zptech.net/kbase-silver-4.html