Alcohol Cirrhosis & MMJ

[Herborizer]

Hello fellow icmag friends. I thank you for your help.

A very near and dear family member of mine was diagnosed with Alcohol Cirrhosis. We rushed him to the hospital because he was throwing up blood. It wasn't a pretty sight. That was months ago now, and he is working on his health.

One of the things that have kept him clean is that he has been vaporizing instead of reaching for a drink. This has been working very very well. In my research, I can't really find any negative affects to the liver from using MMJ. Though, there really has been a lack of information out there for Cirrhosis & MMJ. My family member is really on thin ice here, so I am reaching out to see if anyone has any experience, knowledge, etc with Cirrhosis and MMJ. Does it have positive effects? Does it have negative effects?

My feelings so far is that ANY amount of alcohol could kill him, so if he vaporizes instead it's probably saving his life. I mean, my family member can't even take Tylenol because of his liver.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Herborizer]

bump

 

[WhateverComes]

Here are some useful articles pertaining to the effects of marijuana as related to alcohol/alcoholism/etc:

ALCOHOLISM

Role of cannabinoid receptors in alcohol abuse
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/30338.php

Cannabidiol, Antioxidants, and Diuretics in Reversing Binge Ethanol-Induced Neurotoxicity
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/co...urcetype=HWCIT

Cannabis substitution
http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/...ow.php?s_id=86

Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol
http://ccrmg.org/journal/03sum/substitutealcohol.html

The endocannabinoid signaling system: a potential target for next-generation therapeutics for alcoholism
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=1975858

I've had liver problems myself in the past and have been warned by my doctor on a few occasions to cut back the drinking or else... I find that marijuana has helped me to greatly reduce the amount of alcohol I drink and is also (obviously) a great hangover remedy for those that choose to overindulge...

My father quit the bottle outright a few years ago after he realized how his drinking was affecting his life negatively. I firmly believe without marijuana it would not have been possible for him to stop. I absolutely believe marijuana has positive effects psychologically for a recovering alcoholic.

Hope this helps!

 

[Herborizer]

Here are some useful articles pertaining to the effects of marijuana as related to alcohol/alcoholism/etc:



I've had liver problems myself in the past and have been warned by my doctor on a few occasions to cut back the drinking or else... I find that marijuana has helped me to greatly reduce the amount of alcohol I drink and is also (obviously) a great hangover remedy for those that choose to overindulge...

My father quit the bottle outright a few years ago after he realized how his drinking was affecting his life negatively. I firmly believe without marijuana it would not have been possible for him to stop. I absolutely believe marijuana has positive effects psychologically for a recovering alcoholic.

Hope this helps!

Yes, very much. Thank You!

 

[pushlimits]

I don't want to be a downer, but, The jury's still out on the effects of cannabis and liver disease I'm afraid. If cannabis prevents your friend from drinking then By all means, encourage him to do so. Unfortunately the consumption of any burning plant material is not good at all for your liver. And contrary to popular belief: Vaporizing will not get rid of all the toxins, it only lessens their concentration.

The reason cannabis therapy is prescribed for Hepatitis (liver swelling, cirrhosis), is because research has found that people using cannabis are more likely to adhere to their interferon treatments. This is attributed to the relief of symptoms from localized chemo; Nausea, depression, loss of appetite ect.

The good news is, there is research under way about cannabinoids and their interaction with the liver, but until there's more evidence to the contrary, no professional will ever advise cannabis to assist in repairing liver damage. It's the equivalent to throwing gasoline on a fire.

Everything your body "uses" needs your liver to brake it down with the use of enzymes. The more foreign, unfamiliar things your body consumes, the more enzymes it uses to synthesize them. The more enzymes are released, the more stressed the liver becomes. Thus, taking energy away from repairing it (and in some cases outright damaging it.) This is the basic idea only over simplified.

Although with all that being said, don't get me wrong: 100 grams of cannabis is better then 1 beer for your liver- so if it keeps him away from alcohol, Then by all means. Just don't think it's a cure, it's more damage control then any thing. I assume your freind's an alcoholic.

One of my patients is a ex-heroin addict with hep C, ; the LITTLE ill effects of marijuana on her liver is better then relapsing or discontinuing treatments. And yes, it helps her with both. She's been clean ever sense she started using cannabis, and she has never missed a treatment in over a year.

