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Health/Medical Title: Cannabis link to brittle bones: Heavy users found to be at a higher risk of osteoporosis and have more fragile spines and hips Cannabis link to brittle bones: Heavy users found to be at a higher risk of osteoporosis and have more fragile spines and hips
By Victoria Allen People who regularly smoke cannabis are damaging their bones and could get osteoporosis in later life. Heavy cannabis users, who smoke several times a day, have more fragile spines and hips, a study by the University of Edinburgh found. They suffer more broken bones, because of lower bone density, understood to be caused by the drug. The first study of bone health in cannabis smokers is just the latest evidence of its harmful effects. Although many young people see it as a 'soft drug', it has been previously linked with psychosis, schizophrenia and memory loss. Those who smoke it heavily are more at risk of bone-thinning disease osteoporosis for two reasons, scientists believe. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient which gets people high, has been shown in mice to stimulate the body to reabsorb bone faster than it can be regenerated. Also, while a joint smoked by an occasional users can cause the 'munchies', those who use cannabis over a long period of time see their appetite suppressed. It means heavy cannabis smokers weigh less for their height, which in turn reduces their bone density. Lead researcher Professor Stuart Ralston, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, said: 'We have known for a while that the components of cannabis can affect bone cell function, but we had no idea up until now of what this might mean to people who use cannabis on a regular basis. 'Our research has shown that heavy users of cannabis have quite a large reduction in bone density compared with non-users and there is a real concern that this may put them at increased risk of developing osteoporosis and fractures later in life.' Lucy Dawe, from the charity Cannabis Skunk Sense, said: 'The impact on bones is just another thing people do not know about. Cannabis is seen as a benign substance and people still think those who smoke it are happy and relaxed with no problems. 'The truth is that cannabis has not just mental effects but physical effects.' Scientists looked at 170 cannabis smokers recruited from primary care, such as doctors' appointments, within UK inner cities between 2011 and 2014. Heavy cannabis used was defined as having taken the drug on more than 5,000 occasions over a lifetime. Researchers said this would include those smoking six or seven times a day. Compared with 114 people who did not smoke cannabis, the heavy users had lower bone density in their hips and spines when X-rayed using a specialised technique. The density was about five per cent lower than cigarette smokers who did not take the drug. They also suffered fractures more often, as broken bones occur more frequently when the bones are thinner. The study follows research showing that cannabinoid receptors within the body, which react to the drug, affect bone mass and the way in which bone cells function. It states: 'While further research will be required to investigate the mechanisms underlying the association, we observed the findings reported here have important clinical implications in identifying heavy cannabis use as potential cause of low bone mineral density, increased bone turnover and predisposition to fractures.' This matters because heavy cannabis users are also at greater risk of getting osteoporosis in later life. The debilitating bone-thinning condition, which affects an estimated three million people in Britain, sees half a million admitted to hospital having suffered fractures every year. The research, funded by Arthritis Research UK is published in the American Journal of Medicine. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest This is also true of tobacco smokers. Smoking fills the lungs with soot that is full of free radicals. (That's why charcoal is used to purify water: it is big lumps of wood soot full of free radicals that bind with impurities in water.) In the lungs, those free radicals bind with everything, alter genes, and thereby cause cancer. To neutralize the dump of free radicals, the body pulls reactive minerals out of storage and sends it to the lungs, where the minerals bind with the soot and neutralize it. The storage place for minerals in the body is bone matrix. Smoke heavily, and your body will be pulling a lot of minerals out of your bones. This leads to bone brittleness and osteoporosis, over time. This is true whether one smokes cannibis, tobacco, cloves or oregano. The issue is the soot. It's the same thing if one works in a coal mine, works over coal fires, or spends a lifetime around campfires or in churches full of incense and candle soot. The issue is the soot, not the drugs. And the effects are the same no matter what the soot is.
#2. To: nolu chan (#0) I used for 5 years. I was not a heavy user but every weekend we like to "party". Never had an issue and the only thing I remember as a side affect is that my allergies went down(2-3 times a year for a month it knock me out but with pot once a year). But that could be do to smoking pot? I have never broken a bone. I stopped smoking over night no withdraw symptoms. Never had side affects. I could eat like a hog and still be around 6-7% body fat. Man those were the days!! I I think I have told people before but the reason why I stopped smoking is because I had heard an office was killed in a drug raid. I figured I did not want to be part of the problem and just stopped. That was in 1986.
#3. To: nolu chan (#0) "Heavy cannabis users, who smoke several times a day, have more fragile spines and hips, a study by the University of Edinburgh found." No, no, no. Correlation does not equal causation. It could be that people who have more fragile spines and hips are more apt to smoke marijuana.
#4. To: Justified (#2) Studies suggest that marijuana is useful for asthma relief (not during an attack).
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