Marinol Blog

Pot Ingredient May Restore Appetite After Chemo

Posted 23 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 23 – The main active ingredient in marijuana seems to allow chemotherapy patients to regain their ability to taste and enjoy food, according to the results of a small new study. The finding could potentially lead to treatments to help some cancer patients restore their appetite. Chemotherapy patients often lose the ability to smell and taste food, which can cause them to lose an unhealthy amount of weight. Researchers at several universities in Canada wondered if THC, a component of marijuana, might help. After all, marijuana is known to make users want to munch on food. In the new study, Wendy Wismer, an associate professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and colleagues randomly assigned 21 patients to take THC in pill form (through an anti-nausea drug called Marinol, known generically as dronabinol) or a placebo twice daily for 18 days. The study results are ... Read more

Related support groups: Marinol, Dronabinol