Recreational use of marijuana has been tied to an increase in the risk of subtypes of cancer of the testicles, that usually carry a prognosis that is worse than others are, said researchers in the U.S.
Assistant professor Victoria Cortessis from the University of Southern California’s Keck School in Los Angeles along with her colleagues looked into the self-reported histories of 163 recreational drug users who were male and had been diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer. Those results were compared to 292 men who were healthy, about the same age and the same race or ethnicity. Researchers said they believed the increase in this form of cancer, which is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45 is from the increased exposure to environmental causes that are still unrecognized.
The new study was published online in advance of its printed edition that will appear in the journal Cancer. It found that men with a history of marijuana use were up to two times more likely to have testicular cancer such as non-seminoma along with mixed germ cell tumors. The germ cell tumors usually happen in men that are younger and have a worse prognosis than the subtype seminoma.
The researchers said they were not sure what the marijuana use triggers inside the testis that might lead to cancer developing. However, they speculate it is working through the endocannabinoid system, the cellular network, which responds to marijuana’s active ingredient. They believe that because that system has been proven important in sperm formation.
Marijuana Cures Cancer in high concentrations!!!! Marijuana is known to kill cancer cells!!! Look up Rick Simpson oil! False!!!!
I think it may be dependent on the method of use. It is an absolute fact that inhaling any form of fire-caused smoke increases the chance of cancer.
However, vaporizers and edibles are completely different methods of application with their own sets of potential benefits or risks.
So the question is, is it the THC that causes the increased risk, or is it some other chemical (like a free radical) that comes from the herb when it is burned?
Did the study even screen for method of use?
Or maybe it’s the cheap chips people eat when they get the munchies, or perhaps a side effect from dehydration you get when smoking – see – too much science makes **FAR** too many assumptions without taking many possible variable into consideration.
But see – that is 100% possible, even though it does sound funny…
This is why I see the majority of ‘science’ now – as political agenda and not science. I wonder who paid for this ‘study’ – could it be those who make prescription painkillers – worried about how Pot could literally devastate their little opiate empire?