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Title: Can an Illegal Drug Help Your Liver?
Source:
Lew Rockwell
URL Source: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/09 ... r/can-illegal-drug-help-liver/
Published: Sep 13, 2017
Author: Bel Marra Health
Post Date: 2017-09-13 08:25:29 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 4250
Comments: 39
Cases of fatty liver disease are on the rise as people’s waistlines continue to grow. As fat permeates the liver, the organ becomes unable to function properly. Over time, fatty liver disease can worsen into fibrosis or, ultimately, liver cancer or cirrhosis. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects nearly one in three Americans. NAFLD can be caused by high sugar levels (hyperglycemia), high levels of fat (triglycerides) particularly in the blood, obesity, or diabetes. However, the rate of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease seems to be lower among cannabis users. Cannabis use may lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to examine the link between cannabis use and the rates of NAFLD. The researchers examined medical records of 5.8 million patients from 3,000 hospitals. Their aim was to determine whether or not cannabis use affected a person’s risk of developing NAFLD. The researchers did find a correlation between the use of cannabis and lower risk for the liver disease. The link was strongest among heavy users. The researchers explained, “[The study] revealed that cannabis users showed significantly lower NAFLD prevalence compared to non-users.” The reduction seen among cannabis users broke down like this: occasional users had a 15 percent lower risk and regular users had a 52 percent lower risk of developing NAFLD, compared to those who did not use the controversial herb. The study did have some limitations. For example, people aren’t always openly inclined to discuss their cannabis use with medical professionals. Furthermore, there was no specific information collected about the type of marijuana used or its concentration or mode of delivery. Regardless, researchers still wish to pursue further research on a molecular level to determine what it is about cannabis that reduces the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Treatment for NAFLD Losing weight is a current treatment method for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, with a recommendation of at least a 10 percent reduction in weight. NAFLD sufferers also need to be vaccinated for hepatitis, as their risk of developing it is higher. If NAFLD has progressed to fibrosis, cirrhosis, or liver cancer, then a liver transplant is likely required. Some studies have suggested that consuming coffee helps support a healthy liver, as it could slow down damage. There is currently no FDA-approved medication for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but there are a few drugs being tested.
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#6. To: Deckard, Tooconservative, misterwhite (#0)
Getting stoned on pot is a recognized remedy for any ailment known to man. It is said to work equally as well as snake oil and also give a euphoric effect. Yes, alas, pot is still illegal. The Federal government denied a request to change it from Schedule I as follows: It is all a fiendish Federal government plot to deny the universal cure to needy people who seek its use for medicinal purposes only. But the law is the law. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176416 Cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) in humans and mouse disease models. Obesity and DM are a well-established independent risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most prevalent liver disease globally. The effects of cannabis use on NAFLD prevalence in humans remains ill-defined. Our objective is to determine the relationship between cannabis use and the prevalence of NAFLD in humans. We conducted a population-based case-control study of 5,950,391 patients using the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Nationwide Inpatient Survey (NIS) discharge records of patients 18 years and older. After identifying patients with NAFLD (1% of all patients), we next identified three exposure groups: non-cannabis users (98.04%), non-dependent cannabis users (1.74%), and dependent cannabis users (0.22%). We adjusted for potential demographics and patient related confounders and used multivariate logistic regression (SAS 9.4) to determine the odds of developing NAFLD with respects to cannabis use. Our findings revealed that cannabis users (dependent and non-dependent) showed significantly lower NAFLD prevalence compared to non-users (AOR: 0.82[0.76–0.88]; p<0.0001). The prevalence of NAFLD was 15% lower in non-dependent users (AOR: 0.85[0.79–0.92]; p<0.0001) and 52% lower in dependent users (AOR: 0.49[0.36–0.65]; p<0.0001). Among cannabis users, dependent patients had 43% significantly lower prevalence of NAFLD compared to non-dependent patients (AOR: 0.57[0.42–0.77]; p<0.0001). Our observations suggest that cannabis use is associated with lower prevalence of NAFLD in patients. These novel findings suggest additional molecular mechanistic studies to explore the potential role of cannabis use in NAFLD development. Citation: Adejumo AC, Alliu S, Ajayi TO, Adejumo KL, Adegbala OM, Onyeakusi NE, et al. (2017) Cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0176416. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176416 Editor: Pavel Strnad, Medizinische Fakultat der RWTH Aachen, GERMANY Received: February 9, 2017; Accepted: April 9, 2017; Published: April 25, 2017 Copyright: © 2017 Adejumo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability: The relevant data can be accessed at the following link: https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/nisoverview.jsp. Funding: This work was funded by a start-up grant to BTN by INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Institut National de la Reserche Scientifique, 531 Boulevard des Prairies, Laval (Quebec) H7V 1B7 Canada. The funder had no role in the project design, execution, data interpretation or decision to publish. Competing interests: The authors declare that they do not have any competing interests. Introduction Cannabis is the most abused substance which is still illicit in most countries globally [1]. Besides alcohol and tobacco, it is the most widely used drug for recreational purposes [2]. It is currently estimated that between 119–224 million people worldwide [1], and over 22 million individuals in the United States of America (USA), aged 12 years and above use cannabis [2]. With the recent rise in cannabis legalization across different states in the USA, this number is expected to grow even further. While cannabis use (CU) is associated with increased prevalence of disorders such as schizophrenia [3], cyclical hyperemesis syndrome [4], and pulmonary diseases [5], it has also been linked to a reduction in obesity [6] and diabetes mellitus (DM) [7–9]. The prevalence of these disorders is expected to be impacted as CU increases over the coming years. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a metabolic disorder characterized by excess fat accumulation in the liver and is the most common liver disease in the world [10]. About one-third of US adults have been diagnosed with NAFLD [11,12]. While excessive fat accumulation in the liver has previously been thought to be harmless, studies including ours, have demonstrated that NAFLD can progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma [13,14]. By 2020, it is estimated that progressive NAFLD would become the leading cause of advance liver disease requiring liver transplantation in patients [15]. Obesity and DM are among the known risk factors for NAFLD [16]. Since CU has been associated with reduced prevalence of both obesity [6] and DM [7–9], we surmised that CU might also have modulatory effects on the prevalence of NAFLD. Our study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that CU is associated with reduced prevalence of NAFLD given its suppressive effect against obesity and diabetes in humans. Our novel studies revealed that CU was associated with reduced prevalence of NAFLD in patients. However, co-commitment NDCU and dependent abusive alcohol consumption, which can independently induce progressive fatty liver disease, negated the reduced prevalence of NAFLD observed in cannabis-only users. [snip] Cannabis may possibly help your liver, but has definitely been associated with increased prevalence of disorders such as schizophrenia, cyclical hyperemesis syndrome, and pulmonary diseases. The cost of a possibly enhanced liver may be growing additional personalities, cyclical puking attacks, and difficulty or stopping breathing.
#9. To: nolu chan (#6)
Say WHAAAA...??
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There is currently no FDA-approved medication for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
The statutory mandate of Title 21 United States Code, Section 812(b) (21 U.S.C. 812(b)) is dispositive. Congress established only one schedule, Schedule I, for drugs of abuse with "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lack of accepted safety for use . . . under medical supervision." 21 U.S.C. 812(b).
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