Pubdate: Wed, 15 May 2013
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2013 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Jeremy Laurance

CANNABIS LINKED TO PREVENTION OF DIABETES

Regular Users of the Drug Found to Have Lower Levels of Insulin After 
Fasting, Research Shows

Smoking cannabis may prevent the development of diabetes, one of the 
most rapidly rising chronic disorders in the world.

If the link is proved, it could lead to the development of treatments 
based on the active ingredient of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol 
(THC), without its intoxicating effects.

Researchers have found that regular users of the drug had lower 
levels of the hormone insulin after fasting - a signal that they are 
protected against diabetes. They also had reduced insulin resistance. 
Cannabis is widely smoked in the United States with over 17 million 
current users of whom more than four million smoke it on a daily 
basis. In the UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis 
in the last year, but the numbers have declined in the last decade.

Two US states have recently legalised its recreational use and 19 
others have legalised it for medical purposes by patients with one of 
several conditions including multiple sclerosis and cancer. THC has 
already been approved to treat the side effects of chemotherapy, 
nausea in cancer patients, anorexia associated with AIDS and other conditions.

The study involved almost 5,000 patients who answered a questionnaire 
about their drug use and were part of the National Health and 
Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010. The results showed almost 
2,000 had used cannabis at some point in their lives and more than 
one in 10 (579) were current users. Only those who had used cannabis 
within the past month showed evidence of protection against diabetes, 
suggesting that the effects wear off in time. Current users of the 
drug had 16 per cent lower fasting insulin than those who had never 
used the drug.

Murray Mittleman, of t he Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit 
at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, and lead 
author of the study published in The American Journal of Medicine, 
said previous studies had shown lower rates of obesity and diabetes 
in marijuana users.

Two previous surveys had also shown that although cannabis users 
consume more calories they have a lower body mass index. The 
mechanisms underlying this paradox are unknown, the authors say. 
Joseph Alpert, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona 
College of Medicine, Tucson, and editor in chief of the journal, 
said: "These are remarkable observations that are supported by basic 
science experiments that came to similar conclusions.

"We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research 
into the short and long term effects of marijuana in a variety of 
clinical settings such as cancer diabetes and frailty of the elderly."

Almost one in 20 adults in the UK has diabetes, of which 2.6 million 
are diagnosed and 500,000 are undiagnosed. Rates are rising in this 
country and around the world, driven by Western lifestyles, and the 
number of cases is expected to exceed 4 million in the UK by 2025. 
The illness increases the risk of heart failure, kidney failure, and 
death and is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom