Category Archives: News Stories

Alcohol-cancer link stronger than ever – News

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“Alcohol-cancer link stronger than ever”  http://health.msn.co.nz/healthnews/8689975/alcohol-cancer-link-stronger-than-ever

“Study supports alcohol, breast cancer link”  http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/study-supports-alcohol-breast-cancer-link-201111033747

“Alcohol Use Linked to More Cancers”  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/02/18/alcohol-use-linked-to-more-cancers.aspx#!

“The Alcoholic-Cancer Link: Study Shows Even One Drink a Day Could Be Risky”  http://www.everydayhealth.com/cancer/alcoholic-cancer-link-study-shows-one-drink-per-day-raises-risk.aspx

“Alcohol Behind Rise in Breast Cancer Among Women”  http://www.medindia.net/news/alcohol-behind-rise-in-breast-cancer-among-women-122089-1.htm

“Alcohol Linked to Cancer Risk in Women. Study Shows Even Low-to-Moderate Drinking Raises Risk of Cancer.”  http://women.webmd.com/news/20090224/alcohol-linked-to-cancer-risk-in-women

“Why Drinking Alcohol Is Linked to Breast Cancer”  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120423162245.htm

“Alcohol And Genetic Factors Linked To Breast Cancer Risk”  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/103911.php

“Alcohol Linked to Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Study Finds” http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/01/alcohol-linked-to-breast-cancer-diagnosis-study-finds/

“Many cancer deaths traced to alcohol” http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/15/many-cancer-deaths-traced-to-alcohol/

“Light drinking linked to breast cancer risk”  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/medical/health/medical/breastcancer/story/2011-11-01/Light-drinking-linked-to-slight-breast-cancer-risk/51030414/1

“Moderate Drinking Linked to Breast Cancer”  http://www.livescience.com/4421-moderate-drinking-linked-breast-cancer.html

“Heavy Drinking Linked to Aggressive Prostate Cancer”  http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/cancer/articles/2009/07/13/heavy-drinking-linked-to-aggressive-prostate-cancer

“Many Cancer Deaths Traced to Alcohol”  http://www.livescience.com/27259-alcohol-causes-cancer-deaths.html

“Alcohol Plays A Huge Role In Cancer Deaths In The U.S.”  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/256472.php

“Study Shows Link Between Alcohol & Breast Cancer”  http://www.nbc26.com/news/206493561.html

“Alcohol Consumption Boosts Breast Cancer Risk”  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/06/03/alcohol-consumption-boosts-breast-cancer-risk/

“Even Moderate Drinking Can Boost Chance of Breast Cancer Recurrence”  http://abcnews.go.com/Health/OnCallPlusBreastCancerNews/moderate-drinking-linked-breast-cancer-recurrence/story?id=9306082

“Breast cancer link to small amount of alcohol”  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15539450

“Alcohol link to bowel cancer risk”  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6921998.stm

“Alcohol Linked To Breast Cancer”  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-529131.html

“Light drinking linked to breast cancer risk”  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500165_162-20128877/light-drinking-linked-to-breast-cancer-risk/

“Review describes link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer”  http://www.news-medical.net/news/20121024/Review-describes-link-between-alcohol-consumption-and-breast-cancer.aspx

“Breast cancer leading cause of alcohol-attributable death in New Zealand women” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-07-breast-cancer-alcohol-attributable-death-zealand.html

“Alcoholism is linked to higher rates of general and cancer-related deaths” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-alcoholism-linked-higher-cancer-related-deaths.html

“Smoking, heavy drinking linked to earlier onset of pancreatic cancer”  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-heavy-linked-earlier-onset-pancreatic.html

“Heavy alcohol consumption linked to lung cancer”   http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-heavy-alcohol-consumption-linked-lung.html

“Alcohol Use Linked to Risk for Hormone-Sensitive Breast Cancers”  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727432

“Alcohol Linked to Colorectal Cancer Risk”  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/749886

“Heavy Alcohol Use Linked to Colon Cancer Risk”  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/463001

“Link Between Pancreatic Cancer and Alcohol, Tobacco Use”  http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/771688

