MARIJUANA AIDS THERAPY

Marijuana can improve the effectiveness of drug therapy for hepatitis
C, a potentially deadly viral infection that affects more than 3
million Americans, a study has found. The work adds to a growing
literature supporting the notion that in some circumstances pot can
offer medical benefits.

Treatment for hepatitis C involves months of therapy with two
powerful drugs, interferon and ribavirin, that have severe side
effects, including extreme fatigue, nausea, muscle aches, loss of
appetite and depression. Because of those side effects, many patients
do not finish treatment and the virus ends up destroying their livers.

Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco and at
an Oakland substance abuse center tracked the progress of 71
hepatitis C patients taking the difficult therapy. Tests and
interviews indicated that 22 smoked marijuana every day or two during
the treatment period while 49 rarely or never did.

At the end of the six-month treatment, 19 (86 percent) of those who
used marijuana had successfully completed the therapy -- meaning they
took at least 80 percent of their doses over at least 80 percent of
the period. Only 29 (59 percent) of the nonsmokers achieved that goal.

Similarly, 54 percent of the marijuana users achieved a "sustained
virological response," the gold standard goal of therapy, meaning
they had no sign of the virus in their bodies six months after the
treatment was over. That compared with only 18 percent of those who
did not smoke pot.

While it is possible that the marijuana had a specific, positive
biomedical effect, it is more likely that it helped patients by
reducing depression, improving appetite and offering psychological
benefits that helped the patients tolerate the treatment's side
effects, the team reports in the current issue of the European
Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology.