Transcriber: Rhonda Jacobs
Reviewer: Tanya Cushman Hello, Portland! (Applause) Can you guys hear me? Hello! And hello to everyone streaming -
I know a few of you. Have you had your coffee? Are you ready? Alright. Good. Since you're already settled
in your seats, I want you to lean in because today, I get to tell you a secret. And it's a secret that's been well kept
for almost 30 years. And I want to start
by sharing with you a quick story about a revolutionary named Jill, so let's watch. (Video) Hello. My name's Jill,
and I have Parkinson's disease. I've taken my Parkinson's
prescription medication this morning, and this is how it helps ... and it doesn't. This is my oil - cannabis oil. And I'm just going to spread it
on the biscuit like that. It's been 20 minutes since I've had
that butter and the biscuit, and I feel wonderful. No shakes, no nothing. (Cheers) (Applause) Alright, so we're all happy
Jill got better, right? But you're probably wondering,
How is that possible? How is it possible that her well-researched,
FDA-approved drugs aren't working for her but something else is? It's because there's
a secret system in your body that no one, like no one,
is talking about. Now, we know these systems
really well, right? They're taught in every health,
anatomy and physiology class between elementary,
high school and medical school. You guys know these? Yeah, we have our circulatory
and our pulmonary systems, our skeletal and muscular systems -
just to name a few. And we all know about our nervous system,
which we once thought controlled them all. But today, I'm going to talk to you
about this system. It's a system totally unlike,
supreme to and in control of all the rest. And it was completely left out
of every single medical textbook I read despite its discovery 27 years ago. [W.T.F.] (Laughter) Right? I am not making this up. This is for real. So since it's not in the textbook,
I'm going to share it with you today. I'm going to share with you
the real science and the real history of this system and how you can use it
to take control of your health. But before I do, I want to share my story. So when I was a kid, I wanted
to become a doctor like my parents. But as medical school approached and my parents reflected
on the changing medical field, my mom encouraged me
to "do something different" with medicine. So I pursued a dual degree
in medicine and business to become a doctor entrepreneur because we need entrepreneurs - we can change the world with our ideas, and I wanted to become
a world-changing doctor. Can't you tell? (Laughter) Yes! With that notion, I was eager
and energized to learn. But what I learned deflated me. Because for me, the salient lesson
from medical and business school was that big medicine is a big bureaucracy
and paradoxical to health. It was a heavy, really weighty,
ethical dilemma that forced me to confront the dichotomy between wanting to become a healer
but becoming a drug pusher. I was training into a system pretty blasé and disinterested in addressing
the root cause of disease and driven by patent medicine. This is not what I signed up for. And I was this close, literally,
from walking away from medicine. But I found a family medicine program
with an integrative medicine track, and that provided me a lens
into ancient healing practices. Now, we benefit tremendously from the advancing technologies
and innovations of today's medicine. But what I found was that people used to be great
at healing themselves and others and doing so with natural substances
and simple practices, like herbs and acupuncture
and yoga and meditation and more. This wasn't witchcraft or voodoo, right? It wasn't then and it's not today. These healers knew what worked,
and they had sound theories as to why; they just lacked the science. They lacked the biophysical model
demonstrating how, and it was hidden
in this secret system all along. Are you guys ready to know what it is? (Audience) Yeah! Alright, so we're going to start
with a word clue. Can anybody pronounce this word? [Endo-can-nabi-noid] Okay, well, let's do it together. So for the benefit of the group,
let's sound it out. Ready? Endo can nabi noid. Endo can nabi - noid Endo - can ... Louder, Portland! Endo - can - nabi - noid Endo - can (Audience) nabi - noid (Whoops) Masterful. Yes. Thank you. So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, this secret system is what's known
as the endocannabinoid system. Or ECS for short, so if I say that,
you know what I mean. And now, we get to really nerd out
as I explain what it is and how it works. So the endocannabinoid system resides within all animals
except the insect. It's a 600-million-year-old
messenger and receptor system integral to homeostasis,
