Boston, MA: Gastroparesis patients who regularly consume cannabis require shorter lengths of hospitalization than non-users, according to data published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology. Gastroparesis is a disease characterized by the partial paralysis of the stomach. Symptoms of the disease include: poor appetite, weight loss, chronic abdominal pain, and vomiting.
A team of investigators affiliated with Harvard Medical School and with Yale University’s School of Medicine evaluated the association between cannabis use and relevant clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with gastroparesis. They reported that after controlling for confounders, patients with a history of cannabis consumption possessed “better hospital outcomes, including decreased length of stay and improved in-hospital mortality.”
Separate studies have similarly reported that cannabis exposure is associated with decreased in-hospital mortality among patients suffering from heart failure, cancer, pancreatitis, burn-related injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other types of severe trauma.
Full text of the study, “Trends and socioeconomic health outcomes of cannabis use among patients with gastroparesis: A United States nationwide inpatient sample analysis,” appears in Clinical Gastroenterology.