.){kind=link}
The University of California San Diego School of Medicine has linked colon cancer deaths with marijuana use disorder.
According to the researchers, CUD patients had a substantially higher five-year mortality rate (55.88 %) compared to patients without cannabis use disorder (5.05 %)
The evaluation, based on electronic records of over 1,000 colon cancer patients who were treated in the University of California Health System between 2012 and 2020, examined how the cancer outcome differed depending on whether patients had used cannabis before their diagnosis.
Patients with CUD diagnosed before cancer was detected were 24 times more likely than those who did not have the disorder to die in five years.
Raphael Cuomo insists that despite the unsettling results, this study was not meant to demonize cannabis. Many cancer patients use it as an aid in coping with the symptoms of their illness and other therapies.
It’s important to understand the impact of this disease, particularly for those with serious illness. said Dr. Cuomo. “We hope these findings encourage more research — and more nuanced conversations — about how cannabis interacts with cancer biology and care.”
One of the reasons this may be so is that CUD can often occur in association with anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment. It can negatively affect treatment effectiveness and increase mortality.
The study’s report states that “Socioeconomic disadvantage, stigma and competing health issues may limit patients with CUD from receiving timely high-quality cancer care.” The study report states that “higher healthcare use for conditions other than cancer may cause the focus to shift away from cancer treatment, contributing towards poorer outcomes.”
Study has been published Annals of Epidemiology
Important to remember that this connection has only been proven among people who have had a previous cannabis issue. Some research suggests cannabis could also be used to treat colorectal cancer. As an example, the following study from 2023 According to the study, non-intoxicating cannabis cannabinoid (Cannabidiol) may inhibit colorectal tumor cell invasion and spread.
The USA Colo-Rectal Cancer Alliance will be established in 2023. said While there was not sufficient evidence to recommend medical cannabis as a possible treatment, the research supported that further studies were needed.