“Heavy Drinking Linked to Pancreatic Cancer”  http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20110314/heavy-drinking-linked-to-pancreatic-cancer?page=2

“No Amount of Alcohol Is Safe. “Responsible drinking” has become a 21st-century mantra for how most people view alcohol consumption. But when it comes to cancer, no amount of alcohol is safe.” http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/824237

“Even moderate drinking may substantially raise risk of dying from cancer: study”  http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/moderate-drinking-raises-cancer-death-risk-study-article-1.1265529

“Light drinking linked to breast cancer, study finds”  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/light-drinking-linked-to-breast-cancer-study-finds/2011/11/01/gIQASythdM_video.html

“A Drink a Day Raises Cancer Risk, Study Says”  http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/a-drink-a-day-raises-cancer-risk-study-says/

“Even a drink a day boosts cancer death risk, alcohol study finds”  http://www.nbcnews.com/health/even-drink-day-boosts-cancer-death-risk-alcohol-study-finds-1C8381639?franchiseSlug=healthmain

“Drinking linked to endometrial cancer risk”  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20889546/ns/health-cancer/t/drinking-linked-endometrial-cancer-risk/

“Does drinking alcohol increase the risk of cancer? Overall, alcohol consumption is one of the top 10 contributors to sickness and death from injuries, motor vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides, sexual assaults, sexually transmitted infections from unsafe sex, falls, birth defects, depression, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, and sleep disorders. Additionally, there is a lot of evidence that drinking alcohol increases the risk of several cancers.”  http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/expertvoices/post/2013/06/26/does-drinking-alcohol-increase-the-risk-of-cancer.aspx

“Alcohol and Breast Cancer Risk: New Findings… Epidemiological studies have consistently found that heavy drinking can increase the risk of liver, head and neck, and esophageal cancers, and even moderate drinking has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.”  http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes/breast/alcoholuse0408

“Marijuana… Cannabis sativais an annual plant that grows wild in warm and tropical climates throughout the world and is cultivated commercially. The leaves and buds of the plant have been used in herbal remedies for centuries… As of 2012, there are reports online suggesting that marijuana oil or “hemp” oil can cure cancer, as well as diabetes, ulcers, arthritis, migraines, insomnia, infections, and many other diseases.” http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/marijuana

The Active Ingredient in Cannabis can Help Patients Regain Appetite and Sense of Taste Preventing Anorexia

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“For most cancer patients it has always been thought that the only purpose cannabis provided was to act as a painkiller a recent study has suggested that it can also help the patient regain their appetite and sense of taste. If this is true for cancer patients one must wonder if it is true for AIDS patients and patients with other conditions that allow the use of cannabis as a treatment option.”

cannabis.jpg
 

“Preventing Anorexia

In situations such as cancer and AIDS, patient’s anorexia is a common result for the lack of eating and poor nutrition. Although, anorexia is classified as a mental health condition as you can clearly see there is more than one way to become anorexic. By consuming a product (usually a dessert or candy that is made with cannabis) the patient can enjoy a delicious treat while increasing their appetites.

Possible Treatment for Anorexia

An anorexic also loses their appetite as the stomach shrinks and when food is not consumed for long periods of time the taste buds also decline. We are not suggestion people with anorexia should start smoking cannabis but further research into this area of treatment for anorexics is worth studying.

Conclusion

The original study is for cancer patients and the results showed an increase in the patients appetites and the study is worthy of further study for other conditions including anorexia.”

http://www.eatingdisordersonline.com/news/treatment/the-active-ingredient-in-cannabis-can-help-patients-regain-appetite-and-sense-of 

Marijuana Chemical May Fight Brain Cancer – CBSNews

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“The active chemical in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves, researchers in Spain report.

Guillermo Velasco and colleagues at Complutense University in Spain have found that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, causes brain cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy. Autophagy is the breakdown of a cell that occurs when the cell essentially self-digests.

The team discovered that cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells and people with brain tumors . When mice with the human brain cancer cells received the THC, the tumor growth shrank.

