Cannabis and Traumatic brain Injury

H

hamman

Member
I was reading my email and saw this, thought it was revenant and pretty cool. What do you guys think? With all the terrible and shitty stuff going on in the world its a bit refreshing and pretty interesting... I guess they really do go hand in hand haha.

Torrance, CA: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with a history of cannabis use possess increased survival rates compared to non-users, according to data published this month in the journal The American Surgeon.

UCLA Medical Center investigators conducted a three-year retrospective review of brain trauma patients. Data from 446 separate cases of similarly injured patients was assessed. Of those patients who tested positive for the presence of marijuana, 97.6 percent survived surgery. By contrast, patients who tested negative for the presence of cannabis prior to surgery possessed only an 88.5 percent survival rate.

"[O]ur data suggest an important link between the presence of a positive THC screen and improved survival after TBI," the authors concluded. "This finding has support in previous literature because the neuroprotective effects of cannabinoids have been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and multiple sclerosis. ... With continued research, more information will be uncovered regarding the therapeutic potential of THC, and further therapeutic interventions may be established."

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Effect of marijuana use on outcomes in traumatic brain injury," appears in The American Surgeon.
 
I have nothing against marijuana. But people with traumatic brain injuries who need surgery is a very serious medical problems. It can happen from a car accident, or getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. Or it can happen from over rotating a cork 5.

The fact that you're taking all traumatic brain injuries, and trying to compare them to each other is ridiculous. You would have to take quite a few people who got hit with the same force, in the same spot of the head. then break them into the groups of people who smoke weed regularly monthly yearly, and don't smoke. Trying to compare all impacts to the head in a ton of different situations is a bullshit study, and tells us nothing. "similarly injured patients was assessed." They need to be way more specific than that. This study sounds really unprofessional and I have some serious doubts.
 
13166974:zzzskizzz said:
They need to be way more specific than that. This study sounds really unprofessional and I have some serious doubts.
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here is the abstract for the study, im not paying 70$ to read the full article.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Several studies have demonstrated neuroprotective effects of cannabinoids. The objective of this study was to establish a relationship between the presence of a positive toxicology screen for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and mortality after TBI. A 3-year retrospective review of registry data at a Level I center of patients sustaining TBI having a toxicology screen was performed. Pediatric patients (younger than 15 years) and patients with a suspected nonsurvivable injury were excluded. The THC(+) group was compared with the THC(‐) group with respect to injury mechanism, severity, disposition, and mortality. Logistic regression was used to determine independent associations with mortality. There were 446 cases meeting all inclusion criteria. The incidence of a positive THC screen was 18.4 per cent (82). Overall mortality was 9.9 per cent (44); however, mortality in the THC(+) group (2.4% [two]) was significantly decreased compared with the THC(‐) group (11.5% [42]; P = 0.012). After adjusting for differences between the study cohorts on logistic regression, a THC(+) screen was independently associated with survival after TBI (odds ratio, 0.224; 95% confidence interval, 0.051 to 0.991; P = 0.049). A positive THC screen is associated with decreased mortality in adult patients sustaining TBI.

"retrospective review of registry data"... "logistic regression", it sounds like they just went through a bunch of old toxicology reports on people who had TBIs and lived, and looked to see if they tested positive for THC, then punched that into some statistical model. i could be wrong though. interesting and i hope there are further studies that are more in depth.
 
^ when I go to school tomorrow I can use a school computer to get the whole case study, that is if I feel like it, it will be Friday.
 
13166974:zzzskizzz said:
I have nothing against marijuana. But people with traumatic brain injuries who need surgery is a very serious medical problems. It can happen from a car accident, or getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. Or it can happen from over rotating a cork 5.

The fact that you're taking all traumatic brain injuries, and trying to compare them to each other is ridiculous. You would have to take quite a few people who got hit with the same force, in the same spot of the head. then break them into the groups of people who smoke weed regularly monthly yearly, and don't smoke. Trying to compare all impacts to the head in a ton of different situations is a bullshit study, and tells us nothing. "similarly injured patients was assessed." They need to be way more specific than that. This study sounds really unprofessional and I have some serious doubts.
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Yea man I don't know much about the study, saw it and posted it to see what u guys thought. I would tend to agree 460 people isn't a very large test group. I don't know much about tmi but I'd guess you could group them into a couple of categories, test the blood for similar cannabis levels and I'm thinkin is there really a large gap between tmi and a fatal hit ? Idk seems like a decent study would be possible though. It is definitely interesting to see the results from a very broad study like this.
 
