INCREASED RISK OF CANCER FROM MARIJUANA
Article
One Joint as Damaging as Five Cigarettes to Your Lungs
www.abcnews.go.com
TUESDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- " Smoking just one Marijuana Joint is the same as smoking Five Cigarettes in terms of the damage it does to your Lungs, a new Study found.
Lung damage from Marijuana results in Chronic Bronchitis and other respiratory problems. But whether Marijuana causes emphysema or Lung Cancer isn't clear, the researchers said.
"This damage is a full range from symptoms to structural Lung Damage and reduced Lung Function," said lead researcher Dr. Richard Beasley, director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, in Wellington.
Beasley thinks Marijuana Smokers should heed the study's findings. "Many people think that Marijuana is safe, but this shows that it's not safe. Hopefully, this will avoid a lack of knowledge among Smokers," he said.
For the study, Beasley's group collected data on 339 people. The group consisted of people who smoked at least one Marijuana cigarette a day for five years; people who smoked a pack of tobacco cigarettes a day for at least a year; and people who smoked both. There were also people who didn't smoke either Tobacco or Marijuana.
All the study participants had Lung X-rays and took breathing tests to see how well their Lungs worked, according to the July 31 online report in the Journal: Thorax.
Among the 75 people who smoked only Marijuana or the 91 who smoked Tobacco and Marijuana, there were complaints of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and phlegm. But, the researchers found signs of Emphysema only among the people who smoked just Tobacco or Tobacco in combination with Marijuana.
Marijuana did, however, damage the Lungs and stopped them from working properly. The Drug Marijuana decreased the number of small fine airways, which carry oxygen and waste products to and from the blood vessels. In addition, Marijuana damaged the large airways, blocking airflow and making the lungs work harder, the researchers found.
The amount of damage was directly related to the number of Joints smoked, with more Marijuana associated with more Lung Damage, Beasley noted.
The extensive damage from Marijuana results from its higher burn temperature, and because it is inhaled more deeply and held in the lungs longer than cigarettes, Beasley explained. "In addition, there is no filter," he said.
One expert thinks this study is the first to really explain the risks to the Lungs posed by Marijuana.
"We have always suspected that Marijuana causes Lung damage, but it's nice to have it quantified," said Dr. Norman Edelman, Chief Medical Officer at the American Lung Association. "Now we can say much more strongly, to people who smoke Marijuana, that they are doing bad things to their Lungs." www.abcnews.go.com/
healthday/story?id=45081218page=1
Increased Risk of Throat, Neck & Head Cancer
Marijuana is inhaled very deeply and is held in the Lungs for a longer period of time than Cigarettes.
Smoking one Joint is equivalent to smoking Five Tobacco cigarettes.
" Marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke. One major research study reported that a single Cannabis Joint could cause as much damage to the lungs as up to five regular cigarettes smoked one after another. Long-time joint smokers often suffer from Bronchitis, an inflammation of the respiratory tract." www.idioknowledge.blogspot.com
Throat and Neck Cancer
Article
www.webmd.com
www.dailyhealthlife.com/tag/neck
"Jan. 21, 2000 (Lake Worth, Fla.) -- People who smoked pot in the '60s may have something to worry about, if the researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health are correct. They find that Head and Neck Cancer, which often takes 30-40 years to develop, may be related to smoking Marijuana. Thus, those who smoked Pot in their Teens and 20s may just now be feeling its adverse effects.
Published in the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, this is the first statistical study to look at the relationship between Marijuana smoking and Head and Neck Cancer -- including Cancers of the Tongue, Throat, Mouth, and Voicebox.
The investigators compared a group of 173 patients who had cancer of the Head and Neck with 176 blood donors without cancer. They asked the subjects questions concerning age, lifestyle, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, and marijuana use. Adjusting for the effects of alcohol and cigarette use, they found a relationship between the frequency of Marijuana use and the disease.
In other words, the number of Marijuana cigarettes smoked and the number of years smoked has a direct relationship on the development of these cancers.
" Pot Smokers were 2.6 times more at risk for Head and Neck Cancer than their Non-Pot-Smoking counterparts. "If they used more than one [Marijuana cigarette] a day, the risk jumped to 4.9 times more than someone who never smoked," lead author Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhD, tells WebMD. Zhang is Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Training Program and Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health. "
"I think it makes a lot of sense, because we've known for a long time there's a lot more Tar in Marijuana -- more than Cigarette smoke. So people are being exposed to more Carcinogens," Patricia Reggio, PhD, tells WebMD. Reggio, who has researched Marijuana (Cannabinoids) for more than 15 years, reviewed the study for WebMD. She is a member and Past President of the International Cannabinoid Research Association.
www.webmd.com