Tag Archives: diabetes

Marijuana: The Next Diabetes Drug? – TIME

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“Toking up may help marijuana users to stay slim and lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to the latest study, which suggests that cannabis compounds may help in controlling blood sugar.”
 
Close Up Of Marijuana Leaf
 

“Although marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite via what stoners call “the munchies,” the new research, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a two-faced relationship to weight. Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.”

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/21/marijuana-the-next-diabetes-drug/

News: Can marijuana treat the symptoms of Crohn’s Disease?

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“A new study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, suggests that cannabis could help relieve symptoms of Crohn’s Disease, a lifelong chronic illness that causes abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and lack of energy.”

News: Can marijuana treat the symptoms of Crohn

“That’s good news for sufferers, especially considering there is currently no cure.

Researchers studied 21 patients with Crohn’s Disease. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first group was given cannabis cigarettes twice a day, the second group was given a  placebo containing cannabis flowers from which the THC had been removed.

“A short course (8 week) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects,” the study’s authors wrote.

The most promising part?

“Complete remission was achieved by 5/11 subjects in the cannabis group.”

Crohn’s patients aren’t the only ones who can benefit from marijuana’s medical properties, according to new research.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine, suggests that marijuana can lower the risk of diabetes as well.

Marijuana users have lower fasting insulin levels, Murray Mittleman, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study told Time Healthland. They are “less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood sugar level,”he says.

According to Health Canada, medical marijuana can also be used to manage symptoms like severe pain, cachexia, anorexia, weight loss, and severe nausea from cancer; arthritis pain; seizures from epilepsy; and pain and muscle spasms from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis.”

More:http://www.besthealthmag.ca/blog/post/news-can-marijuana-cure-crohns-disease

Cannabis Compounds can Help Treat Obesity

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“Two cannabis compounds could be a new weapon in the fight against obesity, say researchers. Animal tests have shown these compounds can help treat type two diabetes while also lowering levels of cholesterol in the blood stream and fat in key organs like the liver.”

Cannabis Compounds can Help Treat Obesity

“Scientists also found the compounds also had an impact on the level of fat and its response to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, the Telegraph reports.

THCV was also found to increase the animals’ sensitivity to insulin while also protecting the cells that produce insulin, allowing them to work better and for longer.

Steph Wright, director of research and development at GW Pharmaceuticals developing the drugs, said: “The results in animal models have been very encouraging. We are interested in how these drugs effect the fat distribution and utilisation in the body as a treatment for metabolic diseases…”

Mike Cawthorne, director of metabolic research at the University of Buckingham who has been conducting the animal studies, said: “Over all, it seems these molecules increase energy expenditure in the cells of the body by increasing the metabolism”.”
 
 

Now they’re telling us smoking weed will also help fend off diabetes – MSN

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Man smoking a joint (©RL/KEYSTONE USA/Rex Features) 

“The magical weed that helps us stay trim, be less crazy, control seizures, cure Crohn’s, rescue the economy and make watching TV game shows more enjoyable is now being credited for possibly reducing the risk of diabetes, too. Analyzing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,” researchers uncovered the good news that current marijuana users had 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels and 17 percent lower levels of insulin resistance than their nonstoner friends.

Bonus: Scientists found that pot users also had slimmer waistlines and higher levels of “good” cholesterol.”

http://now.msn.com/marijuana-may-fight-diabetes-researchers-say 

Study: Why Pot Smokers Are Skinnier

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“Marijuana users had smaller waists and scored higher across several measures of blood sugar regulation.”
 
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“”Marijuana use is associated with an acute increase in caloric intake,” goes the clinical jargon for popular lore. Still despite eating more while high (by some measures, over 600 extra calories per day), marijuana users’ extra intake doesn’t seem to be reflected in increased BMI. Indeed, studies have identified a reduced prevalence of obesity in the pot smoking community…
 

IMPLICATIONS: Although they’re not sure exactly how it happens, write the authors, these findings suggest that marijuana somehow works to improve insulin control, regulating body weight and perhaps explaining why marijuana users have a lower incidence of diabetes. Adding to the big questions — “can weed can treat obesity?” and “marijuana makes you skinny?!” — is the possibility that marijuana might be useful in helping people to manage their blood sugar.”

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/study-why-pot-smokers-are-skinnier/275846/

Regular Marijuana Users May Be Skinnier, Have Better Blood Sugar Control: Study

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“People who regularly smoke marijuana may have better control of their blood sugar and may be skinnier than non-marijuana users, according to a new study.”

Marijuana Users Skinnier
 
“The research, published in the American Journal of Medicine, shows that people who reported regularly using marijuana had a lower risk of insulin resistance and had lower fasting insulin levels, compared with people who never used marijuana. Researchers also found an association between using marijuana and having a smaller waist circumference and higher levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, compared with non-users. The research was conducted by scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the University of Nebraska and the Harvard School of Public Health.”
 
