Hepatitis C
http://norml.org/images/pdf_file.gif http://norml.org/images/medical/clinical/liver.jpg http://norml.org/images/medical/clin...nce_credit.gif Hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver that afflicts an estimated four million Americans. Chronic hepatitis C is typically associated with fatigue, depression, joint pain and liver impairment, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Patients diagnosed with hepatitis C frequently report using cannabis to treat both symptoms of the disease as well as the nausea associated with antiviral therapy.
[1-2] An observational study by investigators at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) found that hepatitis C patients who used cannabis were significantly more likely to adhere to their treatment regimen than patients who didn't use it.
[3] Nevertheless, no clinical trials assessing the use of cannabinoids for this indication are available in the scientific literature.
Preclinical data indicates that the endocannabinoid system may moderate aspects of chronic liver disease
[4-5] and that cannabinoids may reduce inflammation in experimental models of hepatitis.
[6] However, other clinical reviews have reported a positive association between daily cannabis use and the progression of liver fibrosis (excessive tissue build up) and steatosis (excessive fat build up) in select hepatitis C patients.
[7-9]
As a result, experts hold divergent opinions regarding the therapeutic use of cannabinoids for hepatitis C treatment. Writing in the October 2006 issue of the
European Journal of Gastroenterology, investigators from Canada and Germany concluded that cannabis' "potential benefits of a higher likelihood of treatment success [for hepatitis c patients] appear to outweigh [its] risks."
[10] By contrast, other experts discourage the use of cannabis in patients with chronic hepatitis until further studies are performed.
[11-15]