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Saturday, February 9, 2019

FoxFeed Blog: Ask the MD: Myths about Levodopa

Posted by  Rachel Dolhun, MD, February 07, 2019

Have you heard that levodopa loses effectiveness over time? Or that everyone who takes it eventually develops dyskinesia (involuntary, uncontrolled movements)? These misconceptions might prevent people with Parkinson's from using levodopa when it could help them continue activities they want and need to do, such as exercise, work and socialize. Watch the video to learn more about these and other levodopa myths.


https://youtu.be/Q2ppZ0DLjMY


Ask the MD has been made possible through the leadership of members of our Parkinson's Disease Education Consortium in conjunction with The Albert B. Glickman Parkinson's Disease Education Program and Charles B. Moss Jr. and family. These partners' support allows us to furnish high-quality educational content to the Parkinson's community while maintaining our commitment to allocate donor dollars to high-impact research. Editorial control of all Michael J. Fox Foundation-published content rests solely with the Foundation.

https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/news-detail.php?ask-the-md-myths-about-levodopa-a

Friday, February 8, 2019

Dolly Parton FĂȘted As MusiCares Person of the Year

By California News Wire Services, News Partner 

The country music icon will be honored Friday at the 2019 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute at the Los Angeles Convention Center.



SANTA MONICA, CA — Eight-time Grammy winner Dolly Parton will be honored Friday evening at the 2019 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, which raises funds for the Recording Academy's charity that assists music people in times of financial, medical and personal need.
The 29th annual benefit gala at the Los Angeles Convention Center comes two nights prior to the 61st annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Staples Center.
Parton -- the first artist from the Nashville music community to be honored by MusiCares -- is being recognized "for her considerable creative accomplishments and her longtime support of a number of causes through her Dollywood Foundation, including the Imagination Library, which, since 1996, has provided more than 100 million books to children from birth to 5 years of age in the United States, Canada, Australia and the U.K.," according to the Recording Academy.
"Dolly Parton has always been and continues to be a courageous trailblazer and indomitable inspiration for creators and artists, so for us to have the opportunity to honor her at our annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala is to pay tribute to a true pillar of strength and someone who we all look up to and cherish," said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of MusiCares and the Recording Academy.
"With her legendary talent, she has forged a career that spans decades, and her gifts as a performer resound on both stage and screen," he said. ``Dolly also knows the power of philanthropy and she has used her stardom to contribute to a wide range of causes from natural disasters to education and literacy programs."
Parton said she was ``so excited and humbled to be honored as MusiCares Person of the Year. It's even more special knowing the gala benefits music people in need. I can't wait to hear all of the great artists singing my music."
Michael McDonald, MusiCares' board chair, said that in its last fiscal year, the nonprofit ``provided more than $6.4 million to more than 8,500 members of the music industry -- the largest number of clients served and dollars distributed in a single year in our charity's history. We are confident that our 2019 Person of the Year tribute to Dolly Parton will help us raise the funds that sustain and expand our mission."
The gala will begin with a reception and silent auction offering luxury items, VIP experiences and celebrity memorabilia for bidding guests, followed by a dinner, live auction and tribute concert.
Established in 1989 by the Recording Academy, MusiCares offers health and human services and programs to members of the music community, including emergency financial assistance for basic living expenses such as rent, utilities and car payments; medical expenses, including doctor, dentist and hospital bills; treatment for HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other critical illnesses; and access to addiction recovery treatment and sober living resources.
MusiCares also offers nationwide educational workshops covering a variety of subjects, including financial, legal, medical, and substance abuse issues; programs in collaboration with health care professionals that provide services such as flu shots, hearing tests and medical/dental screenings; and holds weekly addiction support groups.
City News Service; Photo: LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 06: Dolly Parton arrives at the premiere of Netflix's 'Dumplin'' at the Chinese Theater on December 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
https://patch.com/california/santamonica/dolly-parton-fted-musicares-person-year

