Does Cannabis help with Type 2 Diabetes?

[Nailhead]

I have a friend with type 2 diabetes and don't know much about it, other than it can be very serious. Knowing diabetes has to do with blood sugar levels I wouldn't think it would have any effect on treating diabetes directly, but I was wondering if perhaps there are other things it can help with that diabetics suffer from.

If you have any information on this I'd be interested in reading about it.

[Storm Crow]

Cannabinoid Reduces Incidence Of Diabetes
Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoid Reduces Incidence Of Diabetes, Study Says - NORML (http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6909)

Marijuana Compound May Help Stop Diabetic Retinopathy
Marijuana Compound May Help Stop Diabetic Retinopathy (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060227184647.htm)

Cannabidiol lowers incidence of diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice
CSA: Cannabis Research - Diabetes (http://safeaccess.ca/research/diabetes.htm)
Anticoagulant Effects of a Cannabis Extract in an Obese Rat Model
http://www.level1diet.com/research/id/14687

Neuroprotective and Blood-Retinal Barrier-Preserving Effects of Cannabidiol
Neuroprotective and Blood-Retinal Barrier-Preserving Effects of Cannabidiol in Experimental Diabetes -- El-Remessy et al. 168 (1): 235 -- American Journal of Pathology (http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/full/168/1/235)

The Cannabinergic System as a Target for Anti-inflammatory Therapies
IngentaConnect The Cannabinergic System as a Target for Anti-inflammatory Therap... (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/ctmc/2006/00000006/00000013/art00008)

Effect of tetrahydrocurcumin on blood glucose, plasma insulin and hepatic key enzymes
Unbound MEDLINE | Effect of tetrahydrocurcumin on blood glucose, plasma insulin and hepatic key enzymes in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Journal article (http://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/ebm/record/16438392/abstract/Effect_of_tetrahydrocurcumin_on_blood_glucose_plas ma_insulin_and_hepatic_key_enzymes_in_streptozotoc in_induced_diabetic_rats)

Cannabidiol reduces the development of diabetes in an animal study
IACM-Bulletin (http://www.cannabis-med.org/english/bulletin/ww_en_db_cannabis_artikel.php?id=219#3)

Getting Eye On Cannabinoids
Getting Eye On Cannabinoids: The Hempire - [cannabis, hemp] (http://www.thehempire.com/index.php/cannabis/news/getting_eye_on_cannabinoids)


Marijuana compound could prevent eye damage in diabetics
Marijuana compound could prevent eye damage in diabetics: The Hempire - [cannabis, uk] (http://www.thehempire.com/index.php/cannabis/news/marijuana_compound_could_prevent_eye_damage_in_dia betics)

The synthetic cannabinoid HU-210 attenuates neural damage in diabetic mice
Cannabinoids Research Articles and recent Cannabinoid Abstracts (http://ccicnewsletter.com/index.php?customernumber=781160420367400&pr=MJJA07_Endocrin_Basic#_Toc177908911)

Cannabidiol arrests onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice
Cannabinoids Research Articles and recent Cannabinoid Abstracts (http://ccicnewsletter.com/index.php?customernumber=781160420367400&pr=MJJA07_Endocrin_Basic#_Toc177908919)


That should keep you busy reading for a bit! - Granny:hippy:

[the image reaper]

might not be such a good idea, ( if ya own a candy-store ) with munchies :jointsmile:

[birdgirl73]

Nailhead, it's VERY important that you read the links about health benefits for diabetics above with a disclaimer. I wish to goodness this disclaimer went along with those links everytime they were posted. Notice that nowhere does a single one of those tout the benefits of whole, smoked cannabis as beneficial for diabetics. They're talking about cannabidiol and synthetic cannabidiol, not whole smoked cannabis, and you can't see the complete study data in those links to read what the actual conclusions are, so you have the medical equivalent of a provocative headline without a complete news story.

Smoking of any kind is especially harmful for diabetics, whose circulatory systems are particularly delicate. Diabetics are at as high a risk of heart attack simply by virtue of having the diagnosis of diabetes as are people who've already had one heart attack. Smoked cannabis can put stresses on the heart and circulatory system that could be particularly harmful for diabetics, and it can also cause unsafe fluctuations in blood sugar (usually hypoglycemic--meaning low blood sugar--swings) for many. My husband is a cardiologist and has diabetic patients who get high. He used to have more of them than he has now, if that tells you anything. You cannot persuade him or his colleagues--or his colleagues in the field of endocrinology--that smoked cannabis is anything but harmful for patients, particularly those with diabetes. Vaping is probably better because it doesn't put the same stresses on the circulatory system, but diabetes is a tricky, tricky thing to combine with smoking of any kind. It raises the risk of heart attack and stroke even higher in that population.

The active ingredients in cannabis, if given alone, may well help humans with glucose regulation and retinopathy--and I suspect that if there were testing done, the active ingredients would be found downright beneficial for diabetic neuropathy (nerve pain in the extremities), which plagues many diabetics--but that's a tricky proposition since no one's making cannabidiol isolates available to diabetics. Just whole cannabis. Notice another thing about the links above, which is that they largely relate to cannabidiol or synthetic cannabidiol as it affects lab mice. You can't directly conclude that what's beneficial to lab mice is going to be equally beneficial for humans.

Storm Crow is herself a diabetic and monitors her blood sugar closely when vaping her cannabis and so knows how it affects her, which, from what she's said, isn't dramatic or problematic. Wisely, she's a vapes her cannabis rather than smokes it. She's lucky. There've been many more reports here about diabetic people whose blood sugar is affected much more dramatically. That's why smokers get the munchies, incidentally, because one of the after-effects of getting high is a hypoglycemic response. Lowered blood sugar, of course, is a good thing if your blood sugar's too high. The problem is, just as happens in the normal course of diabetic life, first there's a dip into hypo (low) territory, then a spike back into high, especially if diabetics eat indiscriminately in response to the hypoglycemic dip. So the yo-yo effect is magnified, which is not a good thing.

I'm glad you're interested enough in this topic to ask about it. I think your friend would be wise to proceed very cautiously and monitor himself or herself very carefully before combining type II diabetes with cannabis smoking if that's being considered.

[Nailhead]

Thanks for the info, it sounds like the risks outweigh the benefits. He does drink and I was also thinking it might be a better vice than alcohol since that is probably far worse than smoking marijuana would be for a diabetic, but I wouldn't be comfortable recommending a different drug that just might be a tad less harmful. I feel bad for the guy because he seems to be in the "fuck it" mode where he just doesn't care too much about his health, which I can relate to. I think that's just a guy thing when it comes to being diagnosed with something, but I know diabetes can be serious if you don't take care of yourself.