Saturday, December 21, 2019

*Prevention, treatment & cure for White-nose Syndrome in Bats using Cannabis extracts

My suggestion for prevention, treatment & cure for White-nose Syndrome in bats is to fumigate infected populations using aerosol terpenes extracted from Cannabis. Anti-fungal properties of Cannabis extracts are well established. Naturally occurring terpenes are non-toxic and may be beneficial to the health of mammals, fish and birds.


"The known sterol β-sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-6′-acetate was isolated for the first time from cannabis. Compounds 6 and 7 displayed significant antibacterial and antifungal activities, respectively, while 5 displayed strong antileishmanial activity." (1)

"Fogging" the caves with plant-based terpenoid compounds, using timers on fogging equipment placed inside the caves, would be the safest, most effective, least intrusive way to apply the materials.

  • "Terpenoid phenols, including carvacrol, are components of oregano and other plant essential oils that exhibit potent antifungal activity against a wide range of pathogens, including Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa." (2)

  • Readiness: How sufficiently developed is the idea? Do intended users have to develop other technologies or methods to apply the idea? Can it use “off the shelf” parts to carry out? (20%)

This idea is ready to deploy immediately, with an abundance of raw material available for extraction in Oregon. Involvement with the Oregon State University’s Global Hemp Innovation Center would expedite development and application of this idea. (3)

  • Deployment Scale: Which geographic regions of the United States and Canada will the idea work in? Can it work in more than one region?  What kinds of bat habitats can the idea work in? Will it work in the presence and absence of P.destructans? (15%)

The idea will work in all regions of the US.

  • Species Susceptibility: Will the idea work for the most highly susceptible bat species? (20%)

Yes, the idea will work for the most highly susceptible bat species.

  • Ease of Use: How easy is the idea to apply? For example, will carrying it out require significant physical exertion, extensive time in the field, highly trained scientists or other specialists, or significant safety training and precautions? (10%)

The method of application will require a minimum of effort, beyond transport of portable fogging equipment to the sites where it is to be set up, left overnight, and recovered after several applications of aerosol terpenes.

  • Cost Efficiency: Submitted solutions are not required to include a specific cost per bat to implement the idea, but do you have a sense of what it would cost to implement the idea? (10%)

The cost of the program would be minimal, since useable plant material is abundant and steam distillation relatively inexpensive. Fogging equipment would be simple to build.

  • Efficacy: How effective is the treatment at the point of application to eliminate or weaken P.destructans to help bats survive? (25%)

The treatment would be very effective, without unintended consequences.

  • Risk to Resources: When used at the proposed scale, will the idea keep harm to native natural or cultural resources at a minimum? Solutions that the judges find help bats, but only at the expense of causing irreparable harm to natural or cultural resources near bat populations, or solutions that cause significant harm to bats themselves, will not be considered for winning this Challenge.

Terpenes derived from plants are biocompatible with mammals. Insects, fungus and viruses are susceptible to terpenes. (4)


Thank you for your consideration, and for your great works.

Sincerely,

Paul J. von Hartmann
Cannabis scholar, photographer (5)


References 
1. Biologically Active Cannabinoids from High-Potency Cannabis sativa. 
2. Mechanism of Antifungal Activity of Terpenoid Phenols Resembles Calcium Stress and Inhibition of the TOR Pathway


3. OSU’s Global Hemp Innovation Center

4. A New MRSA Defense : Marijuana extracts kill antibiotic-resistant MRSA without a high.

5. Cannabis vs. Climate Change


"My team accepts and understands the Terms and Conditions described in the Challenge and agrees to abide by them."



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Thursday, August 8, 2019

Climate change & the rise in deadly fungal infections

The role played by terpenes in our bodies and circulating throughout the Earth's ecosystem are analogous. Terpenes have been a point of interest for me since 1997, when I was introduced to Cannabis terpenes by my friend Vito Mediavilla, eminent research scientist at the Swiss Federal Research Station near Bern.

Since then I learned about the physical dynamic of terpenes, that rise into the atmosphere, where they perform several critically important environmental services.

As they ascend into the stratosphere, terpenes reflect solar UV-B radiation away from the planet and serve as cloud condensation nuclei, forming "bright and persistent clouds." (3)

As a component of the hydrologic cycle, terpenes may play an increasingly significant role in purifying water of pathogens, that may be increasing as the concentration of terpenes is reduced by deforestation and death of marine phytoplankton.

"Pentacyclic triterpenes such as β-amyrin and cycloartenol have been shown to possess numerous biological activities including anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties (Vázquez et al., 2012; Moses et al., 2013). These triterpenes are key contributors to the pharmacological properties of numerous medicinal herbs (Kirby et al., 2008; Yadav et al., 2010; Sawai and Saito, 2011)." (2)

Now, think about how...

"From 2012 to 2015, pathogenic versions of the fungus Candida auris arose independently in Africa, Asia and South America. The versions are from the same species, yet they are genetically distinct, so the spread across continents couldn’t have been caused by infected travelers, says Arturo Casadevall of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health." (1)

"Since mid-2016, when reporting of C. auris infections began in the United States, there have been nearly 700 cases confirmed in 12 states, with deadly outbreaks occurring among patients in hospitals and other health care facilities. More than 30 countries around the world have also reported cases. The fungus causes dangerous infections of the blood, brain, heart and other parts of the body. Studies show that an invasive infection can be fatal 30 to 60 percent of the time. And some infections are resistant to all available antifungal medications." (1)

"Meanwhile, other fungi are wreaking destruction on many animals and plants, including frogs (SN: 4/27/19, p. 5), snakes (SN: 1/20/18, p. 16) and trees (SN: 5/3/03, p. 282). “A lot of our fellow creatures are being wiped out,” Casadevall says. And while mammals have tended to be “remarkably resistant to invasive fungal diseases,” he says, bats have been hit hard by outbreaks of a fungus that causes white nose syndrome in part because their body temperature drops during hibernation (SN Online: 7/15/19)." (1)

Recently it was reported that "An astonishing number of viruses are circulating around the Earth's atmosphere -- and falling from it" (4)

It seems to me that there is an urgent necessity of replenishing the Earth's atmosphere with terpenes, largely overlooked by those people concerned with climate change. #Cannabis #hemp is being revealed as a "Gaiatherapeutic" remedy needed to heal Earth's atmosphere of immune suppressive, Earth-broiling UV-B radiation, and airborne bio-pathogens.

How long will it take to conduct the global conversation that’s needed to heal this planet and human society?

###

References

1. Climate change could raise the risk of deadly fungal infections in humans
Outbreaks of Candida auris have recently erupted around the world
BY AIMEE CUNNINGHAM 6:00AM, JULY 26, 2019
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-could-raise-risk-deadly-fungal-infections-humans

2. Cannabis sativa: The Plant of the Thousand and One Molecules
Christelle M. Andre, Jean-Francois Hausman, and Gea Guerriero
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4740396/

3. Fragrance of pine forests helps to slow climate change
James Randerson, 13 Apr 2006
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/apr/14/environment.climatechange

4. Viruses -- lots of them -- are falling from the sky
An astonishing number of viruses are circulating around the Earth's atmosphere -- and falling from it
February 6, 2018 University of British Columbia
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180206090650.htm
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