Medical marijuana and cancer

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FarmerD
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Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by FarmerD » Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:35 pm

Is marijuana hemp oil worth taking as a cancer treatment with or without chemo? Certainly there are no controlled clinical trials using it, only some interesting research and some anecdotal evidence of efficacy. Still, is it worth trying?
Disclaimer: I'm talking CBD hemp oil which is legal in all 50 states
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MachineGhost
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Re: Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by MachineGhost » Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:11 am

FarmerD wrote:Is marijuana hemp oil worth taking as a cancer treatment with or without chemo? Certainly there are no controlled clinical trials using it, only some interesting research and some anecdotal evidence of efficacy. Still, is it worth trying?
Disclaimer: I'm talking CBD hemp oil which is legal in all 50 states
Sure, but I wouldn't rely on it alone. I think CBD primes the immune prump so to speak and doesn't attack cancer or induce anti-cancer epigenetics directly like certain phytonutrient extracts do. It reminds me a lot of low dose Naltrexone in its mechanism. The primary problem as you age is your immune system accumulates and gets clogged up with useless memory T-cells whereas you need a continual supply of new naive T-cells for optimal immune response. Anything that shakes this ratio up will help restore youthful immune function.

BTW, when it comes to treating disease lamestream medicine has no real cure for, don't get ideological about specific treatments. I've read of far too many on either side that don't use a comprehensive approach and die as a result of their stubborness. Perhaps its human nature to "lock onto" what is comfortable and familiar rather than venture out into the wild and wooly "unknown". Most people are far more concerned about social acceptance than actually curing themselves. It's very maddening that people don't realize they are in complete control of what software they run in their brain.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes

Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet.  I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
WiseOne
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Re: Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by WiseOne » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:18 am

FarmerD, I'm sorry to hear that you're on chemo....

The purpose of marijuana during chemo is to boost appetite and treat nausea. If it works for you, go for it. Smoking it may work better than eating because GI absorption may be compromised by chemo.
FarmerD
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Re: Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by FarmerD » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:43 am

WiseOne,
I'm not on chemo but it looks like my mom will be.
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Benko
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Re: Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by Benko » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:25 am

sorry to hear about your mother.

1. Cancerdecisions.org is a science journalist (ralph moss) who for a coupla hundred bucks will give you a report on the current state of the art conventional treatments and where to go to get them for most cancers.

2. Keith Block, M.D. is a physician who treats cancer pts with a variety of conventional and alternative approaches. He is in Chicago area.

3. Taking omega 3s (such as hemp oil, though better off best I know with EPA/DHA i.e. fish oil) and restricting omega 6s is useful for cancers in general, though MG knows more about this area than I.

4. TCm i.e. traditional Chinese medicine can be useful for a number of issues not well treated with western medicine, though of course nothing is 100% and cancer IMHO can often be a challenge to look at one's life and address issues that are not being addressed e.g. emotional, etc.
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Austen Heller
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Re: Medical marijuana and cancer

Post by Austen Heller » Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:05 pm

My understanding is that there are at least 85 different cannabinoids found in marijuana. THC is the most widely known, since that's the one that gets you high, but CBD is the one that has the anti-cancer properties. For instance, it has been shown to decrease the rate of cancer cell growth: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23264851

Unfortunately, due to the illegality of marijuana, there just hasn't been a lot of rigorous research on the cannabinoids yet. Hopefully this will change soon. If I had cancer, I would definitely try a high-CBD strain. I like the risk-reward profile.
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