smoking marijuana with hepatitis B

please comment on this subject

[alagirl]

I don't smoke pot, never really have.  I looked online and found only one study remotely on point, and
this study addresses HCV not HBV

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsRev/2006/HJR-3.15.html

Medical Marijuana Improves HCV Treatment Response
Medical cannabis can help patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) stay on therapy and achieve better treatment response, according to a study in the October 2006 European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. D. Sylvestre and colleagues studied 71 hepatitis C patients at OASIS, a clinic for substance users in Oakland, CA, who had been on methadone maintenance for at least three months. About one-third (31%) used marijuana while on anti-HCV treatment with conventional interferon plus ribavirin. In an intent-to-treat analysis, 64% of cannabis users achieved an end-of-treatment response, compared with 47% of non-users; the corresponding figures for sustained virological response (SVR) were 54% and 18%. The frequency of side effects was similar among cannabis users and non-users, but more non-users discontinued therapy early (33% vs 5%). Marijuana users were more likely than non-users to be adherent (86% vs 59%) and to remain on therapy for at least 80% of the projected treatment duration (95% vs 67%). There was no direct dose-response relationship between the amount of cannabis consumed and the likelihood of SVR, and patients who used the largest amounts of cannabis did not show as much benefit from hepatitis C therapy.

The researchers concluded that “modest cannabis use may offer symptomatic and virological benefit to some patients undergoing HCV treatment by helping them maintain adherence to the challenging medication regimen.” However, there are concerns about the safety of marijuana use by individuals with chronic hepatitis C. Cannabis may suppress immune function, and a recent study showed that untreated HCV positive individuals who smoked cannabis daily were more likely to experience rapid fibrosis progression. In an accompanying editorial, B. Fischer and colleagues suggested that medical cannabis may be especially beneficial for patients on methadone maintenance, since methadone can cause some of the same side effects as interferon (e.g., fatigue, bone aches, depression). They added that, while further research is underway, they “advocate that in the interim existing barriers to cannabis use are removed for drug users undergoing HCV treatment.”

[merryBe]

do NOT do this, it causes 7 times more liver fibrosis than observed in the same time frame as non-smokers with HCV. So it's a death wish.

[jmjm530]

I'd be careful and do more research before taking a puff.

On treatment, Pot has some use, as discussed in the study above. What it does is handle some side effects and in the process makes compliance to the treatment easier.

That said, a number of studies show that chronic use will accelerate liver damage (fibrosis), at least in the presence of Hepatitis C. Not sure about Hep B, but again, do your homework.

-- Jim