“For centuries, cannabis sativa, more commonly known as marijuana, has been used as a folk remedy to relieve pain, improve mood, and increase appetite…

Much of what we know about cannabis comes from folktales and limited clinical observation. It was in this context that I was pleased to receive the submission published in this edition of The American Journal of Medicine, entitled “The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance Among US Adults.” This epidemiologic, observational study demonstrated that among diabetic patients who admitted to using marijuana, insulin resistance was decreased and diabetic control was improved. Penner et al analyzed data obtained during the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010. They studied data from 4657 patients, of whom 579 were current users of cannabis, 1975 used cannabis in the past but were not current users, and 2103 had never inhaled or ingested marijuana. These patients had fasting insulin and glucose levels measured along with a test for insulin resistance.

 Remarkably, fasting insulin levels were reduced in current cannabis users but not in former or never users. Two additional observations were that waist circumference was smaller and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol blood levels were higher in current cannabis users.

These are indeed remarkable observations that are supported, as the authors note, by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions…”

http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(13)00313-6/fulltext