Parkinson’s patient uses power of positive thinking to inspire others

February 8, 2019

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Those in Siouxland living with Parkinson’s Disease and their caretakers learned new skills Friday to help battle the degenerative disease.
Experts at an event held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux City had several recommendations, including exercises.
Those in attendance learned some stretches they can easily do at home or in a class setting.
As part of the event, attendees also heard from presenters on topics ranging from deep brain stimulation, aquatic exercises, and current and future treatments for the disease.
One woman at the event is using the power of positive thinking to helps inspire others with the disease.
“I was diagnosed as a young onset patient when I was 48, so 16 years ago, I was diagnosed and I’ve dealt with Parkinson’s now for 16 years,” said Victoria Miller.
The American Parkinson Disease Association says nearly one million people in the United States live with the disease.
It can affect people of all age groups, but people typically develop the disease in their 50s.
But the APDA adds, about 10-percent of those with Parkinson’s, like Miller, are under the age of 50.
Miller says since her diagnosis, her fight has all been about attitude.
“There’s no way to stop this disease,” said Miller, “but there’s a lot of things we can do to treat it and one of the things we can do to treat it is having a good attitude and optimism.”
She says she doesn’t let her diagnosis get her down.
Instead, she is trying to inspire others battling Parkinson’s.
“I didn’t know anyone who had Parkinson’s Disease, except for me and that is what I’m trying to change now on a personal level because I think it’s so important we are a community of comfort,” said Miller.
Miller says she stays busy in her day-to-day life.
“I have continued to try to do everything I want to do. I forge forward sometimes to the point where my husband insists that I go lay down and rest a little bit because I am not going to give in. I am not going to give up,” says Miller.
And, Miller always makes sure to have her “fighter” spirit intact — every day.
She even has a few quotes she lives by.
“Fate whispers to the warrior you cannot stand the storm but, the warrior whispers back I am the storm,” says Miller.
Miller says when she was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, she was surprised, but part of her was relieved because it could have turned out so much worse.
To watch video:
https://ktiv.com/2019/02/08/parkinsons-patient-uses-power-of-positive-thinking-to-inspire-others/

Battling Parkinson’s disease by rejuvenating aging cells

David Warmflash | Genetic Literacy Project | February 8, 2019



It started with a hand tremor that was more pronounced when typing. At first, it just interfered with hobbies. But it got progressively worse. Soon handwriting was illegible. The simple act of walking became difficult. Memory problems and an urgency to urinate finally send the patient to the doctor, for the cruel diagnosis: Parkinson’s disease, a condition resulting from cell degeneration in the brain.
There are other disorders like it, Alzheimer’s for example, that share an important trait — they arise when the body’s aging cells stop doing what they are supposed to do.
For many of these conditions, there are no cures, just treatments designed to slow the progression, where possible. But we may soon be looking at new treatment options developed through mitochondrial genetics and the study of aging.
The degeneration of aging cells is related to abnormalities in power plant organelles called mitochondria. In normal cell function, these mitochondria deteriorate over time and are eventually ejected from the cell.
Over the past few decades, researchers have discovered evidence that mitochondria become dysfunctional because of mutations in their DNA. (Mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, is separate from the DNA comprising the chromosomes of a cell’s nucleus.) The dysfunction, in turn, is connected to cellular aging and the onset of degenerative diseases. There are two new developments in this area of research.
The first involves the realization that while certain mtDNA mutations contribute to the disruption of mitochondrial function, there are mutations in other mitochondrial genesthat prevent the cell from  removing the dysfunctional mitochondria. Essentially, the cell loses the ability to perform its own quality control.
“We know that increased rates of mtDNA mutation cause premature aging,” said Bruce Hay, Professor of biology and biological engineering at the California Institute of Technology. “This, coupled with the fact that mutant mtDNA accumulates in key tissues such as neurons and muscle that lose function as we age, suggests that if we could reduce the amount of mutant mtDNA, we could slow or reverse important aspects of aging.”
This brings us to the second major development relevant to mitochondria in disease — that genetic technology is now at a point where the targeted removal of the problem mitochondrial genes can become the basis for clinical intervention. This is the implication of research that Hay and colleagues both at Caltech and the University of California at Los Angeles described in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications.
Fixing body tissues by knocking out genes that prevent bad mitochondrial from being ousted in a timely fashion might sound like science fiction, but that’s where things are going and it’s part of a growing trend of what’s being described as mitochondrial medicine.
With degenerative diseases, the standard treatment involves the replacement of the physiologic function of the diseased tissue. In Parkinson’s disease, this often means replacing a neurotransmitter called dopamine in a part of the brain where it’s lacking, due to degeneration of dopamine-making cells. While this works well in the initial stages of the disease, it gradually becomes less effective.
There are two new strategies. One is to regenerate the failing tissue using stem cells. The other is gene therapy in which the patients’ own brain cells are given the ability to make something they don’t usually make. For instance, the part of the brain that usually receives dopamine is given the ability to make its own dopamine.
Neurosurgeons are actually quite good at injecting agents into specific regions of the brain with extreme precision. This is why gene therapy and stem cell therapy are showing promise. But this also means there’s a capability to deliver agents that could affect mitochondria. It means that it should be possible in the near future to manage degenerative diseases with a third advance treatment prong: restoring the cell’s ability to expel failing mitochondria.

