Abusing alcohol is highly associated with causing liver disease (ALD) characterized by alcoholic steatosis (AS), steatohepatitis (AH), fibrosis, cirrhosis (AC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the combined use of cannabis (marijuana) with alcohol and the development of liver disease remains unclear, cannabis has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on human physiology. The authors […]
Month: March 2019
Medical Marijuana Not Associated With Lung Cancer
The authors of this study from the Journal of Thoracic Oncology acknowledge the therapeutic benefit of marijuana (cannabis) for chronic diseases and as an adjunct to cancer treatment, particularly chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, and for pain management. They express common medical concern that not enough studies have been done (thank you prohibition) to assess […]
Medical Marijuana For Patients With Cancer
Not all medical marijuana (cannabis) programs do this, but Minnesota’s program is unique because it collects patient-reported scores on symptoms. Read further to find out about improvement in symptom severity for patients with cancer during their first 4 months in this program. Patients in the program reported their symptoms (anxiety, lack of appetite, depression, disturbed […]
Medical Marijuana Improves Brain Function
This study may very well represent the first neuroimaging investigation of patients using marijuana for medical purposes, and the results are both astounding and exciting! This is distinctly different from past evidence regarding recreational use showing potential cognitive deficits. The difference between medical and recreational use will be described further in a moment. At the […]
Medical Marijuana Use In The Elderly
Medical marijuana has slowly become increasingly utilized by all segments of the population, including among the elderly. This study aimed to assess the characteristics of elderly people using medical cannabis and to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the treatment. From January 2015 to October 2017, 2,736 patients greater than 65 years of age began […]
Medical Marijuana May Benefit This HIV Population
The HIV infected population is reported to have a disproportionately high utilization of cannabis (marijuana) in the US. This study focused on the impact of cannabis use on peripheral immune cell frequency, activation and function in 198 HIV-infected antiretroviral-treated individuals. Individuals were categorized into heavy, medium, occasional or non-cannabis users based on testing for metabolites […]
Medical Marijuana And Osteoarthritis Pain
Osteoarthritis pain is one of the most common types of pain patients can experience. It manifests as a combination of inflammatory, nociceptive and neuropathic pain. In the standard medical model each of those pathways requires modality-specific analgesics, adding up to more medicines. However, the human body has a built in endocannabinoid system (ECS) which has […]
Marijuana Does Not Affect Brain Size Or Volume
It is very likely that anyone who has heard the term “marijuana” has also heard of its supposed negative effects on brain development. One manner of evaluating brain development is the measurement of volume or size of various individual regions. The authors of this study set out to evaluate the reputed impact of cannabis (marijuana) […]
Medical Marijuana And The Whole Plant Advantage
It is an understatement to point out that the therapeutic application of cannabis (marijuana) is attracting substantial public and clinical interest. Although the primary interest so far has been on THC and CBD, the plant produces more than 100 different cannabinoids and has been referred to as a veritable “treasure trove”. Other metabolites called terpenes […]
Does Marijuana Affect Cognitive Function?
It would appear that one of the greatest debates surrounding cannabis (marijuana) is whether or not it affects ones ability to acquire knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses (cognition). The objective of this study was “to provide the first quantitative synthesis of the literature examining cannabis and cognitive functioning in adolescents and […]