Marijuana usage ‘linked with better control of diabetes’

Scientists in the US have discovered a link between the use of marijuana and improved blood sugar control among diabetes patients.

A multicentre research team has analysed data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey on 4,657 patients who completed a drug use questionnaire and published its findings in the American Journal of Medicine.

It was found that those who reported using marijuana in the past month had lower levels of fasting insulin, better results in terms of homeostasis model assessments of insulin resistance and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

These associations were maintained even when excluding subjects with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, suggesting that further research into applications of tetrahydrocannabinol – the active ingredient in marijuana – could yield benefits.

Dr Joseph Alpert, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said: "We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short and long-term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer, diabetes and frailty of the elderly."

According to NHS data, diabetes affects approximately 2.9 million people in the UK, while an additional 850,000 people could be suffering from the disease unknowingly.