The CHRONDI Creed: A Guide for Parkinson’s Warriors

February 8, 2019 Dr. C's 



The challenges of any chronic disease require the mental attitude of a warrior. Like the code of the samurai, the CHRONDI Creed is both a guide for battle and for living.

CHRONDI is an acronym from the first letters in the words chronic disease. The letters stand for each part of the creed as follows:
 C – compassion, H – happiness, R – rehabilitation, O – others, N – nature, D – death, and I – individuality.
Following is the CHRONDI Creed and its self-affirming dialogue. This is followed by a description of each self-affirming statement in this chronic disease warrior’s creed.
C – Compassion: I will act compassionately toward others and find gentleness toward self.
H – Happiness: I will seek the inner bliss of happiness that is not material in nature.
R – Rehabilitation: I will apply courage and mindfulness to my part in fighting the disease.
O – Others: I will genuinely communicate to others my experiences and maintain an attitude of gratitude for their help.
N – Nature: I will take time to embrace nature and all its beauty.
D – Death: I will find the courage to face the terror of “death” (loss) and not let it control me.
I – Individuality: I will continue to express my individuality and my purpose, beyond the disease.

These CHRONDI Creed statements are short “I” statements that not only can be self-affirming, but also they can change how a disease affects one’s life. If these statements become an inner dialogue, a way of thinking and acting, then they can contribute to quality of life.

Compassion as a way of thinking and acting is the foundation of the CHRONDI Creed. It is a state of being that is expressed both externally and internally. In the face of chronic disease, this is certainly difficult. But it doesn’t have to be perfect saintly compassion. It can start with small steps, such as taking the time each day to do something for someone else. In addition, this sense of a gentle kindness can be applied with a kind word to self, such as: “You did well today.”

Happiness is not tied to material things, although it may appear to be. Rather, happiness is tied to an internal state of being often connected to events, not possessions. We are happy because we feel happy. A state of bliss can accompany times when an event generates ecstasy — a bliss of happiness. Happiness is an important part of well-being in the face of chronic disease. Returning to the bliss can be as simple as finding things we enjoy and taking time to laugh out loud.

Rehabilitation means that we will do our part to support all treatment modalities that are used to fight the chronic disease.

The term others stands for all relationships in our lives. The statement is a promise to speak in an authentic manner with a sense of gratitude.

Nature, and all its beauty, when incorporated into life can make a difference in our well-being. A stroll through the woods or a park while maintaining a quiet mind can add to our quality of life. Gardening is also therapeutic.

Death” has quotes around it because it refers to the death of those things the disease has taken and will continue to take. There is “terror” in facing this “death.” Terror management takes courage and practice to find a calm center in the middle of the storm.

Expressing individuality is balanced against the time used by the chronic disease, the thought and emotion that the chronic disease consumes. Find your inner voice, your unique identity, and your purpose. Let that light that is you continue to shine forth.

The CHRONDI Creed is a list of statements I have used to help me as a warrior against the ever-worsening effects of Parkinson’s disease. Not for a single day can I achieve a level of perfection with all aspects of the creed. Perfection is an illusion, perhaps a nightmare. Rather, I hold these statements as an inner dialogue, a path to follow, a gentle guide for living. It is in this way that the CHRONDI Creed improves my quality of life.