 

The Marijuana Diet? Scientists find link between pot smoking and weight loss

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“Low levels of insulin associated with users of marijuana. Vast ramifications seen.”

NR

 

“Smoking refer can help you better metabolize fats and carbs.

Go ahead, take another toke — the munchies don’t make you fat.

That’s the conclusion of a report published in the American Journal of Medicine, which found a strong correlation between marijuana use and a smaller waistband.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Nebraska, Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, examined 4,657 adults, 579 of whom regularly smoked reefer.

“We found significant associations between marijuana use and smaller waist circumferences,” the researchers report.

Specifically, potheads had 16% lower levels of insulin than their non-smoking peers.

The hormone regulates metabolism of fat and carbs. The Atlantic noted that the findings perhaps explain why smokers of the wacky tobacky are less prone to diabetes.

Even people who had smoked weed in the past but did not currently puff showed similar, though less striking, results.”

 http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/smoke-pot-thin-article-1.1345812

Could marijuana reduce diabetes risk? – Fox News

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“There’s an unexpected link between marijuana use and factors related to Type 2 diabetes that has medical researchers intrigued.”
Smoking marijuana_Reuters_Feb 6 2013.jpg

“Several studies have found that marijuana users take in more food calories than nonusers, but they still have lower rates of obesity and diabetes, and lower average body mass index (BMI) levels.

In a new study, researchers investigated what effects marijuana and its active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) might have on people’s metabolism, especially insulin levels.

Insulin resistance an important risk factor for diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when the body’s cells cannot properly intake insulin. The American Heart Association estimates 35 percent of U.S. adults have metabolic disorders that include insulin resistance.

To examine the link between THC and metabolism, researchers gathered the results of 4,657 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional study administered annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the study’s participants, 579 were current marijuana users, 1,975 had used the drug in the past but not recently, and 2,103 had never tried marijuana. Researchers analyzed the participants’ fasting insulin levels, cholesterol levels, insulin resistance and waist sizes.

Multiple benefits seen”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/could-marijuana-reduce-diabetes-risk/

Better Diabetic Control Seen In Marijuana Users

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“Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has been used ritualistically for thousands of years and, for centuries, has been used as a way to relieve pain, improve mood and increase appetite. While several studies have given the wacky tobacky, as it is referred to by some, a bad rap, others have shown some positives. One such positive is the role marijuana may play in preventing PTSD symptoms from occurring. In another newly published paper, researchers have shown that regular marijuana may help with diabetes control.

Investigators from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, published a paper in the current issue of the The American Journal of Medicine detailing how marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin resistant than those who did not smoke the weed. The researchers noted that this remained true even after excluding patients who had a diagnosis of diabetes…

For the current study, the BIDMC team analyzed data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010. Their research included data from 4,657 patients who completed a drug use questionnaire. Of these, 579 were current marijuana users, 1,975 had used it in the past, and 2,103 had never used the drug recreationally or medicinally. The team measured fasting insulin and glucose via blood samples after patients fasted for nine hours. The team also evaluated insulin resistance via homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

The researchers found that those who reported using marijuana in the past month had lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR and higher levels of HDL “good” cholesterol. Those who reported not using marijuana at any time in the last month had weaker associations, suggesting to the team that marijuana use on insulin and insulin resistance exists only during recent use. Current users had 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels than those who reported never using marijuana.

The team also found a link between marijuana use and waistlines. While diabetes is often associated with larger waistlines, the study group found that marijuana users most often had smaller waistlines.”

Read more: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112847494/marijuana-use-helps-manage-insulin-diabetic-control-051513/

Marijuana for Diabetic Control

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“For centuries, cannabis sativa, more commonly known as marijuana, has been used as a folk remedy to relieve pain, improve mood, and increase appetite…

Much of what we know about cannabis comes from folktales and limited clinical observation. It was in this context that I was pleased to receive the submission published in this edition of The American Journal of Medicine, entitled “The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance Among US Adults.” This epidemiologic, observational study demonstrated that among diabetic patients who admitted to using marijuana, insulin resistance was decreased and diabetic control was improved. Penner et al analyzed data obtained during the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010. They studied data from 4657 patients, of whom 579 were current users of cannabis, 1975 used cannabis in the past but were not current users, and 2103 had never inhaled or ingested marijuana. These patients had fasting insulin and glucose levels measured along with a test for insulin resistance.

 Remarkably, fasting insulin levels were reduced in current cannabis users but not in former or never users. Two additional observations were that waist circumference was smaller and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol blood levels were higher in current cannabis users.

These are indeed remarkable observations that are supported, as the authors note, by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions…”

http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(13)00313-6/fulltext