Pot helps cure Hepatitis C

[miked]

Revenire (Scott)....I thought of you when I read this one.  This should set you off:)

Medical marijuana users are more likely to finish hepatitis C treatment and so are more likely to be cured, according to a newly published study conducted in San Francisco and Oakland.
Other studies have shown marijuana relieves symptoms, but medical marijuana advocates said this could be the first to show improved cure rates for a life-threatening illness.

The study is by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Oakland-based Organization to Achieve Solutions in Substance Abuse (OASIS). It was published in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. It found marijuana users being treated for HCV three times more likely to have a "sustained virological response," meaning the virus can't be detected six months after treatment ends.

HCV treatment with ribavirin and interferon causes severe side effects, so many patients quit the long regimen too early.

Of 71 HCV patients studied, 21 finished with a sustained virological response: 12 of the 22 cannabis users and nine of the 49 nonusers.

"Modest" cannabis use may offer symptomatic and virological benefit to some patients... by helping them maintain adherence to the challenging medication regimen," the study concluded.

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., issued a news release touting this as "a landmark study, showing that medical marijuana can literally save lives. Every day that our government continues punishing the sick for u

[FlGuy]

This topic has the potential to be as insightful/inciteful as any religious or political thread. I can see and understand the benefit as it pertains to the relief of sx's to reduce dropout rates.  Magnum wrote a while back about his medical MJ and the process he uses (i think it's with a nebulizer/atomizer) which causes fewer of the hazards associated with the paper/smoking aspects.  I'd pursue the idea if I knew that the effects were no worse than neutral to tx outcome.  Bring on that ice cream, milk shakes and of course the Twizzlers.

[copyman]

i quit smoking pot around 5 yrs ago but after reading this i called my old dealer and ordered an oz to help get me through tx. hehe

[new-sojourn]

Well, that was a nice post.  I legally grow my own from seed to harvest.  In fact, I can grow twice what I do b/I have a small raised garden and like the peppers and tomatoes too.

Contrary to popular thought, smoking medical marijuana on tx or w/ a badly damaged liver does not produce the 'munchies.'  I still have no appitite and even if I did, junk food-esp dairy-would be the last thing I want.

People don't get high, people get by w/o harmful 'helper' drugs.  I've posted several times that almost all my fellow heppers do cl and have a svr.  Organics all the way!

5yrs and 2 days ago I had a major esophageal bleed and almost died-saw the 'white light' and saw my body below me.  The Doc said I won't make it thru the night!  Fooled 'em.

2 wks later I was dx w/hep c-2b.  End stage liver disease.  6 mos @ the most...too sick to tx.  Well, I found a Doc who would tx me and a program S-P's Commetment to Care-to pay for the tx.  no insurance.

I cl'd in 2 wks and fin tx 4 yrs ago.  I smoked evryday.  now its less and only after yoga and weight training, etc.  kinda like 'happy hour' and also I still have no appetitie.

B/the moral is I'm alive 5 yrs after a major event that claims 90% of the victims w/in 5yrs-the bleed-and a 37yrs old hep c infection.  So pot can't be all bad or I would be dead.

[NYgirl]

Thought pot promoted fibrosis big time.  so I guess it's a catch 22?

;)

[miked]

I mainly put this one up as bait for Revenire....although I can see where smoking weed could take the edge off of tx.

Likewise I've read the data about fibrosis advancement with daily pot smoking.

[bobbyullc]

boy, i wish your repodt said heroin.

[NYgirl]

I can't smoke pot...can you just IMAGINE how much ice cream I would eat?  My God forget about HepC my arteries would just close up shop and move downtown!

Since I use ice cream to take the edge off - man oh MAN it would be bad.

I wish I could though...It sure might make treatment more fun!  :)

[tonybuck]

Pizza and icecream cure hepatitis C.

[GrandOak]

Ice cream might be the least damaging of what I might woof down to take care of the munchy attack.

Gut bomb city is what came to mind as I read Mike's post.

[Magnum]

It's ironic that this post took place today. The doctor's office called not 20 minutes ago telling me my liver has improved to the point that it is very stable. This is after over-dosing on Infergen.

I never smoked Medical Marijuana before this last treatment. I had reoccurring problems with post tx, but as of now, my recovery seems speedier and I may have to contribute this to Medical Marijuana.

As for getting "high", that's not at all what I use it for, and not what the doctor prescribed it for. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I take two hits when I'm ready to go to sleep. I don't take any during the day, as I don't want to be foggy in my thoughts and plans.

Although many may disagree, I would imagine that after all my poor liver went through in the last very brutal treatment, it would have made matters much worse if Medical Marijuana would have caused a greater problem. Quite the contrary, the liver is very stable now (thank you God), and there is only a slight platelet low count, of which the doctor is not concerned about. He does want me to have more blood work in a month to see where that is going.

I'm borderline vegetarian, and not eating meat except 3-4 times per year may have precipitated the low count. I'm not sure. At any rate, if I was positive that Medical Marijuana was harmful to the liver, I would stop immediately, as I did with booze...

Magnum

[Lady E]

I don't think anything like pot will hurt you, when done in moderation.
Pass that over ;)

[Alady1620]

Marijuana has helped me with nausea while on treatment.

[GrandOak]

Perhaps T injections is what got you into this little predicament?  Just a thought.