How does the CHRONDI Creed sit with you?

***
Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.

https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/02/08/chrondi-creed-parkinsons-warriors-guide/

Changes in Neuronal Communication Linked to Falls and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s, Study Finds

New Diagnostics for PD Might Allow Early Diagnosis, Prevention

 FEBRUARY 8, 2019 BY ALEJANDRA VIVIESCAS



A new way of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease based on manifestations that appear decades before motor symptoms — the current hallmarks for diagnosis — might allow early diagnosis and even prevention.
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by progressive loss of coordination and movement. Currently, a person is diagnosed when those symptoms appear. However, there are some risk factors and symptoms that precede motor manifestations and constitute the early stages of the disease (called prodromal).
“Brilliant work of many in different scientific fields has paved the way for the concept of prodromal  [Parkinson’s disease]; that is, a phase of years to decades in which non-motor and subtle motor symptoms may indicate spreading PD pathology, but do not meet the threshold for diagnosis according to the classic motor-based clinical criteria,” researchers said.
The development of new diagnostic criteria that allow the identification of prodromal Parkinson’s might help to better understand disease progression, lead to early diagnosis and treatment, and prevent classic motor symptoms.
Now, Parkinson’s experts Daniela Berg, MD, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany, and Ronald B. Postuma, MD, MSc, Montreal General Hospital, Canada, have developed a mathematical model that calculates a person’s risk of being in the prodromal phase of the disease. This model is based on three main premises relative to Parkinson’s prodromal phase:
  • The fact that the neurodegenerative process in Parkinson’s is slow and continuous, possibly starting in the gut or olfactory system, finally reaching the nervous system;
  •  The increased knowledge regarding risk factors and clinical symptoms that occur years or decades prior to motor manifestations. These can be correlated to imaging findings and tissue examinations;
  • Studies have found that people who manifest different combinations of risk and prodromal markers can many times progress to Parkinson’s disease.
Currently, however, the model has some limitations. For example, it does not consider age and sex factors, and cannot predict whether or when motor symptoms will appear.
“The prodromal PD criteria are meant to be research criteria and constitute a first step in what should be a continually updated process,” researchers stated.
New Parkinson’s biomarkers — substances present in the body that indicate the occurrence of a condition — are continually being discovered, providing new information that makes the model more reliable. In time, the hallmarks for diagnosis might be based on the presence of biomarkers instead of motor symptoms.
Wearable technology, such as mobile phones, also allows the continuous capture of movement in daily life, which will benefit “from new methods of data handling and analyses,” researchers said.
“With new data arising from objective movement measurements, the earlier detection of motor symptoms will become possible. Objectively measured markers … wearable-based markers of activity … indicate that we can expect to change our understanding of early motor PD,” researchers said.
The model will be available online, allowing doctors to calculate the risk for patients. Additionally, there will be a platform where experts can share information and discuss the new criteria for diagnosis.
With this collaborative model, researchers expect to incorporate the new criteria and have a functional model by 2040. This is expected to allow early diagnosis and treatment and, in time, prevention of clinical symptoms.
“Our review highlights the importance of making an earlier diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, and in particular PD, for now primarily to understand the disease better,” Berg and Postuma said in a press release. “However, in the future, once we have preventive therapy, it will become critical to find patients in the earliest stages of the disease so that we can prevent the disease from developing and affecting quality of life.
”https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/02/08/new-diagnostic-criteria-in-parkinsons-might-improve-treatment-prevention/

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Medical Marijuana ‘Can Help Everyone,’ Says Director at Maryland Cannabis Facility

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 BY LARRY LUXNER

Marijuana plants of the Oro Blanco variety dry in Room 212 of the Kind Therapeutics cannabis cultivation facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. (Photos by Larry Luxner)


Warning the reporter accompanying him not to take any pictures, veteran horticulturalist Michael Castleman punches an electronic code and unlocks the door to Room 209, nicknamed the “Mother Room.”
Photography is indeed forbidden inside this living vault, which contains 20 phenotypes of cannabis plants thriving under the glare of 25 ceramic metal halide lamps for 18 hours a day. The plants, arranged in groups of four and narrowed down from an original 1,000 seeds, bear colorful names like Oro Blanco, Bubblegum Diesel, and Sunshine Daydream.
“This is the heartbeat of the whole facility,” Castleman told BioNews Services, publisher of this website. “We keep mothers 12 to 16 weeks before we replace them, and we take cuttings every day. If anything happens to these plants, we’re out of business.”

