cannabisnews.com: Study Finds Marijuana Use Safe for HIV Patients 










  Study Finds Marijuana Use Safe for HIV Patients 

Posted by FoM on July 13, 2000 at 10:55:20 PT
By Ulysses Torassa, San Francisco Examiner 
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 

Durban, South Africa -- The first U.S. study using medical marijuana for people with HIV has found that smoking the plant does not disrupt the effect of anti-retroviral drugs that keep the virus in check.The results were announced Thursday at the 13th International AIDS Conference and are the first to be released from research conducted at San Francisco General Hospital into the use of marijuana by people infected with HIV.
Given the scarcity of data about the possible medical uses of marijuana, the results have been eagerly awaited by advocates in this heavily debated issue.It took four years for University of California San Francisco professor Donald Abrams to jump through hurdles erected by the federal government to get the research under way, and in the process he was restricted to focusing on marijuana's safety rather than its effectiveness. The 67 people who participated in the study were kept in the hospital during the 25-day study period.``The fact of the matter is that any good clinician with his eyes and ears open has known for a long time that cannabis is very useful in the treatment of the AIDS reduction syndrome and does not harm patients,'' said Dr. Lester Greenspoon, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and author of ``Marijuana: the Forbidden Medicine.''``When all the dust settles, and when marijuana is admitted to the U.S. pharmacopia, it will be seen as one of the least toxic drugs in the whole compendium. What Don (Abrams) has done is put the seal of approval on a new drug with his double blind study.''Researchers were especially keen to study people on drug regimes that contain protease inhibitors, because the key ingredient in marijuana is metabolized by the same system in the liver as those drugs.The participants, nearly all men, were divided into three groups, with one set smoking marijuana, another taking a Food and Drug Administration-approved pill containing marijuana's main ingredient, and a third taking a placebo pill.In all groups, tests showed that the level of virus in the blood dropped or remained undetectable by current tests. But those taking marijuana either by smoking or in a pill form saw their level drop slightly more than those on the placebo.Furthermore, researchers found that those using the pill or smoking marijuana gained an average of 2.2 kilograms, compared to 0.6 kilograms in the placebo group. Marijuana was first used widely by people with AIDS to combat the nausea and extreme weight loss that comes with the disease.Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service: http://www.shns.comAP-NY-07-13-2000 1104EDT© 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, postnet.com Marijuana Does Not Appear to Alter Viral Loads of HIV Patients Taking Protease Inhibitors: Jul. 13, 2000 | 10:14 a.m. Attention: Medical EditorsDurban, South Africa, July 13 (AScribe News) -- A study by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco has found that patients with HIV infection taking protease inhibitors do not experience short-term adverse virologic effects from using cannabinoids.According to Donald Abrams, M.D., lead author of the study and professor of clinical medicine in the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, this was the first attempt to study the effects of marijuana in people with HIV and one of the most comprehensive studies about the effects of marijuana on the immune system.Research findings were reported today at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.The study focused on HIV patients whose antiretroviral regimens included protease inhibitors because cannabinoids are metabolized by the same systems in the liver as protease inhibitors. The inpatient study lasted 21 days and measured changes in HIV RNA levels between baseline and day 21. RNA is a major component of retroviruses such as HIV.The key measure of immunological effects was the Bayer Quantiplex HIV-1 bDNA version 3.0 assay test. This test measured the amount of HIV present in the blood, down to 50 copies per milliliter of blood (copies/ml). Virus that is present in quantities less than 50 copies/ml is an undetectable level of virus and is considered the primary indicator of success in suppressing the virus. Rises in HIV RNA levels are a sign that the HIV virus is actively replicating and are associated with adverse immunological events.The study was undertaken by the Community Consortium, the San Francisco community based HIV clinical trials group, because of the widespread use of smoked marijuana by HIV patients in San Francisco. Sixty-seven subjects were enrolled. Ninety-six percent were male and 67 percent were over 40 years old. Thirty of the subjects were on antiretroviral regimens containing the protease inhibitor indinavir, and 37 were on regimens containing the protease inhibitor nelfinavir.HIV RNA levels were measured twice at baseline and then at days 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19, and 21. Thirty-seven (55 percent) of the subjects entered the study with HIV RNA levels of less than 50 copies/ml. Ten (16 percent) had HIV RNA levels between 50 and 499 copies/ml. Thirteen (19 percent) had HIV RNA levels between 500 and 9999 copies/ml and 7 (10 percent) had levels over 10,000 copies/ml.Subjects were randomized to one of three groups receiving -- three times a day before meals -- either a marijuana cigarette containing 3.95 percent THC, the active ingredient in marijuana; an oral tablet containing THC (2.5 mg. oral dronabinol); or an oral placebo. Twenty-one were randomized for smoked marijuana, 25 for oral dronabinol, and 21 for the oral placebo.Sixty-two subjects completed the study. One subject in the smoked marijuana arm left the study because of neuropsychiatric symptoms; another in the same arm also experienced neuropsychiatric symptoms but was treated and remained in the study. One subject in the oral dronabinol arm left the study due to neuropsychiatric effects, and one left due to headache and nausea possibly related to the study drug.Other adverse effects that did not cause the subjects to leave the study were an occurrence of tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) in the smoked marijuana arm and a kidney stone (possibly related to the protease inhibitor, indinavir) experienced by a subject in the oral dronabinol arm. No adverse events were reported in the placebo arm.Of the 62 subjects who completed the study, the 36 with undetectable HIV RNA levels remained at these levels. All 26 subjects with detectable HIV RNA levels experienced declines in HIV RNA levels. Of those, the subjects who smoked marijuana or took oral dronabinol experienced slightly greater decreases in HIV RNA levels than did subjects who took the placebos.According to Abrams, ``The slightly better decline experienced by those using marijuana or dronabinol is intriguing, but not statistically significant. The good news is that there is no statistical difference between the three groups.''At this time, he attributes the decline in HIV RNA levels to better adherence by the subjects to their drug regimens. ``Antiretroviral therapy was directly observed. Subjects did not miss a dose,'' said Abrams. ``Studies of the impact of marijuana and dronabinol on protease inhibitor levels and immune system function are still ongoing,'' he added.One difference noted by Abrams between the three arms was in caloric intake and weight gain. ``All three groups gained weight. Part of that was due to regularly scheduled meals and snacks being readily available. However, the placebo arm averaged a gain of 1.30 kilograms while the subjects who took oral dronabinol gained an average of 3.18 kilograms. Those who smoked marijuana gained an average of 3.51 kilograms. Caloric intake reflected the same order.''The co-authors include Roslyn J. Leiser, Starley B. Shade, Joan Hilton, and Tarek Elbeik, all of UCSF. This research was supported by a research grant, R01 DA1 1607, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health, which also supplied the marijuana cigarettes for the trial. The dronabinol and placebo were supplied by Roxane, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.Media Contact: Jeff Sheehy, UCSF News Office, 415-597-8165: jsheehy(at)psg.ucsf.eduAScribe - The Public Interest Newswire / 510-645-4600 AP-NY-07-13-2000 1054EDT© 2000 St. Louis Post-DispatchRxMarijuana: The Forbidden Medicinehttp://www.rxmarihuana.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml

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Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 15, 2000 at 14:45:18 PT
JAMA - HIV - AIDS Information Center
Therapeutic Marijuana Use Does Not Increase Viral Load In AIDS-Infected Patientshttp://www.ama-assn.org/special/hiv/newsline/reuters/07148288.htmDurban, S. Africa, Jul 14 (Reuters Health) - Cannabinoids do not increase viral load in AIDS-infected patients undergoing therapy with protease inhibitors, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco said here Thursday at the 13th International AIDS Congress. "We needed a safety study" on the effects of marijuana or its active ingredient, THC, in AIDS progression," Dr Donald Abrams explained of the study design. He pointed out that marijuana use has shown positive effects on pain, nausea, and anorexia, but its effect on AIDS itself was unknown. Dr Abrams and colleagues conducted a 21-day study with the primary endpoint being viral load. They enrolled 67 subjects, of whom 96% were men and 67% were older than 40 years. All subjects were on regimens containing protease inhibitors: 30 patients were on indinavir and 37 were on nelfinavir. Subjects received either marijuana cigarettes containing 3.95% THC; oral dronabinol, 2.5 mg; or placebo to be used 3 times a day. Five subjects were unable to complete the study. "There was no significance in outcome in terms of viral load," Dr Abrams reported. At baseline, 37 subjects had undetectable viral loads, which remained so throughout the 3-week study. The 26 subjects with detectable viral loads continued to have levels fall throughout the study. The subjects in the 2 active treatment arms of the study had slightly but insignificantly greater falls in viral load than those on placebo. A significant change among the 3 groups was in caloric intake and weight gain, Dr Abrams told Reuters Health in an interview during the meeting. The average daily caloric intake in the placebo group was 3600 kcal, in the oral THC group it was 4100 kcal, and in the smokers it was 4800 kcal. Weight gain was 1.3 kg in the placebo group, 3.18 kg in the oral THC group, and 3.51 kg in the smokers. "This study was not powered to look at the effect [of THC] on weight, but this will help in designing future studies," Dr Abrams commented. "Patients preferred to smoke marijuana over taking the pills because they could better regulate the effects," he noted. © 2000 Reuters Limited. 
JAMA - HIV - AIDS Information Center
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Comment #3 posted by Dr. Ganj on July 13, 2000 at 23:54:27 PT
"The Proof Is In The Puffin' " 
Well said, Kaptinemo!This is one more study-of dozens to be sure, with the same result: Cannabis is quite benign compared to all the other pharmaceuticals out there. A schedule I category drug it is not. Rather, it should be considered just another herbal remedy option.The pressure is building, and there's only one thing that's going to happen: DECRIMINALIZATION of all cannabis products. See you all at the coffeeshops!Dr. Ganj
http://www.channels.nl/amsterdam/twkamer.html
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 13, 2000 at 17:34:13 PT
Study Finds Pot Use Safe for HIV Patients
By Ulysses TorassaExaminer Medical WriterPublished: July 13, 2000Durban, South Africa — The first U.S. study using medical marijuana to treat people with HIV has found that smoking the plant does not disrupt the effect of anti-retroviral drugs that keep the virus in check.Click the link to read the complete article.Study Finds Pot Use Safe for HIV Patientshttp://www.examiner.com/000713/0713aids.html
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on July 13, 2000 at 13:00:06 PT:

More Lysenkoism

In the Soviet Union in the 1930's, there was a so-called scientists named Lysenko. He tried to fit his Communist master's theories to biology; by cutting off the tails of mice, he said that within a few generations, mice would be born without tails. The idea was that if you change the environment, you change the organism. Sure, you might do that, if you had thousands of years and millions of generations of mice to work with. But not in two or three generations. Needless to say, the idea bombed. The mice kept growing tails. But Lysenko was Stalin's fair-haired boy and could do no wrong. His theories were suposed to prove the superiority of the Soviet way of life. And Soviet biological sciences suffered from political interference until the death of Stalin.Rather like Alan Leshner and the NIDA, no? Like Barry's refusal to admit that the IoM report destroyed every talking point the fool ever had about cannabis? Like Lysenko, these guys know which side of the bread the butter is on, and they won't drop it on the floor by admitting they were wrong. The very surviva of their political orthodoxy is a stake, and they aren't about to tell the tuth now. They know what happens to people who ride hungry tigers when they want to get off.The US government can no longer use the tired old race bigotry-inspired Reefer Madness without invoking hot and razor sharp criticism from the minorities it is aimed at. So, they've tried to cloak their perfidy in the sanctity of medical science. And that has just been stripped from them. The very study they did their damnedest to prevent from ever being made - the Abrams study - has just torpedoed the ONDCP amidships; let's see if they are able to bail as fast as they lie. 
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