Q: I suffer from a long-standing chronic illness, multiple sclerosis, which causes painful spasms in my affected muscles. I have been told that marijuana is helpful in this situation and I understand that it can now be legally prescribed.
The problem is that my doctor does not want to do this. Do you know of anyone who prescribes it? Do you agree with using marijuana for medical reasons?
A: I do not know anyone who prescribes marijuana. One of the reasons given to me by one doctor who specializes in chronic pain control in the Edmonton area is that there is a similar, perfectly legal drug that doctors may prescribe.
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It is manufactured out of a similar substance to THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana. It is also quite addictive, so I do not want to mention the name, but a doctor who knows about strong painkillers should be aware of its existence.
Do not forget that marijuana can also cause major psychiatric problems and even permanent brain damage.
A paranoid type of illness with delusions is not uncommon in people who smoke marijuana on a daily basis, and this can sometimes lead to long-term hospitalization in a psychiatric facility.
Marijuana that is smoked and inhaled may also cause respiratory problems such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema as it contains more toxic tar substances than tobacco. Therefore, I personally do not prescribe marihuana for medical reasons, nor do I agree with it.
Q: Is obesity hereditary? Most of the members of my family are overweight and we have all tried to keep our weight down without much success.
A: You will be pleased to know that it is quite possible that being overweight is due to a gene, or possibly the lack of a gene that tells you when you have had enough to eat.
Studies have shown that even when identical twins are raised apart, they show the same tendency to gain weight, even when the rest of their adoptive families are quite thin.
Overeating syndrome
There is also a rare genetic condition known as Prader-Willi syndrome where the sufferers never know when to stop eating.
These people, who usually are also slow learners and have reproductive abnormalities, may become massively obese, sometimes weighing as much as 450 kilograms.
Ellen Ruppel Shell has just written a book called The Hunger Gene. She maintains that the body of an overweight person will continue to send messages to the brain asking for more food.
This explains why dieting, diet pills and even stomach stapling do not work in the long run.
She said this is still no excuse for eating oversized portions of junk food.
According to Stephen O’Rahilly, a professor of metabolic medicine at Cambridge University in England, as many as five percent of people may carry mutations in the melanocortin system of their brain that distort the appetite control.
Clare Rowson is a medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont. Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding medical questions and treatments.
