AIDS Wasting Syndrome

 In 1992, the FDA approved the use of synthetic THC, dronabinol (product name - Marinol), for anorexia in AIDS patients. With the advent of new medications to treat AIDS Wasting, dronabinol is less frequently prescribed. Importantly, the smoking of crude marijuana by AIDS patients to obtain THC is not advised. Also, see National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"THC is moderately effective in the treatment of AIDS wasting, but its long duration of action and intensity of side effects preclude routine use."   American Medical Association, Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs, 10-1-97, Conclusions

Aside from the Conclusions section, this report addresses the use of marijuana and dronabinol in AIDS wasting on pages 8 and 9. (Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs)

"The possibility that frequent and prolonged marijuana use might lead to clinically significant impairments of immune system function is great enough that relevant studies should be part of any marijuana medication development research, particularly when marijuana will be used by patients with compromised immune systems."   National Institutes of Health Report, page 12

A two-day scientific meeting "Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana" was held on February 19-20, 1997 to "review the scientific data concerning the potential therapeutic uses for marijuana and the need for and feasibility of additional research." The report from this workshop addresses appetite stimulation/cachexia on pages 4, 25, 26 and 27. (National Institutes of Health Report)

"Results from a visual analog scale indicated a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase of appetite in patients treated with dronabinol after six weeks of therapy. However, the 0.1-kg average weight gain in treated patients was not significantly different from the 0.4-kg average weight loss in the placebo group at the end of the six week period (p>0.05). The efficacy of dronabinol in reversing the wasting process in AIDS patients is yet to be determined, since increased appetite does not necessarily correspond to increased body cell mass."    Treatment for HIV Wasting Syndrome, DIAS ROUNDS Drug Information Analysis Service, The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, May 1994, Volume 28, page 595

Excerpts on treatment for HIV Wasting Syndrome are provided from the DIAS ROUNDS (Drug Information Analysis Service)

Note: In calculating weight gain, 1 kg equals 2.205 pounds.

"Advocates of legalizing marijuana say it increases appetite, relieves nausea in people undergoing chemotherapy and fights the extreme weight loss or 'wasting syndrome' experienced by some AIDS patients, says Ellen Smit, lead author of the study that appears in the June issue of Public Health Nutrition." (Marijuana Munchies Mean Meager Menus, Health Central, June 11, 2001)

"A ground-breaking, government-sanctioned study suggests that marijuana may be beneficial in treating patients infected with the AIDS virus. Results of the study, conducted at the University of California at San Francisco, show that infected patients who were treated with pot came out of a 21-day trial just as healthy as when they entered. To boot, these patients also had more meat on their bones." (Study supports pot for patients, My Prime Time)

"There are no controlled studies of marijuana in the AIDS-wasting syndrome, nor have there been any systematic studies of the effects of smoked marijuana on immunological status in HIV-infected patients. Smoking (tobacco, marijuana, or crack cocaine) has been shown to increase the risk of developing bacterial pneumonia in HIV-positive immune-compromised patients. Dronabinol has been shown to increase appetite and produce weight gain in AIDS and cancer patients, although the weight gain is not in lean body mass. Dronabinol is approved for the treatment of anorexia in patients with AIDS-associated weight loss." (Executive Summary, National Institute of Health Report, page 4)