It is very typical of them though and I would not expect less.
Best part is that the US Government will not allow independant medical labs to have marijuana to do research on the begin with.
Then to add in a wonderful twist to the equation. The FDA has approved Marinol a synthetic ingested marijuana. Marinol though has this tricky issue of it being in pill form and thus does nothing for those suffering from nausea since you are prone to throwing it up. Also unlike its natural form a patient can OD on Marinol. So if there are no medical uses for it why then Marinol?
As for medical studies.
Unintentional weight loss in HIV/AIDS patients is still common, even in this era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). This unexpected finding has been documented in a cohort of patients from the Tufts University Nutrition for Healthy Living (NFHL) study?a large longitudinal, observational study initiated in February 1995 and continuing through 2005.
Patients: Wanke and colleagues1 evaluated 633 HIV/AIDS patients enrolled in the NFHL study. Most of these patients (67%) were on HAART. Participants received nutritional and health assessments at baseline and every 6 months
Endpoints: Researchers determined the percentage of patients who met at least one definition of significant weight loss found in the literature
As shown in the chart, significant weight loss was common in this population despite the use of HAART.
MULTIPLE CLINICAL CHALLENGES IN CANCER
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is still a common problem.
Despite treatment with a 5-HT3 antagonist, CINV persists in 40% to 60% of patients on highly emetogenic therapy1
Up to 80% of patients on cisplatin experience delayed CINV2
A recent survey demonstrates that CINV is common even with treatments.3
Participants: The multicenter survey included 298 chemotherapy-naïve patients with cancer and their health care professionals (24 physicians and nurses)
Nearly all (97%) of the patients received a 5-HT3 antagonist, 78% received a corticosteroid, and all received either highly (22%) or moderately (78%) emetogenic agents.
Endpoints: The survey assessed the incidence of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting reported by patients and estimated by their physicians and nurses
As shown in the graph below, a substantial number of patients experience CINV even with conventional antiemetics.
Patients still experience CINV despite treatments
CINV involves a variety of neurotransmitters and receptor systems2,4-9
One reason that CINV is still common is that nausea and vomiting involve a complex signaling process, with many neurotransmitters and receptor systems playing a role.
The complexity of this process is shown in the diagram below. Specifically, chemotherapy impacts three main areas?the GI tract, the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ), and the higher cortical centers. All of these can stimulate the vomiting center and lead to an emetic response.
Antiemetics work at various points in these three pathways. For example, 5-HT3 antagonists act in the GI tract and the brain.
Other agents, such as phenothiazines, block activation of the CTZ.
Cannabinoids are thought to act between higher cortical centers and the medulla?areas where concentrations of cannabinoid receptors are found. Cannabinoids address a different pathway than other conventional antiemetics.
Multiple neurotransmitters and receptor systems are involved in CINV. This means that combinations of antiemetics with different mechanisms are often required for effective therapy.
CINV often leads to other serious consequences
CINV contributes to a reluctance to continue therapy in many patients2,5
In 832 patients, CINV was significantly associated with
Fatigue, anorexia, insomnia10
Deterioration in physical/cognitive functioning10
Conclusions
CINV persists despite treatment in part because chemotherapy causes nausea and vomiting through multiple mechanisms. Combinations of antiemetics, therefore, are often required for effective therapy
(Data and graphics swiped from Marinol)