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UK: New cannabis drug to cure 'munchies'

Roger Highfield and Nic Fleming

The Telegraph

Wednesday 07 Sep 2005

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A new family of anti-obesity drugs has emerged from studies of how smoking
cannabis triggers the "munchies" - a craving for sweet food.

A French company is about to launch one such drug to cut waistlines, while
a British team reported yesterday that it had found a compound with similar
effect. It had also uncovered a new "dimmer switch" molecular mechanism
that could help control weight.

Cannabinoid compounds found in cannabis affect the brain by acting through
a specific target - or receptor - located on nerve cells, it was recently
discovered. This led to the realisation that our bodies produce their own
cannabinoids, which activate these receptors and seem to fine tune a range
of functions, such as pain perception and the immune systems.

Now rimonabant, a drug that blocks cannabinoid receptors, may soon be
introduced by Sanofi-Aventis to reduce weight, according to Prof Roger
Pertwee of Aberdeen University. His team has also found a "volume control"
for increasing or decreasing the sensitivity of the receptors to cannabinoids.

 

 

 

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