 

[sac beh]

I'd like to add that recent studies show that both cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 are presented and augmented in diseased livers experiencing fibrosis. They also show to have opposite effects, CB1 promoting further fibrosis and CB2 discouraging it.

So, we know that of the 3 principle cannabinoids in cannabis, THC selects between CB1 and CB2, while CBN and CBD show an affinity to the CB2 receptor. Thus promoting a higher CBN/CBD to THC ratio in your cannabis would be more beneficial in the specific case of liver disease. This is what the data shows now, as far as I can see, but there is still much research needed.

 

[ddrew]

MJ is one of the greatest tools there is for stepping down off of hard drugs and alcohol.
Quiting everything works for a little while, but eventually you go back to everything.

Allowing an addicted person to use as much MJ as they want while kicking something else makes the whole process so much easier IMO

Basically, you can't
Smoke crack
Drink
Use meth
Shoot heroin
But you can have as much weed as you want, whenever you want it.
It helps

 

[DoobieDuck]

Herb sorry to hear of someone suffering with this, and for them being someone close to you. I was an alcoholic and beat that disease with the help of cannabis. Sometimes one has to weigh the odds of which is the best medicine for them. If you think cannabis can have more negative effects than alcohol then have him keep drinking. I do not...sometimes, for certain people, cannabis is much better. I live with chronic pain and have to control it with narcotics several times a day..I know the dangers of these perscriptions. I can maintain my intake of those to a low level only because of my supplementing with cannabis. If someone tried to tell me the effects of the cannabis will harm me as well, I would say "you got to be kidding me right?" There is absolutely no comparison with narcotics vs cannabis, and I say the same about alcohol and cannabis as well. If you are chronic, or a severe case, you need to choose what will help you with your quality of life, there may be no cure. DD

 

[Wilson!]

As a recovered alcoholic, 20 years w/o alcohol, I have seen the curitave impact of cannabis 1st hand. I also have Hep C w/ very high liver function enzymes. I have real serious reservations of going the Interferon/Ribavarin route. There are way too many ooops by the FDA to feel safe taking anything they "approve". So I'm looking for natural/supplimental Tx. I'd appreciate any direction from experienced Hep C challengers.

cheers,

 

[Seedfreak]

i had no problems with my liver but i was for a long time an alcoholic. some day i became morbus chron and stop with alcohol.

today i'm a big herb lover&grower and the most of my friends from the alcoholic time stop drinking, too and vaporize now like me because they've seen me with more power and a better life. since 10 years now i'm clean from alcohol and was only 3 times ill.
the same for most of my friends.
for me it was the best thing i've done in my life

seedfreak

 

[Herborizer]

i had no problems with my liver but i was for a long time an alcoholic. some day i became morbus chron and stop with alcohol.

today i'm a big herb lover&grower and the most of my friends from the alcoholic time stop drinking, too and vaporize now like me because they've seen me with more power and a better life. since 10 years now i'm clean from alcohol and was only 3 times ill.
the same for most of my friends.
for me it was the best thing i've done in my life

seedfreak

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

mmj is safe and a great way to help your friend

 

[SCF]

The definitive study of the long-term health effects of marijuana to date was done by Kaiser Permanente. They surveyed the health records of 65,000 patients over a long period of time. They found no significant differences in the health records of pot smokers versus people who did not smoke pot. See http://www.druglibrary.org/crl/aging/sidney-01.html
CONCLUSIONS: Marijuana use in a prepaid health care-based study cohort had little effect on non-AIDS mortality in men and on total mortality in women
This is consistent with the results of the health studies of every major government commission report on the drug laws from around the world since 1894. These reports can be found at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy.
Pure, organically-grown marijuana does not directly damage the liver. It has shown the ability to speed up fibrosis in patients with Hepatitis C, but there is no evidence of stand-alone liver damage in healthy patients.

HOWEVER, marijuana is an illegal and UNREGULATED drug.
Smoking marijuana coated with such substances is one of the most damaging things you can do to your liver.

Quite a bit of marijuana is still not grown organically! Miracle-Gro (or other non organic fertilizers) is used (AND NOT SPARINGLY).
Only way to stop this? Grow your own or start a revolution to legalize it