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Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Caused By Smoking Weed?

Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Caused By Smoking Weed?

Health

Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Caused By Smoking Weed?

There’s a connection between chronic cannabis use and a nauseating GI condition. Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome caused by smoking weed?

Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome caused by smoking weed? What exactly is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome? For centuries, humans have been using cannabis to alleviate nausea and vomiting. For some people, though, it has the exact opposite effect.

What is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome?

The National Institute of Health identifies Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, or, CVS, is a gastroenterological disorder. As the name suggests, the disorder is characterized by repeated episodes of nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. The episodes often have no identifiable cause and the disorder is considered to be chronic.

Despite an increase in documentation, doctors and researchers have yet to find a single root cause of the disorder. However, researchers have found certain things to be triggers for episodes. These triggers include extreme emotional stress, infections, hot weather, and menstruation.

It should be noted that CVS is more common amongst children. But in recent years, more adults have been diagnosed with it.

Cannabis and CVS

Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Caused By Smoking Weed?

One would think that an effective treatment for CVS would be cannabis, right? After all, plenty of people use weed as a treatment for nausea and vomiting. But research is showing that people who are chronic weed smokers are actually more likely to develop CVS.

Don’t jump to conclusions just yet. We’re not saying that a history of heavy weed smoking will absolutely lead to this disorder. There is a correlation though.

According to a study published in 2012, 40-50% of male CVS patients were heavy cannabis users. The researchers involved in the study also theorized that the other cannabis-induced GI disorder, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, is highly connected to CVS. The researchers even posit that CHS is actually a subset of patients with CVS.

Final Hit: Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Caused By Smoking Weed?

The link between cannabis consumption and Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome is paradoxical, to say the least. The common knowledge is that cannabis is an acceptable and highly effective treatment for nausea and vomiting. Therefore, weed-friendly doctors are likely to prescribe the plant to combat these symptoms. However, with CVS, weed could be the last thing that the patient needs.

Here’s another relevant fact. A 2017 study found that the average patient presenting with symptoms or having a diagnosis of CVS or CHS is a middle-aged white male.

Given this, and the fact that both CVS and CHS need to be studied more, suggest that it might not be just the weed that is causing the patients so much misery. It could be anything from genetic factors to excessive cannabis use. In the case of CHS, the cure is simply to stop smoking weed.

But in the case of CVS, researchers found that for many patients, cannabis cessation alone was not a sufficient treatment.

So, to answer our original question. Is Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome caused by smoking weed? There needs to be more research to determine that.

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