I happened upon this article from Ms. Maia Szalavitz, a Neuroscience Journalist for Time Magazine, that tickles the mind about a possible future drug for diabetes: MJ.<\/p>\n
\u201cToking up may help marijuana users to stay slim and lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to the latest study, which suggests that cannabis compounds may help in controlling blood sugar.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite via what stoners call \u201cthe munchies,\u201d the new research, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a two-faced relationship to weight. <\/p>\n
\u201cThree prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.<\/p>\n
Why? \u201cThe most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers,\u201d says Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. \u201cTheir fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level.\u201d<\/p>\n
While marijuana may initially promote appetite and overeating, in the long run it has the opposite effect because it desensitizes cannabinoid receptors and may even protect against obesity.<\/p>\n
Mittleman says the study relied on self-reported use of marijuana, which can be unreliable. However, he points out that since people are more likely to hide drug use than they are to falsely claim it, the findings could even underestimate marijuana\u2019s effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut whether that\u2019s true, and whether marijuana might be a window into understanding how to best control glucose and insulin to prevent diabetes, isn\u2019t known yet. \u201cWe need much more research to better understand the biologic responses to marijuana use. We really need more research to allow physicians and patients to make decisions based on solid evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with 18 states now approving marijuana for medical uses, the politics of pot will always overshadow research efforts to understand how cannabinoids work in the brain\u2014or affect disease. But, as Piomelli says, \u201cthe [new] study suggests that smoking marijuana [may] protect people against obesity and diabetes.\u201d And following up on that finding could yield new insights into how to tackle one of our biggest public-health issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not celebrate as yet. Nothing\u2019s conclusive. I\u2019m a hardcore anti-drug advocate as it relates to methamphetamine and other potent drugs that destroy life. But on this issue, it\u2019s good to see what studies eventually conclude about MJ and diabetes.<\/p>\n
Diabetes:<\/strong> I\u2019ve dealt with situational issues with Type II diabetes and what patients had to endure from Day 1. If neglected, it turns into complications beyond our wildest imaginings. It includes the dreaded limb amputation, kidney failure, and dialysis.<\/p>\n Perhaps by quirk of fate, I ran into an MD at Straub Medical Clinic whose specialty is diabetes. He recommended how to use sugar dealing with my blood sugar level. He explained that through the night our blood sugar slowly comes down. By the time we wake up it\u2019s too low.<\/p>\n He suggested that I put a tablespoon of sugar in my first cup of coffee in the morning. Reason? Sugar is the only thing that the brain could accept, nothing else. You reboot it via a tablespoon of sugar. It gives you an hour to look for some healthy breakfast. I\u2019ve used it for over 20 years in addition to spreading healthy meals six times a day over three full meals. You give your tummy the space to use insulin to grind your food.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also been eating cinnamon daily spread over bread with honey and two soft-boiled eggs. Cinnamon kills diabetes. I\u2019ve seen its effects in my nightly use of the restroom to pee. It went from four-five times a night to once early in the morning. I\u2019m eating soft-boiled eggs not only because it is healthy. It stays in my tummy longer than regular food. So you get to eat less preventing obesity from setting in.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve switched to natural sea salt found in abundance on Rota over manufactured salt. It\u2019s healthier too in terms of nutrients. <\/p>\n My eyesight hardly changed over the last two decades. The doctor was surprised at my healthy set of natural binoculars. He asked what have I been eating, I said, \u201cBeer and sashimi!\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s actually the result of controlling how much you eat so you don\u2019t turn into a humpty dumpty contracting hypertension along the way. High blood pressure also affects the nerves behind your eyes! When it pops (like stroke in your brain) you begin losing your eyesight.<\/p>\n A lot of what we do pertains to what\u2019s known as lifestyle. It deals with what and how much we eat and drink, and whether we exercise at least thrice a week. I\u2019ve used what\u2019s known as the \u201cFour Seconds Break\u201d where you take a deep breath counting four seconds at the same time. It gives the front side of your brain time to think before you allow the other side yelling, \u201ceat!\u2019<\/p>\n A sedentary lifestyle riddled with high consumption of fast sugar is a perfect ticket to contracting type two diabetes. Move about and cut down as much fast sugar as possible. Steer clear of white rice and noodles! Try whole wheat bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, tapioca, banana, and yam. Cut down animal fat as much as possible. You only need a little of it. Initially, it\u2019s hard personal discipline but when you get past the third day hurdle it makes for a healthier you!<\/p>\n Sexual predators: <\/strong>There\u2019s a jaw-dropping increase in sexual predators abusing young boys and girls Marianas-wide. It\u2019s a troubling social disease that requires critical scrutiny. At issue is the psychological violation and scar that victims have to endure for life. It\u2019s an unusually bad tiding and perhaps predators need as much psychiatric treatment as their victims! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I happened upon this article from Ms. Maia Szalavitz, a Neuroscience Journalist for Time Magazine,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11402,934,67,44],"class_list":["post-227229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-marijuana-next","tag-mj","tag-people","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}