Cannabis may help anorexia, experts say

[freddie]

Cannabis may help anorexia, experts say

Article from: The Daily Telegraph

 

By Kate Sikora, Health Reporter

 

September 04, 2007 12:00am

 

CANNABIS has been used for years to treat some cancers but now experts believe it could help anorexia sufferers.

 

An international nutrition expert Dr Elliot Berry is presenting research in Sydney today suggesting cannabis could stimulate appetite in anorexia patients.

 

But his findings, which are not yet published, have been questioned by some eating disorder groups who believe it could cause more harm than good.

 

Dr Berry, a consultant to the World Health Organisation, has conducted a trial using cannabis in an oil form to treat the eating disorder.

 

He told the Daily Telegraph early results showed the drug stimulated a chemical in the brain boosting appetite in malnourished people.

 

"It is given in very low doses, no one is going to get high and no one is going over the top.

 

"The brain already has receptors which produce some substances like cannabis. We have found that people who are malnourished don't produce these substances."

 

About one in 100 Australian teenage girls develop anorexia nervosa, the third most common chronic illness in that age group behind obesity and asthma.

 

Dr Berry, who is based at Israel's Hadassah University Hospital, said he was not purporting to have the "wonder drug" to treat anorexia.

 

"This could help the treatment and speed up the process while the person still receives psychological help," he said.

 

from news.com.au/dailytelegraph

 

This makes so much sense I can't understand why no one has thought of this before.

[Tarnicus]

Hardly groundbreaking news. Marijuana has been used as an appetite stimulant(like vegemite for cats ) for yonks for AIDS patients.

 

Conventional medicine has really been shitting me of late; they 'discover' a cure or remedy for an ailment that has already been used for hundreds if not thousands of years, then extract the chemical compound and patent it, and sell it for a ridiculous price. More often than not the drug is either not as effective as the original plant, or if it is effective it comes with a myriad of side effects which do not occur when the plant is consumed in it's natural form.

 

I wonder how many years of formal study is required to be an 'expert' who can state a thesis that pot might give you the munchies...I also wonder what qualifies one as an 'expert' who can quantify the 'harm' from marijuana consumption.

[Pebbz]

Tarn, I get what you're saying... but this is something that could be spread out to inform the minds of those who seem to turn a blind eye to the positive effects of marijuana. We pro-pot people know most of this already, some might not and could learn something from this article. If we are ever going to suceed in at least putting it out there that marijuana is not "all bad" we need as much research and backing from scientific and corporate bodies as possible.

 

I've been arguing with my own parents as to the positive and negative effects of marijuana for a long time. Finally they are able to see both sides of the argument because I can provide statistics and studies that back me up. Not that my Mum's now out the back toking up, but if you can convince at least one person that they haven't seen all the information available or are only choosing to believe what they've been told in a negative sense, then we are on the right track.

 

As far as scientists go... anyone that's on our side, whether "expert" or not, gets my vote. That's what discovery is all about really.

 

The only concern as far as annorexia sufferers go is that it would not be useful to bulimia sufferers... although i'd say they wouldn't administer it in this case. If ever it was developed for use in this way.

 

and

 

Pebbz

[Beans]

About one in 100 Australian teenage girls develop anorexia nervosa, the third most common chronic illness in that age group behind obesity and asthma.

 

I've got a chronic disorder that's not listed there..haha.

 

jokes aside;

 

Yet another positive to cannabis!

[Tarnicus]

Anyone who thinks marijuana will be legalised in this country to the extent where we can grow it ourselves and smoke it or whatever we wish is dreaming. The closest we'll get is is the way the US and UK is currently going, and that is we'll get some shitty extract in a pill form that some global mega-fucking-pharmacorp can peddle off for $20 a pill. It will only be legal if it maintains existing structures of wealth and power. It directly and indirectly competes with so many industries that this will never happen.

 

So Pebbz whilst I agree it is nice to hear about stories that state the obvious (I mean cmon, even non-smokers know about the munchies from pop-culture references ), I don't think it makes much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Sorry if I sound a little grouchy in these posts, it's cloudy here

 

I'd like to see proof of a single negative effect of marijuana. Does anyone know if there has been a study done of marijuana only smokers (never touched tobacco or anything else) who don't drink, who exercise well and eat healthily. I'd be extremely curious to see what the health is like of the aforementioned group.

 

*goes and looks for pill to make my brain think it is sunny today *

[Pebbz]

Dood... I'm not anti-marijuana

I'm doing my bit to spread the word. Unfortunately I'm no Gospel singer or i'd be singing the sweet praises of the lord's favourite plant.

 

My endeavour to convince my mother that pot is not bad was not a walk in the park. I have several cousins that smoked weed over the years. 1 is schitzophrenic, 1 has seizures and the other is no longer with us (not related to smoking pot, but she was an advocate) so mummy wasn't gonna go lightly on me. Aside from the fact that both of my parents work in mental heath (My Dad specifically, spends his days signing in psych patients... (err not me )...)

 

First, you have to explain that marijuana is not for everyone. Some don't do so well as I'm sure you know, some people have an underlying mental condition which does not respond well with smoking weed. Then you have to explain that there are significant differences in buying weed from some dealer down the road, and the stuff that's grown under controlled conditions by someone who knows what they're doing. Thirdly, and most importantly is explaining that you are in a complete understanding of what your smoking, where it's come from and what it's going to do to you, both positive and negative.

 

I never suggested that I think marijuana will be legalised. My goal is just to inform as many people as possible that they don't have all the facts. Once they do... well... at least it gets the monkey of my back... ya know.

