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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsColorado Springs mom resumes son's chemo after doctors balk at marijuana treatment
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Facing the threat of a bitter court battle, a Colorado Springs mother on Monday resumed treating her 3-year-old son's cancer the traditional way: using chemotherapy.
Had she been left to choose, Sierra Riddle would have swapped those chemo-filled pills for a unique strain of medicinal marijuana grown near Divide.
<snip>
Children's Hospital doctors in Colorado Springs ordered the treatment, and the case was reported to the El Paso County Department of Human Services when Riddle refused. The case has raised the issue of parental rights when weighed against doctors' expertise - a debate that boils down to whether Landon Riddle's mother could scientifically prove her case in court, said F. Scott McCown, director of the University of Texas' Children's Rights Clinic. In other words, they have to side with research.
<snip>
She planned to continue the marijuana supplements until a doctor at Children's Hospital objected and her case was reported to the El Paso County Department of Human Services.
http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-mom-resumes-sons-chemo-after-doctors-balk-at-marijuana-treatment/article/1507382
Warpy
(111,339 posts)and losing medical custody. Grass is a great adjunct to chemo, helping patients cope with nausea and keep their weight up. I worked in one chemo unit that had an unheated stairwell open to the outdoors where patients would go "for a little fresh air" and come back reeking of pot smoke and we all looked the other way. We've known for decades about how much more bearable it makes chemo. It's time for the DEA to drop its persecution of people who use this plant for any and all reasons.
Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)Thanks for the thread, kentuck.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)Sometimes the Gazette is blocked to certain programs? Do you have Ghostery or a similar program to block ads and cookies? It worked for me??
Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)I may need to get my brother out here to clean my computer up.
I made the mistake of downloading a program a couple of weeks ago to view a short movie (Monthy Python) and I have been getting pop-up blockers ever since.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)and click on the Add or Remove icon and remove the program if you recall what it was?
Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)One thing I do know, before I had Google as my home page after I downloaded what was needed to view the Monty Python short, it switched to Ask.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)unless you know what it does.
longship
(40,416 posts)Parents who make ignorant decisions like she had should lose their rights to make such decisions.
The child is the least of those responsible here. But a parent has a responsibility to make informed decisions.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)It is ALL leukemia in a 3 yo. I am a pediatric nurse. She should not have stopped the treatment:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/childhood-leukemia-survival-rates-improve-significantly
Why would you stop a treatment that has a 90% 5 year survival rate that used to have a less than 10% survival rate and put the child on marijuana???
I would understand if it was a different kind of cancer with a very poor prognosis. I could understand using marijuana oil for the nausea and vomiting. But, why would she stop the chemo?
Doctors sure can't cure a lot of things. But, chemotherapy has done some amazing things for kids with cancer.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)solarhydrocan
(551 posts)Cancer.gov: Have any preclinical (laboratory or animal) studies been conducted using Cannabis or cannabinoids?
Preclinical studies of cannabinoids have investigated the following activities:
Antitumor activity
Studies in mice and rats have shown that cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells.
A study in mice showed that cannabinoids may protect against inflammation of the colon and may have potential in reducing the risk of colon cancer, and possibly in its treatment.
A laboratory study of delta-9-THC in hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) cells showed that it damaged or killed the cancer cells. The same study of delta-9-THC in mouse models of liver cancer showed that it had antitumor effects. Delta-9-THC has been shown to cause these effects by acting on molecules that may also be found in non-small cell lung cancer cells and breast cancer cells.
A laboratory study of cannabidiol in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells.
A laboratory study of cannabidiol in human glioma cells showed that when given along with chemotherapy, cannabidiol may make chemotherapy more effective and increase cancer cell death without harming normal cells.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/patient/page2
Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows
Apr. 17, 2007 The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm
Anti tumor effects have been known since the early '70s
Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74
In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now...
http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/pot_shrinks_tumors%3B_government_knew_in_'74
dionysus
(26,467 posts)a cancer with a very high survival rate for THC alone is woo. irresponsible woo
RandiFan1290
(6,242 posts)These types think the parents are stuffing joints into their kid's mouth. They think the parents are just looking for a place to score some weed and are using their kids to do it.
Like Charlotte Figi and her family...Just more "woo"
mucifer
(23,565 posts)cure rate without chemotherapy. What might work for seizures and brain tumors might not work with every type of cancer.
RandiFan1290
(6,242 posts)I just want the human studies to start. That is all. These parents shouldn't have to use cannabis as a last resort.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)Human studies for MMJ are to far in the future to help this child he needs a treatment now.
Beaverhausen
(24,472 posts)There is a reason mom wanted the chemo stopped.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)The MMJ is documented to be good at treating nausea & similar chemo side-effects.
MMJ instead of chemo is not a good idea.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)and can prescribe. But, if the prognosis was very poor with chemo, the parents could choose to not do chemo. No one would take them to court.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)hopefully, the child lives a long, healthy life after successful treatment.
Sid
dionysus
(26,467 posts)"Nine months of treatments made him violently ill, his mother said, causing him to vomit 30 to 50 times a day. She moved from Utah to Colorado to seek alternative treatments and tried several remedies, including morphine and Oxycontin.
In May, Riddle tried something else.
She stopped a daily regimen of chemotherapy pills in favor of a strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web - a variety grown and sold in Teller County that has gained national attention."
show some compassion man! vaht?
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)the strains of medical marijuana that target certain conditions is growing each day. someday people will be able to grow or have someone grow for them the strain that will help their condition.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)my brother in law used pot during his cancer treatments to lesson the effects of chemo and the anti nausea drug he was taking. it worked for him until he couldn't eat anymore then he used it to take the edge off the morphine .
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)this mom was using it on her child as a replacement for chemo.
Sid
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)What it's not is a replacement for chemo.
malaise
(269,157 posts)she'd get off Scott free. What a life. You can't make medical choices for your own children but the gun goons walk free.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)and their kids die? I see this as very similar. The doctors and the courts often work out a compromise with Jehovah's Witnesses where the hospital takes temporary custody during the treatment so the parents can keep custody and not feel they are responsible for the transfusions.
I'm glad the child is getting treatment and is with her family and I hope they can find decent ways to fight the side effects. MMJ is legal in that state. It doesn't work for everyone for nausea . I hope it helps her or they find something that does.