Marijuana Linked to Aggressive Testicular Cancer

[chrispy420]

oh and also, im just throwing this one out there, stop smoking plant matter? Vaporize, or make a resturant worth of food that will get you high? no carcinogens or anything, this is what the people in the defense of cannabis are saying, it is not cannabis causing these things, it is the act in which cannibis in taken aka smoking, smoking=bad pot=good . Ya Dig?

[Phloydrix]

Originally Posted by What'sThatSmell

Uh maybe because the study didn't actually prove that it was linked to testicular cancer?
Maybe you should read what you're posting thoroughly..

Do you understand what the word fabricated means?

"Since we know that the incidence of testicular cancer has been rising in our country and in Europe over the last 40 years and that marijuana use has also risen over the same time, it seemed logical that there might be an association between the two,"
^
Wow that's a great hypothesis, guess what? Alcohol use, fast food consumption, narcotic use (such as cocaine, heroin, etc.), and over-exposure to various hormone-affecting things (such as florescent lights) has also increased!
Children are experiencing puberty at extremely young ages never before seen in history.
That is what happens when you introduce thousands upon thousands of new chemicals into a human's lifestyle.

Yes, I already pointed out how dumb her statement was. Please read through the posts in this thread.

Wow that's a brilliant study. Study 1000 men in the same region with testicular cancer, see if they have smoked marijuana and then conclude that marijuana must be the cause of the cancer? How come they have shown no scientific proof in this article about how they reached the conclusion that it was marijuana alone and not alcohol and smoking habits?

Please show me where in the article they concluded that mariuana must be the cause of the cancer. Hint: It didn't.

If you actually read the article carefully..
There was no actual link between marijuana ALONE and testicular cancer!
Wow amazing!

What's your point? I never claimed anything contrary to this.

And for your point on marijuana containing carcinogenic agents..
Well you're wrong there too.
That only applies to marijuana SMOKE.
Smoke contains carcinogens obviously..
The marijuana itself does not.
If you intake cannabis without smoking it you will get no carcinogens.
(Edibles or Vaporizer)

True, but the vast majority of people, myself included, are smokers.

So please, don't post radical claims like this without actually looking into the claim.

Which claim did I make that was radical?

[Phloydrix]

Originally Posted by boxybrown

^From another forum. I thought I'd re-post it here.

What exactly are the 20% and 26% in reference to? The survey claimed 70% increase likelihood. Was that off, or are you measuring something else?

The truth is that there probably are some health risks associated with MJ use. No one is blind to that fact. The simple fact that there hasn't really been a huge amount of testing on the subject arouses some worries in most normal people.

Yes, I wish there would be more testing in this area. As of now though, I agree there's clearly not enough evidence to convince anyone that marijuana causes testicular cancer.

[Storm Crow]

Ok, you guys are going to hate me, but there may be a little something to this study.

The study linked below suggests that low doses of cannabis may speed the growth of certain cancers, while a higher dosage kills those same cancer cells. Could their testicular cancer study have been full of casual, low level users? Also, I don't think the testicular cancer study allowed for variables that could skew the results!

It would be interesting to give the testicular cancer victims a high dosage of cannabis (as in Simpson's Hemp Oil) over an extended time and see what happens!

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cg...full/64/6/1943 Cannabinoids Induce Cancer Cell Proliferation via Tumor Necrosis Factor {alpha}-Converting Enzyme (TACE/ADAM17)-Mediated Transactivation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

And for those who don't speak "Sci" here's my translation of the abstract to English! Just from the title, you can tell this is a "toughie" to read!

