While the cannabinoids in marijuana have long been used to help patients cope with symptoms of HIV like loss of appetite and chronic pain, new research is mounting that suggests the plant can actually help prevent the disease from spreading.
For 17 months scientists at Louisiana State University dosed THC, an active ingredient in marijuana, to monkeys infected with an animal version of the virus. They paid close attention to the monkeys’ stomach cells — a major area of the body for the disease to spread. What they found was damage to the stomach’s immune cells decreasing over the course of the THC treatment. The monkeys receiving treatment also maintained higher levels of overall immune cells.
“These findings reveal novel mechanisms that may potentially contribute to cannabinoid-mediated disease modulation,” Dr. Patricia Molina, the study’s lead author, wrote.
Jackhoffsky
If this was going on at the Louisiana State University, I guarantee you it wasn’t monkeys getting “dosed” with THC. LOL.
DShucking
Condoms can help, too.
QJ201
OMG more idiotic reporting on this study.
Marijuana slowed DISEASE PROGRESSION and PROLIFERATION of the virus in INFECTED PEOPLE.
The researchers said “stop the spread” meaning reduced viral replication and colonization of the gut.
Dipshits are gonna read this and think they can smoke a blunt and go bareback.
Bulls Eye
@DShucking: Really? It must be awfully hard to smoke a joint through a condom.
Respect4all
Another excuse for gay idiots not to use condoms.
viveutvivas
Uh, the study was on SIV guys, not HIV. Maybe reading stuff before reporting on it will help.
Stache1
@Respect4all: Really. That’s all you take from this? Why don’t you go eff off.
Tony Johnston
Jeez, anything but a condom.
Stache1
@viveutvivas: That’s why Monkeys are mainly used for human research. We share most of same genetics and diseases. We get HIV. They get SIV. Same disease though.
Stache1
@Tony Johnston: No one’s saying anything about not wearing a condom. I know this doesn’t interest you but take some time to actually read the article before you comment.
Tony Johnston
@Stache1: I read it. I just mean first it was “HIV isn’t a big deal because of the new drugs”, and now it’ll be “HIV is no big deal because you can just smoke weed”. Just find it funny guys would rather go through all this rather than put a rubber on. Bitch.
the other Greg
@Stache1: @Tony Johnston:
The article could have been clearer that it was referring to the already-infected. Tony is probably right, unfortunately!
Stache1
@Tony Johnston: You just keep preaching the word. Whatever that is.
Stache1
@the other Greg: I guess it depends on whether you just read the Queerty article or linked over and read their article a bit more to understand it better.
This isn’t about replacing condoms and anyone who thinks that way is determined not to use them anyways.
I’ve heard this from other kinds of research like cancer. How the Cannabis binds to the cell receptors and works at a genetic level. Fascinating stuff anyways.
tdx3fan
Safe sex is by far less enjoyable for the partner that is penetrating in both the straight and gay world. Condoms ruin the experience. That being said, if you are going to have a great multitude of partners then you should most definitely put a condom on that thing. However, when you practice monogamy, condoms are not exactly necessary. In the straight world this is recognized. In the gay world, anyone that doesn’t have safe sex even if they have been together for years is looked down upon by those that desire to make themselves feel better.
Also, Marijuana has so many proven medical uses that far out weight the medications of “Big Pharm” at this point that its no wonder it has not been legalized yet, once it becomes legal a lot of the large companies are going to be losing a great deal of profit.
Mezaien
Come to South Africa, the land of the best WEED, DP, Durban Poison.
the other Greg
@tdx3fan: “In the gay world, anyone that doesn’t have safe sex even if they have been together for years is looked down upon by those that desire to make themselves feel better.”
It’s the other way around. The only way the rest of us ever know what you long-time monogamous guys are doing, is if YOU guys brag about it and act superior.
Which you guys tend to do!
The rest of us really don’t give a sh*t about your monogamous sex life. So if you could stop bragging about it – and stop idiotically conflating the relative HIV risks of vaginal vs. anal sex – we’d be thrilled.
Agree with you about marijuana though!
viveutvivas
@Stache1, no, SIV is a different virus, not the same as the HIV virus.
misterhollywood
Very interesting information and something I had not heard before. I am looking forward to seeing what new research comes out about this topic.
Stache1
@viveutvivas: HIV comes from SIV so I imagine their close enough to study.
Dan Renzi
@theothergreg is correct. This post is not clear in the important detail: it is about the virus “not spreading” within the infected person. It slows the replication of the virus within the person’s white blood cells, which preserves those cells and keeps the immune system healthier. And yes, the less virus a person has inside him/her, the less infectious he/she is; but that’s just extra credit.
Smoking pot does not mean, and it will never ever ever ever ever mean, that a person doesn’t need to use condoms.
viveutvivas
@Stache1, still, one should be very careful in generalizing animal studies to HIV in humans. If there is one thing that we have learned from drug research into many diseases, it is that while they can suggest good directions for research, most animal studies don’t generalize to humans. The vast majority of drugs that work well in animal studies fail in humans, which is one reason drug development is so expensive.
the other Greg
@Stache1: @viveutvivas:
The poor monkeys! If the animal studies are often not applicable to humans, at least these monkeys are stoned. But still…
Stache1
@viveutvivas: Exept that we share 99.9% of the same genetic makeup as monkeys. I think with just 1% difference you can generalize.
gabriellygomesrodrigues
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Mezaien
I am 65 my starting smoke is 1959 and I just want to get STONED.
Mezaien
@gabriellygomesrodrigues: Will that get me STONED?.
SeanSean
Crazy this is the first time I’ve heard of this.
What about the woman calling 911 to complain on buying shitty marijuana?
http://redalertlive.com/woman-arrested-calls-police-complain-bad-marijuana/