Two patients enrolled in a clinical trial received THC directly to the brain as an experimental treatment for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme , a highly aggressive brain tumor. Biopsies taken before and after treatment helped track their progress. After receiving the THC, there was evidence of increased autophagy activity.

The findings appear in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The patients did not have any toxic effects from the treatment. Previous studies of THC for the treatment of cancer have also found the therapy to be well tolerated, according to background information in journal article.

Study authors say their findings could lead to new strategies for preventing tumor growth.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-4913095.html

“Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells…These findings describe a mechanism by which THC can promote the autophagic death of human and mouse cancer cells and provide evidence that cannabinoid administration may be an effective therapeutic strategy for targeting human cancers.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673842/

 

Cannabis use does not cause schizophrenia

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“According to a new report by a British government advisory body, the regular use of cannabis though it can have real and significant mental health effects it is unlikely to cause schizophrenia.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs says that based on current evidence smoking cannabis was likely to increase the chances of developing schizophrenia by just one per cent.”

More: http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/01/24/15577.aspx

Marijuana’s Link to Schizophrenia Debated – American News report

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“With the growing use of medical marijuana to treat chronic pain and other health problems, the debate over the medical effects of the drug on the human mind continue to make their way through the medical community.

The latest salvo comes from researchers in Australia and England.  At the center of the debate is the possible relationship between marijuana (cannabis) and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Castle cites one study that indicated people with schizophrenia had a lifetime rate of cannabis exposure of 97 percent – meaning almost all of them have tried the drug.  Yet, he also notes that most people who use cannabis do not develop schizophrenia, and that many people diagnosed with schizophrenia have never used cannabis.

“Therefore, it is likely that cannabis exposure is a ‘component cause’ that interacts with other factors to ‘cause’ schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, but is neither necessary nor sufficient to do so alone,” Castle wrote.

However, the authors of the accompanying article are not as convinced that the prevailing scientific evidence proves a relationship exists between pot use and schizophrenia.”

More: http://americannewsreport.com/marijuanas-link-to-schizophrenia-debated-8817482

A false link between marijuana and mental illness

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“The article published today in “Health News” makes the claim that smoking marijuana is “linked” to early onset of mental illness.

However, although the article implies some sort of cause and effect, that conclusion has no scientific basis. In fact, the authors of the study don’t even bother investigating whether marijuana use causes mental illness or if people with mental illness have a higher rate of smoking marijuana than the general public.

If marijuana caused mental illness, then cultures that have a higher rate of marijuana smoking than the U.S. should have a higher rate of mental illness. But in fact, the opposite is true. Cultures with higher rates of marijuana consumption have lower rates of mental illness than the United States. This would indicate that rather than marijuana causing mental illness, as your article implies, it is people with mental illness who are self medicating with marijuana in order to alleviate their symptoms.

This (more correct) reading of the data, however, does not fit the narrative being presented by the politicians who are making their careers by “getting tough” on marijuana smokers, nor does it fit the narrative of the manufacturers of the currently legal psychotropic drugs, like Prozac and Zoloft, who stand to lose billions of dollars if medical marijuana is legalized, and who funnel millions of dollars to those politicians who present their dubious science as fact.

Had your newspaper even taken the time to Google the Archive of General Psychiatry, you would have found that the “study” you cited was conducted by the “Genetic Risk and Outcome in Psychosis (GROUP) Investigators,” who publish only articles against medical marijuana. That alone should raise a red flag to anyone with a basic understanding of scientific research. When someone conducts numerous studies and publishes many articles that all draw the same conclusion, whether the evidence leads to that conclusion or not, the critical eye should suspect some ulterior motive at work. It’s not possible to keep an open mind when you have an axe to grind.”

William Smith, Baltimore

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-02-09/news/bs-ed-marijuana-letter-20110209_1_mental-illness-medical-marijuana-lower-rates

Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link – ABC Science

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“A new study in the UK has cast doubt on the supposed link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.

This latest study, led by Dr Martin Frisher of Keele University, examined the records of 600,000 patients aged between 16 and 44, but failed to find a similar link.

“An important limitation of many studies is that they have failed to distinguish the direction of association between cannabis use and psychosis,” the authors write in the latest edition of the journal Schizophrenia Research.