For others it might have been crank or horse.  Smoking and/or snorting T was more than enough for me in my haymaking days.  But I never really was big on the hals.

I even knew a few who injected Angel dust, if you can imagine that.  Of course one of them was hauled away in a white jacket when he sat on the school corner watching the space ships with aliens landing in the parking lot.  I guess the boyz in blue weren't able to see the little green men as well as he could.

[GrandOak]

Don't miss "Hemp vs. Hep, The Battle Royal of the year".

I could understand it helping with sx's, but a cure I would have trouble accepting as the residue of hemp consumption would seem to be some of the toxins our liver is supposed to filter out.

[miked]

Thanks.  I was hoping for a bigger rise out of you but you're commentary was very funny.  

Does George Bush have ED?

Hope you're well,

Mike

[amirtracy]

i like you miked

[PasoPerson]

The key word in several of your posts is "moderation".  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it's not for me.  I'll have to stick with the "unhealthy" helpers, if anything at all.

I was an alcoholic and drug addict for many years.  Now that God was kind enough to remove both desires from me back in '79, I would feel rather foolish tempting myself once again with MJ, legal or not.

Those of you who are fortunate enough to not have addictive personalities ... go for it.  It's a lot more natural than what I would have to take I reckon (I didn't have to do pain relievers) - you go guys!!

[Kalio1]

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/90510686/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

[Magnum]

Forgot to mention the model I bought:

VaporBox - Hands Free Deluxe

Magnum

[Magnum]

If you're going to dive into eating ice cream, you owe it to yourself to try Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy... WOW!

Hopefully you can still find it. Oh, don't forget to say goodbye to your diet...

Magnum

[dyce]

Ha all, I don't use pot much, but when the sx's get real extreme , it helps alot.

  Like anything , ya over do it , your most likely to get some adverse effects.

[pigeonca]

My doctor tells me no weed, and they test for it here at Kaiser.  I don't know if -- should they find cannabis in your blood -- they can deny treatment, but I'm afraid to test that empirically, so i'm abstaining for now.  That said, I've read articles about the French study of 211 pot-smoking subjects who suffered increased fibrosis.  Their average pot consumption was something like 76 joints a month, or over two a day.  That's an incredible amount of weed.  What about people like me who take two tokes to go to sleep and maybe two or three times a week take three tokes to get a bit light headed during the day?  Will that kind of comsumption cause increased fibrosis?  Why do scientists always study the effects of a substance by giving their subjects (or buinea pigs) phenomenally large amounts of the substance?  It reminds me of when a wonderful artificial sweetener, cyclamate, was removed from sale because mice given the equivalent of a semi-truckful of cyclamates (according to The Chicago Daily News) got cancer.  What about a can or two of Diet Coke?  Never studied that.

[Forseegood]

I believe in the medical use of weed...all the other uses are different topics to me and need to be addressed differently...

and of course moderation is the answer even if its use is medical....I should think....or then you do get into different areas where maybe it could cause worsening fibrosis, as some studies indicate...so much of this stuff is, again, educated speculation based on control studies and statistical analysis...

[Forseegood]

I hope youre feeling better Kalio...be well...

[Magnum]

FLGuy, I use a vaporizer when I light up. No smoke is involved. The pot is vaporized to deliver the most THC without the enormous carcinogens. Not to say the Vaporizer negates all the carcinogens, but the method dramatically reduces them much more than if you use a pipe and much much more if you use paper.

VAPOR STORE = 877-892-8405 www.vaporstore.com
ask for Aje (pronounced Age) or email him at: ***@****

pigeonca, yes they experiment with mice in all sort of brutal ways by overdosing them with everything. As some may recall, some years ago, research showed that Polyester was a probable cause of cancer when worn against the skin for long periods of time. They came to that conclusion after testing lab mice. I wonder what they did for the test. You think they made tiny Polyester suits for them to wear for a certain period of time. Boggles the mind...

Magnum

[miked]

Thanks.

Revenire is a long-timer who has seen so much and we can all learn from.  I just knew that this pot article would drive him crazy.

[honey11]

LOL Can't help but laugh!  Rev, you do come up with some crazy stuff and knew it would be a matter of time before you would be responding,,,just like New Sojourn,,,haha
I guess we are all getting pretty predictable after visiting medhelp 3 or more years!
Back to the pot,,,Miked,,,you must be bored and decided to stir the pot a little! ha
I can see where after smoking pot,,,if it kept you on the meds,,,then finishing is achieved and you are on your way to SVR land! But is it good for you? I still would have to say no on that one but if it makes you feel good,,,,I guess that is what counts.
My question and probably wouldn't get answered lol but where does the pot smokers find pot???  I know sounds funny but I would have no idea if I was interested,,,,where to start.

[beamishboy]

i'm sittin here enjoyin my munchies-then yu make me sick w/ that scenario! Sounds like a particularly depraved ralph stedman fantasy..not likely to arise from just thc & old crow....maybe a sheet of blotter,couple of quarts of tequila .fat line of drano and the the fresh adrenal glands from a mature tasmanian devil-Now that mite..set ya off!

[Tater-ToT]

LoL... Do a Google on Hepatitis C today... the first 8 articles that come up are about Pot.... Too Funny!
:)

[Tater-ToT]

I should elaborate... Google under "NEWS"

[hippygem]

May I have the link to what you posted on the above.

Linda