"We find that low doses of THC (like when we give low dosage THC pills) may speed the growth of some cancers, even though higher doses, like you get with smoking, has been shown to kill cancers. Cannabis-based drugs are now being used in several trial studies. Grand and Gandi found one case where a heavy pot smoker had trouble with his pancreas and blamed it on the pot. Smoking THC works better than other methods. Cannabis pills and suppositories give you anywhere between 1/8 to 3/8 as much THC in your system as smoking- which isn't enough and might cause the cancers to grow. But smoking DOES deliver enough! The level of dosage is important- we found taking deep hits and holding it, worked. We are worried that using Big Pharma's low dose THC pills/suppositories might cause some cancers to grow faster during studies."

Well kids, the obvious answer is not to take the doc's expensive, but wimpy, THC pills (and suppositories ), but toke good pot often so your THC levels stay up over 300 nM! This study also gives more credence to Rick Simpson's "Hemp oil" with its massive dose of cannabinoids to fight cancers.

I will feel happier when i see a peer review of the (likely flawed) Testicular cancer study and even the dosage one, too. There is a lot of "junk science" floating around!


Granny

[NJM]

The good fellas at NORML already have an informative response:

It must have been a slow news day. According to Google News, more than 750 media outlets — that’s 7-5-0, folks — have now weighed in on this week’s pot scare story du jour: “Smoking marijuana causes testicular cancer.”
So is there any truth behind the provocative headline? Some, but hardly enough to justify the media’s feeding frenzy.



Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research in Seattle matched 369 men with of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) with 979 healthy controls. Here’s what they found.
Men who self-reported having “ever used” marijuana had no statistically significant risk of testicular cancer compared to healthy controls who never used pot.
Men who reported currently using marijuana at least once per week, and who had started smoking pot prior to age 18, had an elevated risk compared to controls of contracting a type of testicular cancer known as nonseminoma.



Sounds scary, huh? Well here’s the catch.



According to the federal government, millions of people smoke marijuana regularly. By contrast, diagnoses of nonseminoma, which typically affects males between the ages of 15 and 34, are extremely rare.



How rare?



Nonseminomas account for fewer than one half of one percent of all cancers among American men.
Further undermining the study’s hypothesis is this: Since the 1970s, the percentage of American males smoking pot has climbed dramatically. By contrast, incidences of nonseminoma have risen only nominally during this same time period.



Of course, this is hardly the first time the mainstream media has jumped ugly on cannabis. Around this same time last year, news outlets from Reuters to Fox News declared that marijuana posed a greater cancer risk than cigarettes. Only problem was that the study they were reporting on actually demonstrated the opposite.



So why does the mainstream media continue to get the story wrong when it comes to pot? Good question. You can read my abbreviated answer here. And while you’re on NORML’s site, get the skinny on what the scientific literature really has to say about any potential links between marijuana and cancer here, here, and here.


To see the original article, http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/10/med...k-nothing-new/

[Phloydrix]

Nice post NJM.

Seems like a solid response, but I'm wondering about this one part:

Originally Posted by NJM

Further undermining the study’s hypothesis is this: Since the 1970s, the percentage of American males smoking pot has climbed dramatically. By contrast, incidences of nonseminoma have risen only nominally during this same time period.

What qualifies as nominally? The original study mentioned that testicular cancer rates have doubled in the last half century, from 3% to 6%. However, it doesn't mention the rates of nonseminoma specifically. Does NORML have any info on this? Or any specific numbers on the increase in pot-smoking males? I ask more out of curiosity than any confidence in the study's implications.

[OrganicFlowers]

Look at the bright side..


Less testicals=less testosterone and male hormones
Less testosterone and male hormones=more peace and love


Just saying...


As long as we fellows get our nutsack checked regularly, we can get them removed before things get worse, and the world is a better place.

All part of Marijuana's greater plan..

Just trying to be positive

EDIT: Not that I give the study one 8th of credibility!

[BUDdha KING]

Wow this article amazed me. This survey was obviously flawed. Lets see ALL the people they tested had testicular cancer. They should have done the sampled the same amount of people without testicular cancer and asked about their habits, then cross examined the data.

Plus people with cancer who have to deal with chemotherapy and shit often like to SMOKE WEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!