Cannabis and ADHD

[Skorpio]

Imo the "research branch" of corporate healthcare is problematic. This impacts everything including ADHD and cannabis medications (eg Dronabinol, Epidyolex, Sativex, Rimbonant).

The origins of corporate healthcare are outlined here, some excerpts:



https://meridianhealthclinic.com/how-rockefeller-created-the-business-of-western-medicine/

Not being allowed to research schedule I drugs is and has been a complete travesty.

I think there is less corporate influence on academic research than this implies. I have been in a few well funded labs and the only private money they took was from foundations like HHMI. I know professors who have formed companies from the basis of their academic research, and they deeply believe they are helping people, not just keeping them sick.

Greed drives everybody, but I have never understood why alternative medicines are treated as ideologically pure where medical doctors are keeping us sick for profit.

That article acts like the loss of homeopathy from modern medicine is a shame. Do you think homeopathy has any place in evidence based medicine?

I also feel that alternative medicine providers like the one you quoted are just as guilty for selling hogwash due to a profit motive (and worse, they don’t ever need to demonstrate safety or efficacy).

Imo the "research branch" of corporate healthcare

What do you mean by this? Research on BDNF being a hub of SSRI action was carried out by publically funded labs across the world, as is the oxidative stress-hormesis model of statins.

This work was done much later in part to answer questions brought up by other work (why do cetp inhibitors have no effect on mortality even though they lower ldl and raise hdl) (why do ssris have such a lag time, and what is the molecular mechanism of depression).

 

[posolof]

I think some of those conclusions feel like they are made in isolation.

I agree that norepinephrine activates a2 adrenergic receptors, but am unsure of the sufficience or necessity of GABA in this response. That paper mentioned that clonidine effects gaba levels but the citation for that is buried so there isn’t much context. The presynaptic a2 receptors are Gi coupled and are sufficient on their own to decrease catecholamine release. Expressing a2 receptors on cells is sufficient to drive an inhibitory response from its agonists.

The dopamine paper you cited has more to do with corticosteroids not impacting d2 receptor levels. They cite a paper demonstrating that d2 selective agonists reduce aberrant cortisol release in Cushing’s Syndrome, but I would advise the caveats that this is a pathological state, and selective d2 agonism does not occur subsequent to dopamine release.

D2 receptors are inhibitory towards adenylyl cyclase, but D1 receptors stimulate it. D1 receptors are expressed in adrenal glands as well as the d2 family, making dopamine unlikely to selectively inhibit release of adrenal hormones.

Are there any papers which discuss this theory of ADHD directly? I am wary of drawing conclusions based on tangential interpretations of papers reporting other findings, and for those looking for well researched and reliable information on this topic Ministry Cannabis is a great resource that covers the science behind cannabis and its effects on conditions like ADHD in a thorough and accessible way.

Yes, many people with ADHD report that cannabis helps quiet the mental noise and improve focus, but strain and dosage matter a lot. Low doses of sativa-dominant strains or CBD-dominant products with low THC tend to work best for focus. Higher doses can actually make concentration worse so starting low and going slow is key. Vaping is popular for quick onset and easier dose control, while edibles work better for longer-lasting effects throughout the day.