Journal
BMJ OPEN
Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000494
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Funding
- [R24DA017298]
- [R01 HL59180]
- [U54 RR026138]
- [P20 MD000182]
- [S06 GM068510]
- [U54 HD41748]
- [R25 RR019488]
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Objective: To determine the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and marijuana use. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Participants: The study included participants of the NHANES III, a nationally representative sample of the US population. The total analytic sample was 10 896 adults. The study included four groups (n = 10 896): non-marijuana users (61.0%), past marijuana users (30.7%), light (one to four times/month) (5.0%) and heavy (more than five times/month) current marijuana users (3.3%). DM was defined based on self-report or abnormal glycaemic parameters. We analysed data related to demographics, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol use, total serum cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D, plasma haemoglobin A1c, fasting plasma glucose level and the serum levels of C reactive protein and four additional inflammatory markers as related to marijuana use. Main outcome measures: OR for DM associated with marijuana use adjusted for potential confounding variables (ie, odds of DM in marijuana users compared with non-marijuana users). Results: Marijuana users had a lower age-adjusted prevalence of DM compared to non-marijuana users (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.55; p<0.0001). The prevalence of elevated C reactive protein (>0.5 mg/dl) was significantly higher (p<0.0001) among non-marijuana users (18.9%) than among past (12.7%) or current light (15.8%) or heavy (9.2%) users. In a robust multivariate model controlling for socio-demographic factors, laboratory values and comorbidity, the lower odds of DM among marijuana users was significant (adjusted OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.55; p<0.0001). Conclusions: Marijuana use was independently associated with a lower prevalence of DM. Further studies are needed to show a direct effect of marijuana on DM.
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