There has been a division in terms of support for marijuana in the medical field. There were reports claiming that marijuana is good in aiding individuals with epilepsy, but professionals are hesitant to buy the idea since the claims lack appropriate studies to support it.
A new study about marijuana stressed that the usage of the herb in early adulthood is associated with an increased risk for prediabetes but not diabetes during middle adulthood as shown in the adjusted analysis of data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, MedPageToday has learned.
Prediabetes is a condition where one's blood sugar levels are abnormally high but not high enough to warrant a diagnosis with type 2 diabetes, according to LiveScience.
The study found out that current usage of marijuana was associated with a 65 percent increase in prediabetes risk and very frequent use described as usage of 100 times or more was associated with a 49 percent increase in risk, says researcher Michael P. Banks, MPH, of the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis and colleagues in a journal, MedPageToday has learned.
Previous studies relative to marijuana usage found out that users have lower rates of diabetes compared with their non-users counterpart. However, in those studies, it assesses marijuana use and diabetes, but it was unclear whether people were using the drug before they developed diabetes, or afterward Bancks said.
The result of the new study contradicts the result in the previous studies which claims that marijuana may reduce one's risk of developing diabetes, he said. However, researchers further said that "it's unclear how marijuana use could place an individual at increased risk for prediabetes, yet not diabetes," LiveScience has learned.
Researchers offer an explanation for their observation. According to them, it's possible that people who were more likely to develop diabetes were left out in the study because they require individuals free of diabetes at the start of the follow-up period. There's also a possibility that marijuana has a larger impact on one's blood sugar levels in the pre-diabetes range than the diabetes range.
Bancks is encouraging medical professionals to inform patients of the potential risk of using the drugs, for instance, that it may increase their risk of developing prediabetes. Moreover, doctors should monitor their patients' blood sugar levels, especially those with "an extensive history of marijuana use," he said.
"The increased legalization and use of marijuana will draw more attention from researchers and users, and we will learn more as research on the health effects of marijuana use increases," said Bancks.
The result of the study was published in the journal Diabetologia.
