Nausea Q&As

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="067d8c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id200.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fatigue QAs"><U>Fatigue Q&As</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id203.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lymphoedema QAs"><U>Lymphoedema Q&As</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id202.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pain QAs"><U>Pain Q&As</U></A></div> <div> <B>Nausea Q&As</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id204.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other QAs"><U>Other Q&As</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#0066FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Don't Say That Word</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dont Say That Word"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living With Cancer QA"><U><B>Living With Cancer Q&A</B></U></A></div> <div> Nausea Q&As</div> <div> <B>I am going to have chemotherapy for cancer and am worried about the risks of sickness. A friend has said cannabis can stop nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. Is this true?</B></div> <bR> <div> The leaves and buds of the cannabis plant have been used in herbal remedies for over 3000 years for conditions as varied as malaria and constipation. In recent years more some 66 different active chemicals have been identified in the cannabis plant and these are called cannabinoids.In the UK a synthetic, man made, version of one of these cannabinoids is available on prescription as a drug called Nabilone (although the use of cannabis, or marijuana, in its natural form remains illegal). </div> <bR> <div> Over the last 20 years many clinical trials have been carried out comparing cannabis or cannabinoid drugs with more conventional anti-sickness drugs for people having cancer chemotherapy. </div> <bR> <div> These trials have shown that both cannabis and cannabinoids do have an effect in reducing nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. This activity appears to be similar to the best of the anti-sickness drugs that were available up until about 1990. But during the 1990s a new type of anti-sickness drug became available - the serotonin, or 5HT3, antagonist. Examples of 5HT3 antagonists available in the UK include ondansetron (Zofran), granisetron (Kytril) and tropsietron (Navoban). These drugs proved to be much more effective than any of the previous anti-sickness drugs, include cannabinoids, in controlling or preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. </div> <bR> <div> Cannabis itself does have side effects including sedation, confusion, altered perception of time and space, low blood pressure and palpitations. Marijuana also contains chemicals which can cause cancer (carcinogens) and smoking the drug can cause respiratory problems. The cannabinoid drugs also share a number of these side effects. Although during the 1980s there was some enthusiasm for using cannabinoid drugs to help control chemotherapy related sickness the development of the much more powerful 5HT3 antagonists during the 1990s and the side effects caused by the cannabinoids mean that they are now very rarely used.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>