 

and

 

Pebbz

[DownUnderDoper]

Anyone who thinks marijuana will be legalised in this country to the extent where we can grow it ourselves and smoke it or whatever we wish is dreaming. The closest we'll get is is the way the US and UK is currently going, and that is we'll get some shitty extract in a pill form that some global mega-fucking-pharmacorp can peddle off for $20 a pill. It will only be legal if it maintains existing structures of wealth and power. It directly and indirectly competes with so many industries that this will never happen.

 

Why do you think that? I'm not having a go, but to just throw your hands in the air is defeatist. If you can identify why you think the cause is hopeless, then maybe a way can be worked out to restore some hope.

 

So Pebbz whilst I agree it is nice to hear about stories that state the obvious (I mean cmon, even non-smokers know about the munchies from pop-culture references ), I don't think it makes much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Sorry if I sound a little grouchy in these posts, it's cloudy here

 

Yeah here too, and freakin cold, rain is always welcome tho

 

I'd like to see proof of a single negative effect of marijuana. Does anyone know if there has been a study done of marijuana only smokers (never touched tobacco or anything else) who don't drink, who exercise well and eat healthily. I'd be extremely curious to see what the health is like of the aforementioned group.

 

*goes and looks for pill to make my brain think it is sunny today *

 

I've not found such a study, but would suggest that it would be selecting from a very small percentage of (western) society, in order to be completely uncorrupted the subjects would have to be free from ALL pharmaceuticals as well as psychoactive drugs other than cannabis.

 

Perhaps somewhere in the world such a study might be possible.

[cody'smom]

my son, now 18, has been losing to anorexia nervosa for over five years now.

After years of watching him die and nothing working,

he said that the only time he can convince himself to eat is when he smokes pot

so i paused for a few seconds and asked him if he needed money

he'd finally found a way to survive

he's in treatment now for the anorexia, but he arrived at their door with nine more

pounds of flesh on his bones, and

as his mom, the level of desperation we'd reached

could never be trumped by buying my son pot

I've put much more powerful prescription drugs in his hand, that sadly didn't work

anorexia has a 20% mortality rate, i'll do anything to have him on the right side

of that statistic.

[Guest Stephen]

the title made me laugh.

 

But in all seriousness, this should be made legal. If marijuana can save people's lives or make their quality of life much greater then that really should be all that matters.

I hope australia catches on soon.

[mull]

As a kid was in hospital for a week in a 2 bed room. Other patient was a young anorexic girl near the end of her illness.

Although it was a little hazy for me first couple of days.. remember all the nurses and family friends trying to bolster her self esteem. They pinned up pictures with lots of loving words around her bed and even on the ceiling above it.

Soon as they'd all leave, she'd pull out the feeding tube and throw up.

 

I asked her toward the end of my stay, why she wanted to lose weight (she was only bones)

She said she could look at any person and tell whether they are overweight or just a healthy weight and fully accept them how they are. However, if looking at herself in the mirror, she always looked fat.

Strange.. like as if she was looking at a warped mirror.

 

I agree with both Pebbz and Tarnicus.

Tarn, you won't see the study you mentioned, because stoners that eat well and exercise don't often need go to docs or join in data gathering surveys.

 

This is a positive tho like Pebbz said, for changing public perception.

Which is what the pharma train will do, when they market their synthetic cannabinoid meds here unless gw gets sativex thro, then there will be one nonsynthetic whole thc extract nasal spray available - much less effective than the right strain/ with the right combination of cbd/thc. We will then have an easier job showing up their vested interests as phoney. And to patients using their not quite effective meds, we'll have an easy time showing them, their families and the public, that cannabis is wrongly prohibited and greedily governed.

And freely grown, has true medical efficacy. (and massive positive recreational benefit taken without tobacco)

[luciddreaming]

Glad to hear your son has recovered/recovering? Cody's mom.

It's good to see people who don't relinquish all hope when faced with a treatment which has been demonised.

Unfortunately there are many other people suffering out there without any idea that Cannabis can help them.

I hope you will help spread the word, even if it's only telling individual people you meet who have Anorexia that it can help them. Or writing newspapers etc.

Once again, good luck to both of you.

Peace.

 

About one in 100 Australian teenage girls develop anorexia nervosa, the third most common chronic illness in that age group behind obesity and asthma.

I found this funny. It's not really, but it's strange that Anorexia is the third most common while Obesity is the most common. You would think that would somehow even out. Like the Obese people would see the skinny people and want to get skinnier and the Anorexic people would see the fat eople and go, well I'm not so bad after all and fatten up.

 

Conventional medicine has really been shitting me of late; they 'discover' a cure or remedy for an ailment that has already been used for hundreds if not thousands of years, then extract the chemical compound and patent it, and sell it for a ridiculous price. More often than not the drug is either not as effective as the original plant, or if it is effective it comes with a myriad of side effects which do not occur when the plant is consumed in it's natural form.

 

Remember, you have to differentiate between medicine and doctors and Pharma. The doctors/researchers are mostly good people doing good work. The reason they do these studies is to make sure it is effective. For all they know it could turn the Anorexic people bullimic. Because they feel so much need to eat but then throw up so they're still skinny. But obviously that doesn't happen. But it COULD have, and we wouldn't know unless they did the study. So now people can't make that argument. Pharma, well, I don't really need to explain. But they're the money makers and money "distributors". They are the ones that twist the studies and synthesize natural chemicals because it's cheaper. This also stops them from having to explain that Cannabis is a medicine and they can keep going with their propaganda to save their petro-chemicals from being taken off the shelves.

Edited April 28, 2009 by luciddreaming