Medical marijuana has been much in the news recently with many commentators offering the opinion that it's little more than an excuse to get high.
For those of us who have been sick or watched a loved one struggle with the pernicious side effects of powerful, but life-giving medications, this presumption is annoying, to say the least.
My husband apparently contracted hepatitis C some decades ago. Because its €incubation€ time is so lengthy, it was only diagnosed during a routine physical examination about eighteen months ago and it came as a complete shock to us.
Thinking back over his life, we've decided he probably picked it up serving as a medic in Vietnam, a period when he was up to his arms in blood or a couple of years later when he was transfused after being in an accident.
Hepatitis C is a potentially fatal disease which if untreated causes liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is the leading cause of liver transplantation.
Standard therapy for those infected with HCV includes peginterferon and ribavirin. The side effects associated with what is called a €combination€ therapy include depression, anxiety, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting, poor appetite, fatigue, joint pain, and riba rage. There are others, but these are the ones that are extensively documented.
Last year, the combination therapy was enhanced by adding the newly approved telaprevir or boceprevir to standard therapy. This is called triple therapy and it greatly improves a HCV genotype 1 patient's chances of having a successful outcome. Success rates are at or above 90 percent compared with 40 percent for the conventional therapy.
But it seems to intensify many of these already nearly unbearable side effects.
As an example, imagine that you are told you must ingest 20 grams of fat four times a day before taking your medication. Then imagine that you are so nauseated that the thought of food makes you sick. Or imagine the intense depression that can result from fatigue so extreme that you are unable to complete small tasks that had been routine and unremarkable.
The side effects of triple therapy are so intense that at least 25 percent of patients drop out of the regimen. And studies show that as many as 40 percent of patients undergoing standard therapy drop out.
Pharmaceutical companies are working to find an interferon-free therapy for hepatitis C. In other words, a therapy that will produce few and less intense side effects. But that's not yet on the horizon and it is certainly millions of dollars away.
In the meantime, a number of studies and reports from patients suggest that medical marijuana can reduce the severity of the symptoms associated with the medication for patients with hepatitis C. In addition and just as important, is the possibility that the chemical components of cannabis, the Cannabinoids, may actually reduce liver inflammation and slow the progression of both cirrhosis and Hepatocellular carcinoma.
So, if medical marijuana is helpful in alleviating the side effects that cause a jaw dropping number of patients to discontinue therapy that might save their lives, why aren't we using it more right now when there are no real alternatives to providing any relief?
Why aren't researchers monitoring its potential use in helping patients' complete therapy? And why aren't we studying its costs particularly in comparing it to the costs of drugs that moderate the side effects, such as anti-depressant medications?
While evaluating these suggestions, bear in mind that the Centers for Disease Control has recommended that every baby boomer be tested for hepatitis C. The disease wasn't discovered until 1989 and the nation's blood supply wasn't tested for hepatitis C until 1992.
Boomers, like my husband, Rick, make up two-thirds of the population known to have hepatitis C. The CDC's recommendations are aimed at getting 800,000 boomers into treatment and saving as many as 120,000 lives.
So why aren't we looking at and evaluating the potentially beneficial role medical marijuana can play in ameliorating side effects and potentially reducing costs?
Some things just make sense to me.
For those of us who have been sick or watched a loved one struggle with the pernicious side effects of powerful, but life-giving medications, this presumption is annoying, to say the least.
My husband apparently contracted hepatitis C some decades ago. Because its €incubation€ time is so lengthy, it was only diagnosed during a routine physical examination about eighteen months ago and it came as a complete shock to us.
Thinking back over his life, we've decided he probably picked it up serving as a medic in Vietnam, a period when he was up to his arms in blood or a couple of years later when he was transfused after being in an accident.
Hepatitis C is a potentially fatal disease which if untreated causes liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is the leading cause of liver transplantation.
Standard therapy for those infected with HCV includes peginterferon and ribavirin. The side effects associated with what is called a €combination€ therapy include depression, anxiety, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting, poor appetite, fatigue, joint pain, and riba rage. There are others, but these are the ones that are extensively documented.
Last year, the combination therapy was enhanced by adding the newly approved telaprevir or boceprevir to standard therapy. This is called triple therapy and it greatly improves a HCV genotype 1 patient's chances of having a successful outcome. Success rates are at or above 90 percent compared with 40 percent for the conventional therapy.
But it seems to intensify many of these already nearly unbearable side effects.
As an example, imagine that you are told you must ingest 20 grams of fat four times a day before taking your medication. Then imagine that you are so nauseated that the thought of food makes you sick. Or imagine the intense depression that can result from fatigue so extreme that you are unable to complete small tasks that had been routine and unremarkable.
The side effects of triple therapy are so intense that at least 25 percent of patients drop out of the regimen. And studies show that as many as 40 percent of patients undergoing standard therapy drop out.
Pharmaceutical companies are working to find an interferon-free therapy for hepatitis C. In other words, a therapy that will produce few and less intense side effects. But that's not yet on the horizon and it is certainly millions of dollars away.
In the meantime, a number of studies and reports from patients suggest that medical marijuana can reduce the severity of the symptoms associated with the medication for patients with hepatitis C. In addition and just as important, is the possibility that the chemical components of cannabis, the Cannabinoids, may actually reduce liver inflammation and slow the progression of both cirrhosis and Hepatocellular carcinoma.
So, if medical marijuana is helpful in alleviating the side effects that cause a jaw dropping number of patients to discontinue therapy that might save their lives, why aren't we using it more right now when there are no real alternatives to providing any relief?
Why aren't researchers monitoring its potential use in helping patients' complete therapy? And why aren't we studying its costs particularly in comparing it to the costs of drugs that moderate the side effects, such as anti-depressant medications?
While evaluating these suggestions, bear in mind that the Centers for Disease Control has recommended that every baby boomer be tested for hepatitis C. The disease wasn't discovered until 1989 and the nation's blood supply wasn't tested for hepatitis C until 1992.
Boomers, like my husband, Rick, make up two-thirds of the population known to have hepatitis C. The CDC's recommendations are aimed at getting 800,000 boomers into treatment and saving as many as 120,000 lives.
So why aren't we looking at and evaluating the potentially beneficial role medical marijuana can play in ameliorating side effects and potentially reducing costs?
Some things just make sense to me.
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