Not as predicted

Frisher and colleagues compared the trends of cannabis use with general practitioner records of schizophrenia.

They argue if cannabis use does cause schizophrenia, then an increase in cannabis use should be followed by an increase in the incidence of schizophrenia.

According to the study, cannabis use in the UK between 1972 and 2002 has increased four-fold in the general population, and 18-fold among under-18s.

Based on the literature supporting the link, the authors argue that this should be followed by an increase in schizophrenia incidence of 29% between 1990 and 2010.

But the researchers found no increase in the diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders during that period. In fact some of the data suggested the incidence of these conditions had decreased.

“This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and the incidence of psychotic disorders,” the authors say”

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/01/2673334.htm

Cannabis/schizophrenia link questioned

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“The Swiss government is questioning the results of a study showing a link between marijuana use and schizophrenia.

The Zurich University study showed a higher incidence of schizophrenia in the 1990s in the age groups most likely to use cannabis, Swissinfo said Wednesday.

“We know from other experimental studies that cannabis can cause psychosis, but we have now established a clear link to schizophrenia for the first time,” study co-author Wulf Rossler said.

Swissinfo said the Federal Health Office is questioning the report, saying the patients’ drug histories and other medical details remained unknown.

“It does not uncover the medical history of the patients, for instance the consumption of psychotic substances or other factors that could lead to psychotic illnesses,” the health office in a statement.”

http://phys.org/news104659898.html

Minimal Relationship Between Cannabis And Schizophrenia Or Psychosis Suggested By New UK Study

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“Last year the UK government reclassified cannabis from a class C to a class B drug, partly out of concerns that cannabis, especially the more potent varieties, may increase the risk of schizophrenia in young people. But the evidence for the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia or psychosis remains controversial. A new study has determined that it may be necessary to stop thousands of cannabis users in order to prevent a single case of schizophrenia.

Scientists from Bristol, Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine took the latest information on numbers of cannabis users, the risk of developing schizophrenia, and the risk that cannabis use causes schizophrenia to estimate how many cannabis users may need to be stopped to prevent one case of schizophrenia. The study found it would be necessary to stop 2800 heavy cannabis users in young men and over 5000 heavy cannabis users in young women to prevent a single case of schizophrenia. Among light cannabis users, those numbers rise to over 10,000 young men and nearly 30,000 young women to prevent one case of schizophrenia.

That’s just part of the story. Interventions to prevent cannabis use typically do not succeed for every person who is treated. Depending on how effective an intervention is at preventing cannabis use, it would be necessary to treat even higher numbers of users to achieve the thousands of successful results necessary to prevent a very few cases of schizophrenia.

Matt Hickman, one of the authors of the report published last week in the scholarly journal Addiction, said that “preventing cannabis use is important for many reasons – including reducing tobacco and drug dependence and improving school performance. But our evidence suggests that focusing on schizophrenia may have been misguided. Our research cannot resolve the question whether cannabis causes schizophrenia, but does show that many people need to give up cannabis in order to have an impact on the number of people with schizophrenia. The likely impact of re-classifying cannabis in the UK on schizophrenia or psychosis incidence is very uncertain.”

Source:
Amy Molnar
Wiley-Blackwell”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/168519.php

Anti-inflammatory compound from cannabis found in herbs

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“A compound found in cannabis as well as in herbs such as basil and oregano could help to treat inflammatory bowel diseases and arthritis, Swiss scientists believe.”

Model of the interaction of BCP with the CB2 receptor

“(E)-beta-caryophyllene (BCP) is an aromatic sesquiterpene that has used for many years as a food additive because of its peppery flavour. The researchers now say that it interacts selectively with one of two cannabinoid receptors, CB2, blocking the chemical signals that lead to inflammation without triggering cannabis’s mood-altering effects.
 
Many cannabinoids bind to the CB2 receptor, but few target it selectively. Most also interact with CB1, which is responsible for cannabis’ psychoactive properties. CB1 is found in brain tissue, whereas CB2is found only in cells elsewhere in the body.”
 

More:http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/June/24060801.asp