or the management of balance, within your body. From embryonic development
to immunosurveillance, there is not a single
function in your bodies that is not somehow influenced
or modulated by the ECS. You can think of it as a switchboard functioning in and across
all physiologic processes and organs, acting and reacting
to internal and external stimuli to direct, correct
and overall manage your health. Although a gross simplification, the endocannabinoid system
can be broken down into four core components. First up we have
the cannabinoid receptors, like CB1 and CB2 and counting. Next we have the ligands
that bind to those receptors and initiate an action
called endocannabinoids, or body-made cannabinoids,
like anandamide and 2-AG. And we have the synthesizing enzymes that make these endocannabinoids
on demand when they're needed and the degradative enzymes
that break them down after they're used. And it works through something
called retrograde signalling. So illustrated in this diagram
is the route of an endocannabinoid that's made in a post-synaptic neuron in response to
neurotransmitter stimulation. It then travels backwards,
or retrograde, across a synapse, where it binds to a cannabinoid receptor
on the pre-synaptic membrane to initiate an action, in this case, blocking
the release of neurotransmitter. So let me break it down
a little bit simpler with an analogy. (Laughter) Yes. So let's say the endocannabinoid system is your dormitory
or your apartment building, and your neighbor across the hall
is making a lot of noise, and they're getting really loud. You just walk across the hall, and you politely ask them
to turn the volume down. So you can imagine
how important this function is when cells are sending signals
of stress, pain or inflammation. Like your noisy neighbor,
these processes need to be checked. And it's through this mechanism that the endocannabinoid system
checks these processes back into balance so that your body can relax,
remember to eat, fall asleep, forget traumatic experiences
and protect itself, along with a host of other mediating
and restorative processes. The endocannabinoid system
keeps your body in balance. Up to now, you guys probably
thought the brain was the boss, right? We all did. But the brain's not the boss. The endocannabinoid system is. And we had it wrong. So with all that said,
you guys might be confused why this really awesome system
was kept secret for so long. Well, I'd say that it probably has something to do
with the plant they used to discover it. So back in the '80s, researchers
wanted to know how THC worked. And THC is a plant-made cannabinoid,
or phytocannabinoid, found in cannabis, and it's responsible for the intoxicating
and euphorogenic properties that cannabis is so infamous for. And using radio-tagged THC,
the endocannabinoid system was discovered as THC locked into and unveiled
this extensive receptor network concentrated throughout the brain
and throughout the rest of the body. And THC did this because, they found out,
it's a direct analog, or mimicker, of our own endocannabinoid, anandamide. And as an aside, anandamide,
also known as the bliss molecule, is what's really responsible
for the runner's high, not endorphins. Right? So if any of you have ever experienced
the euphoria that's come with exercising, that's your endocannabinoid system -
that's anandamide. And we're finding more, each day, about over 100 other phytocannabinoids
found in cannabis and other plants that mimic our endocannibinoids and have the potential to supplement
or modulate the endocannabinoid system in therapeutic and healing ways. So this is where we're at: We have this incredibly
mind-blowing system, and we have this plant - y'all, a plant - that works on this system
in therapeutic and healing ways, so what I really hope
you're wondering right now is "What's wrong with that?" Alright, well, the answer lies within
the annals of American medical history, starting with two guys who really wanted to sell
a lot of prescription drugs. And in their heyday
at the turn of the 20th century, American medicine was based
on homeopathy and herbal medicine, and naturopaths and chiropractors
weren't "getting down" with patent drugs. So with the millions of dollars
in their pocketbook, a document called the Flexner Report and the full force of state governments, American medical training
was consolidated and standardized in accordance with
pharmaceutical drug science to the exclusion
of holistic care practices, natural substances and remedies
and natural cures. And this created a system that made patentable pharmaceutical
drugs that treated symptoms easy to sell, and that made natural
holistic care and practices and unpatentable
plant medicine like cannabis fringe, quackery and illegal. What's surprising the most is that US physicians prescribed