That business is Kind Therapeutics USA of Hagerstown, Maryland — which holds a license to produce cannabis products in Maryland under a management agreement with MariMed, a publicly traded company based in Massachusetts. The venture’s various offerings contain both cannabidiol(CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.
The company occupies a newly renovated 180,000-square-foot facility and a 10,000-square-foot processing lab that for 130 years housed the Statton furniture factory. Located across the street from a livestock auction house, the sophisticated operation now ranks among the East Coast’s largest suppliers of cannabis for the U.S. medical marijuana industry.
“Hagerstown is very depressed — one of the most economically depressed areas in the state — so we’re bringing life and jobs to this area,” said Abigail Diehl, Kind Therapeutics’ director of business development and sales. “We’re already Maryland’s largest indoor cannabis grower.”
Kind’s product lines include Kalm Fusion powdered tincture and chewable tablets in either mango lime coconut or green tea lemonade. There’s also Nature’s Heritage extracts, concentrates, and vape pens, as well as six types of LucidMood vape pens advertised online under the slogan “Elevate your mood without clouding your mind.”

Medical use legal in 33 states and D.C.

With other entrepreneurs, Diehl is betting that the expanding U.S. legalization of cannabis for medicinal use will boost sales of the company’s products to treat everything from skin cancer to multiple sclerosis (MS).
At the moment, 33 states and the District of Columbia have declared medical marijuana legal; in D.C. and 10 states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — recreational use is also allowed, even though the federal government still considers marijuana in all its forms illegal.
Boxes of “Healer” CBD/THC cannabis drops await distribution at the Kind Therapeutics.
Internationally, Canada is now the world’s largest legal marijuana market, having legalized its cultivation and sale in October 2018 through the Cannabis Act. Uruguay became the first country to fully legalize marijuana in 2013, with sales permitted in local pharmacies.
Last month, Israel became the third country — along with the Netherlands and Canada — to allow the export of medical cannabisTikun Olam, which has given MariMed exclusive rights to produce its cannabis products in Maryland, is among Israel’s top cannabis producers.
“The laws are constantly changing, so it’s difficult to get an accurate number. But this is going to be a $70 billion industry in coming years,” said Diehl, whose family has been a major Maryland fruit and vegetable distributor for nearly half a century. “When the state legalized cannabis in 2016, my friends said I needed to get into this business too, so I jumped in full throttle.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made history when, in June 2018, it approved a first marijuana-derived therapy to treat any disease. In this case, the cannabidiol was Epidiolex — developed by Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals — to be given to patients with Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes, both severe forms of epilepsy.
“This FDA ruling speaks volumes,” Diehl said. “They’re saying, ‘guys, cannabis is not just for people who want to get high. This is a real medicine that can help everyone, including children.’”

Hype vs. data

A 2018 report, “Special Issue: Cannabis in Medicine,” found that cannabis-based productscan reduce spasticity — muscular stiffness or involuntary spasms — in MS patients.
Data from two trials, in Italy and the Czech Republic, support the idea that GW’s Sativex is effective in treating moderate to severe spasticity. The oromucosal spray is a formulated extract of the cannabis plant, and has been approved in Australia, Canada, Israel, and more than a dozen European countries.
Michael Castleman examines baby marijuana plants.