Just read the full study.

They used Head abbreviated injury score (AIS) as the measure of the severity of the head injury. In the test period 7977 people were analysed, of those 538 sustained a TBI, 82% were drug tested - these were the test pool.

Analysis: The two study groups (non cannabis users and cannabis users) were compared using bivariate analysis. This was followed by logistic regression to determine independent associations with mortality.The two study groups were compared using bivariate analysis. This was followed by logistic regression to determine independent associations with mortality.

They also allowed for alcohol, race, injury mechanisms and age as confounding variables.

Conclusion: As expected, our study showed that factors such as older age and higher Head AIS were independent predictors of mortality. Our investigation suggests that a THC(+) screen is also an independent predictor of survival. Believed to be due to the neuroprotective effects of canabinoids.

I didn't go through it in great detail but it does seem like a credible study without too many confounding variables. I'll be interested to see further research in the area. They even ran clinical trials into the effects of THC on recovery which I'd like to see the research paper on. Whilst it can't be extrapolated to the population due to the small study group, only inclusion of tox screens, different mechanisms and severity of injury, it is an interesting development in the field. It was a much better study than I expected.

Let me know if anyone wants a more detailed overview, I can read the article for free due to my uni account.
 
Doesn't THC allow your brain to make connections that it wouldn't normally make?

If that is the case, wouldn't it be within reason that THC could help the brain rewire itself quicker after such an injury?
 
13167121:B.Aussie said:
Just read the full study.

They used Head abbreviated injury score (AIS) as the measure of the severity of the head injury. In the test period 7977 people were analysed, of those 538 sustained a TBI, 82% were drug tested - these were the test pool.

Analysis: The two study groups (non cannabis users and cannabis users) were compared using bivariate analysis. This was followed by logistic regression to determine independent associations with mortality.The two study groups were compared using bivariate analysis. This was followed by logistic regression to determine independent associations with mortality.

They also allowed for alcohol, race, injury mechanisms and age as confounding variables.

Conclusion: As expected, our study showed that factors such as older age and higher Head AIS were independent predictors of mortality. Our investigation suggests that a THC(+) screen is also an independent predictor of survival. Believed to be due to the neuroprotective effects of canabinoids.

I didn't go through it in great detail but it does seem like a credible study without too many confounding variables. I'll be interested to see further research in the area. They even ran clinical trials into the effects of THC on recovery which I'd like to see the research paper on. Whilst it can't be extrapolated to the population due to the small study group, only inclusion of tox screens, different mechanisms and severity of injury, it is an interesting development in the field. It was a much better study than I expected.

Let me know if anyone wants a more detailed overview, I can read the article for free due to my uni account.
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Thanks for breaking it down for us, I didn't have time when I posted. It would be awesome if you could read it when u get a chance one of these days. Its real Interesting stuff and unexpectedly a pretty well put together study from what i'v seen so far.
 
13167131:BWalmer said:
Heard about this story on the radio the other day:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/20...ngerment-charges-against-mom-for-medical-pot/

It's pretty amazing how well it seemed to work, and pretty fucked up that she might go to jail because she helped her son. Especially since MN has already vote to legalize medical marijuana it just hasn't gone into effect. The person who ratted her out is a piece of shit.
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If anyone deserves to get hit by a truck its these kinds of people. Fuck all the people that help perpetuate this fucking "war". Its sad how many lives can be ruined by this misguided ignorant assclowns.

Its fucking insane that we as people continue to do things "because thats the way its always been". That is a bullshit reason and the biggest roadblock keeping us from forward progress. Traditions can be a great day thing especially in regard to culture as a way of keeping your roots alive. On the other hand we have this fear of change. It just doesnt make sense to me. If something is wrong, fix it. It really isnt that difficult.

The drug war simply has no legitimate reason. On all angles the arguments supporting it fail miserably. People need to open a history book and read about alcohol prohibition. The relation to the drug war is insane. It clearly shows that prohibition has and will continue to fail. Instead of learning from history we feel compelled to push our bullshit moral on eveyone else regardless of the consequences. So many peoples lives ruined for something as small as a little bit of weed. Ignorant people piss me off. On the plus side they get to cast a vote every election and are actually encouraged to do so.

Borderline hopeless. Oh well. Same as it ever was'd

/rant
 
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