cannabis routinely to their patients well into the 20th century. Cannabis was once a top three
most commonly prescribed medicines, dwindling out of use
due to heavy taxation, the prosecution of the doctors
who prescribed it, and, finally, it being written out
of the American pharmacopeia in 1942. You see, big business wrote my textbook. And I can only speculate that the endocannabinoid system
was kept secret for so long because its science validated the use
of unpatentable plant medicine, like cannabis and other natural practices. But the pharmaceutical industry
wasn't the only big business disrupting the once-free market of health. We Americans spend multiples
of billions of dollars annually on unhealthy and low quality foods in addition to the prescription drugs
we reflexively depend upon, both of which are directly linked
to endocannabinoid system dysfunction, which we now know is the precipitant
to most chronic diseases. And as a result, Americans
are getting sicker and sicker, riding around and round
on a Ferris wheel of big interests that we pay to ride. That doesn't make any sense. We're outsourcing the responsibility
of our health to the bigs, and they're cashing in at our expense. Staying on this ride is a losing battle. But this can be the past ... if we reimagine our future. And in this future, all we need ... is love. (Cheers) (Applause) Yeah. (Applause) But the type of love
that I'm talking about ... is self-love. Because in the battle with the bigs, self-love is the revolution of one. Not until we start taking
good care of ourselves do we opt out of
the big business of disease. And the revolution of one
is you choosing to live in balance, and the endocannibinoid system
is your on-ramp. Now, as powerful and resilient
as the endocannibinoid system is, it is not immune to aging
or the assaults of modern living, like those unhealthy foods
and chronic use of prescription drugs, environmental pollutants and toxins, emotional stress and how all of those things
interplay on our genetics. Now, I've just listed
the top five contributors to ECS dysfunctioning and disease, and they should be avoided. But caring for yourself
and your endocannibinoid system requires a bit of understanding
of what nurtures it and what restores it, and here are your tools: Eat real food because it provides the body
with what it needs for healthy cells and the raw materials for building
those endocannibinoids. Supplement with adaptogenic
herbs and spices because they soothe and tone
the endocannibinoid system, aiding in balance restoration. Detox because it cleanses the body. It reduces inflammation and rids it of hamful toxins that abet
endocannibinoid system dysfunction. Incorporate phytocannabinoids
and cannabimimetic practices. Phytocannabinoids, like CBD and THC,
when taken as whole plant cannabis, have shown helpful in diseases of endocannibinoid system
dysfunction and wellness overall. And cannabimimetic practices -
I know, that's another fancy word - like sleeping and exercise,
yoga and meditation, deep breathing and prayer soothe and tone the endocannibinoid system as though they were
supplements themselves. And lastly, maintain
healthy relationships. The effects of personal relationships
across work, home, your social settings affect endocannibinoid system tone. And y'all, create reasons
to smile and hug often. Because as it turns out,
smiling and hugging, part and parcel
with healthy relationships, triggers the release
of your endocannibinoid anandamide, the bliss molecule. Now, as we're nearing the end of my talk, I know I've given you
a mouthful of information, and it might be a little overwhelming, but I really hope it piqued your curiosity
and maybe sparked some inspiration as it did for me. And I and my family have been so compelled by the physiology
of the endocannibinoid system and the care it requires that we're pioneering
the nascent fields of endocannabinology and cannabinoid medicine with many other scientists
and clinicians worldwide. This is our calling. And affecting systemic change
with this system is what gets us up and going
every morning, and we're not going to stop
until this information is in the textbook. Are you with me, Portland? Right? (Applause) (Cheers) I mean, this is life-changing information. (Applause) (Cheers) Yes. So I encourage us all
to learn from our past and reimagine our future
(Whispering) with this system. Because the secret to balanced health resides in the science and total care
of the endocannibinoid system, and I can tell you
like we tell our patients that getting started
is a lot simpler than you think. You just have to choose one. And you too can be a revolutionary like Jill. Thank you. (Applause) (Cheers)