For those with cystic fibrosis, cannabis — in its edible but not smoked form — improves appetite, a key consideration since CF patients are often undernourished. Marijuana’s anti-inflammatory properties may also help reduce inflammation in the lungs, although its overall effects on those with CF remain to be seen.
Cannabis use has also generated vast interest among people with Parkinson’s disease, prompting the Parkinson’s Foundation to plan its first conference on that subject in Denver (March 6-7).
A recent studyjointly conducted by the nonprofit group and Northwestern University found that 80 percent of Parkinson’s patients report using cannabis, and 95 percent of neurologists have been asked to prescribe medical marijuana. But only 23 percent of doctors have received formal education on the subject.
“Having worked as a clinician for the past decade in Colorado — a state at the forefront of medical marijuana use — it is clear that people with Parkinson’s and their families are intensely interested in the potential of marijuana and cannabinoids in helping manage symptoms and other aspects of the disease,” Benzi Kluger, MD, a professor at University of Colorado Hospital and co-chair of the upcoming conference, said in a recent press release.
“To date, there is more hype than actual data to provide meaningful clinical information to patients with Parkinson’s.”

Legal and financial obstacles

This is an extremely regulated industry. In Hagerstown, the premises are under constant surveillance, all plants are accounted for, and all 61 employees had to pass a criminal background check before joining Kind Therapeutics.
Castleman, one of those employees, is happy to show off Room 205, which contains around 400 cannabis plants in living soil. Down the hall is Room 212 — the drying room — which contains upwards of 2,000 plants. Here they hang for exactly 21 days, at exactly 60 percent relative humidity.
The entrance to the Hagerstown, Maryland, facility.
We’re doing a slow cure on the flowers,” Castleman said. “A lot of companies do a ‘fast dry’ where they crank the temps up to 70 degrees and have everything dry in five days. But that degrades the integrity of the flower. Our system preserves the trichomes and increases the terpene profile.”
In partnership with Tikun Olam, Kind Therapeutics opened a seed-to-sale dispensary — known as First State Compassion — in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2015. MariMed also operates in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois and Nevada, and along with GenCanna produces hemp in Kentucky.
Because medical marijuana isn’t legal nationwide, Kind Therapeutics cannot do its banking with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or any other multistate bank in the U.S. Instead, it’s turned to Severn Saving Bank, a local institution, for about 90 percent of its financial needs.
Medical regulation is another issue.
“In some states, if you have a prescription for opioids from your doctors, you can take it to any marijuana dispensary and get cannabis instead,” Diehl said. “Yet doctors are still pushing opioids, and a lot of them are scared to touch cannabis because of the federal ban.”

Looking to the future

Maryland, Diehl said, still needs to allow for cannabis in a variety of edible forms, like gummy bears or fruit chews, because many chronic disease patients don’t want to smoke. “So they’re making food on their own” like brownies and cookies, she added, and they don’t know the concentrations to do it right.
Baby marijuana plants at the Kind Therapeutics cultivation facility.
Ryan Crandall, MariMed’s chief production officer and a veteran of the computer software industry, thinks it crucial that cannabis products be affordable as well as effective. For example, a 100 mg bottle of “Healer” tincture costs $32 and lasts one to two weeks.
“It’s a premium product at a very economical price point, because we want to get this medical product into patients’ hands economically,” he said.
Another product, known as Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), is named after the Canadian cannabis activist who developed it. RSO is notable because it’s a full-plant extract that contains higher levels of THC.
“The lion’s share of people using RSO are getting incredible medical benefits from it, and I’ve met two people in the last month alone who are on maintenance doses and have been cancer-free for years,” Crandall said. “One patient with stage 3 lung cancer was given six months or less to live. He was on chemo and his doctor recommended an RSO regime. He believes the thing that’s keeping him cancer-free is RSO.”
More than 83,000 patients are now registered with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, which entitles them to buy cannabis products at an authorized dispensary. Yet Diehl said it’s been an uphill battle to persuade county authorities to approve new dispensaries around the state — though the landscape does appear to be changing as medical cannabis gains national acceptance.
“A lot of counties just treat us as a CVS now, which is how it should be,” Diehl said in a reference to the U.S. pharmacy chain store. “Some people are still completely opposed to it, and scared that it’s an illegal drug. They don’t want dispensaries in their back yard, but things change when it hits home, when someone they love gets sick and this is going to benefit them.”
Even so, she said, “I don’t want to have it come to that just to get them on board.”
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/02/07/medical-marijuana-can-help-everyone-says-director-at-maryland-cannabis-facility/