Marijuana and The Liver

Is weed bad for your liver? Because I have Hep C so I wonder If marijuana will be harmful to me or not. What about in the long run? By any chance will it help?

Please can somebody who is a marijuana expert give me a good answer.

 

www.erowid.org

Medicinal use
Main article: Medical marijuana
Medically, cannabis is most often used as an appetite stimulant and pain reliever for certain terminal illnesses such as cancer and AIDS. It is used to relieve glaucoma and certain neurological illnesses such as epilepsy, migraine and bipolar disorder. It has also been found to relieve nausea for chemotherapy patients. The medical use of cannabis is politically controversial, but it is sometimes recommended informally by physicians. A synthetic version of the major active chemical in cannabis, THC, is readily available in the form of a pill as the prescription drug Marinol. THC has also been found to reduce arterial blockages[6]. A sublingual spray derived from an extract of cannabis has also been approved for treatment of multiple sclerosis in Canada as the prescription drug Sativex - this drug may now be legally imported into the UK on prescription. Eleven states in the US allow marijuana consumption for medical purposes; however, Gonzales v. Raich ruled marijuana illegal for any purpose. In the case United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, 00-151, the Supreme Court ruled against marijuana. The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other illnesses.

See section History for information on historic and other medical use.

- from wikipedia

happy trails

 

http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

MYTH: MARIJUANA USE IMPAIRS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. Marijuana users are at increased risk of infection, including HIV. AIDS patients are particularly vulnerable to marijuana's immunopathic effects because their immune systems are already suppressed.

FACT: There is no evidence that marijuana users are more susceptible to infections than nonusers. Nor is there evidence that marijuana lowers users' resistance to sexually transmitted diseases. Early studies which showed decreased immune function in cells taken from marijuana users have since been disproved. Animals given extremely large doses of THC and exposed to a virus have higher rates of infection. Such studies have little relevance to humans. Even among people with existing immune disorders, such as AIDS, marijuana use appears to be relatively safe. However, the recent finding of an association between tobacco smoking and lung infection in AIDS patients warrants further research into possible harm from marijuana smoking in immune suppressed persons.



dont know if this helps any but its all i could find for you.

 

do either of those quotes even mention the word liver?

 

No, it does not. There is no research linking cannabis to liver damage however there has been a lot of FDA research linking KAVA to liver damage.. bummer cause I used to love Kava Kava.

 

Also while there is no research linking cannabis to immune system dysfunction.. thats still the reason my uncle who has Hep C doesn't smoke. He still believes that it does impair your immune system. So I dunno..

 

sorry bout your sickness, must make you worry or sometn...is it genetic?

 

Yeah, My dad has it from drinking but than god he quit like 5 years ago. Just sucks I had to be a victim of his bad choices.

 

http://www.natap.org/2005/HCV/091905_01.htm

 

I know that there hasn't been any research linking pot to impaired immune system function, but many smokers as well as myself have noticed that if you smoke when you get sick, you tend to stay sick a bit longer then normal. Could just be coicidence, I have no idea.

 

buddy...if u have hep C go ask a fuckin doctor dont post up here

thats like serious shit, and i wouldnt be taking internet advice on pretty much a descision that could be life or death.

 

Ask a doctor if I can smoke weed or not? Of course he will say no.

 

You CAN ask your doctor the medical implications of marijuana use. They are more concerned with health than with law.

One question I have, are people who share a pipe with you at risk of catching hep?

 

nah its only passed down through blood basically. Kind of like HIV, we all know you cant catch it by saliva.

 

If he flat out says no, then change doctors if possible. A doctor should be more concerned with your health then the law. Ask him if it will interact with your stuff.

 

a doctor is a professional, not some undercover narc

if you ask in a proper way, u will get a proper answer.

 

marijuana is metabolized by the liver. it is certainly not good for the liver. HOW bad it is, we don't know. it's clearly not as bad as drinking, but that doesn't say much...

 

"There is no evidence that marijuana itself leads to liver disease or damage. However, you must keep in mind that marijuana frequently contains impurities such as fungi and/or other potentially toxic plant material [??? lol]. It is these unknown substances that may taint this illegal and unregulated drug and may lead to significant liver injury."

http://health.ivillage.com/digestion/diliver/0,,6fz7,00.html

that was funny.
they're like... "umm, yea, it's not bad for you ... but uh.. here's a bullshit reason why it's still bad!"

http://www.google.com/search?hs=fOD...official&q=liver+damage+marijuana&btnG=Search

as far as the immune system thing goes... the only things i can think of are 1.) sharing pieces or 2.) the harm it does to your lungs that causes your body's energy to focus on healing them.

but still...

 

sharing pieces might not spread hep but it can spread heaps of normal diseases that people dont necessarily want.

at te same time however these sorts of shares can be good.

only traces of diseases are in a bong, you pretty much have to have someone who has a cold use a pipe in your sesh and be pretty unclean or it might be cold or whatever; the point is there isnt enough residue of most peoples salivas even if theyre sick, to sicken the other people who use the pipe in any condition. but there is enough for it to effect the body.

ie

what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.

by sharing a bong, you get a nice wide range of infectious organisms for your immune system to learn. in effect, sharing things with other people raises your chance of getting sick when someone else is sick, but it lowers your chance of getting sick overall because youre getting a wider vaccination than people who dont share anything. your body normally vaccinates itself all the time, but it can only learn local organisms. getting foreign ones (shared on the mouthpiece of a piece or a joint etc) can protect you in the long run.

its not a massive difference, but i think you would find it statistically noticable. not that i would know where you could get such a source

 

only problem is that you're extremely unlikely to ever come across that exact same strain of bacteria or virus; every little common cold is caused by a slightly different microbe...

intentionally exposing yourself to thousands or millions of these organisms in hopes that you will magically become immune to the world's illnesses would be very unwise.