WEED!

[Blarneystoner]

thanks for the responses guys.

MY PLAN: continue to smoke weed (0-2 times a week) and tell the doctor that i've tried it but seldom do it (hopefully he won't even bother asking). if he gives a revision, i'll stop or signifigantly reduce my intake (which isn't much in the first place). If he doesn't, i'll keep on smokin until I see a difference.

[Blarneystoner]

BTW, I think the claim that weed can cause gyne is possibly government propaganda to scare people away from it, which many of the "side effects" are.

[throwback111]

its bullshit weed is fine, it does not lower testosterone levels.

http://paranoia.lycaeum.org/marijuana/facts/3-mj-myths

[Hypo-is-here]

I quote the study you have presented

Quote Verbatim
The U. of Iowa study found that chronic marijuana use
had no effect on testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle
stimulating hormone, prolactin and cortisol in men or women.
  Noting that six other studies had failed to show
lowered testosterone levels in men, Dr. Block concluded: "It
appears that marijuana, even heavy use of the kind that's
typical in the United States, doesn't alter testosterone levels."  
Unquote


So they only tested testosterone levels in the blood.

It is a well known fact that testing testosterone in the blood is completely useless unless you also measure the protein that binds testosterone known as SHBG.  Increases of SHBG would significantly reduce the crucial levels of free testosterone.  We do not know if this happened in those tested in the study because SHBG was not tested for.  They could have got around the need for testing SHBG by testing for free testosterone by equilibrium dialysis, but they didn't test for that either.

Which means their testing of testosterone is utterly useless is it gives an entirely inaccurate picture of what is going on.

Additionally Androgen deficiency is defined as a lack of testosterone and or a lack of its metabolites.  Which means that those in question could have still been androgen deficient if the marijuana caused an adverse affect on dihydrotestosterone levels, but again this was not tested for making the information pretty useless.

Furthermore this study only looked at testosterone.  It was not looking at the issue of gynecomastia.  Gynecomastia is a condition which is caused by a poor androgen to estrogen balance.

In this study they did not consider the effect on estrogens at all.

This makes this study utterly redundant on a third level in that you cannot use it to in any way to say that smoking marijuana doesn't cause gynecomastia.  This study is not in any way looking at the use of marijuana and its link to gynecomastia, you are misusing its information in applying it to this context.

As it stands you have half of the picture and an utterly flawed half at that.

For ANY study on marijuana to be legitimate when viewing any potential effects on the endocrine system
the following minimum would need to be tested;


LH
FSH
Testosterone and SHBG
Free Testosterone
Prolactin
Estradiol
Estriol
Estrone
Progesterone
IGF-1
Dihydrotestosterone
TSH
Free T4
Free T3
Corisol
DHEAs

Hepatic function tests
Dynamic Adrenal function tests
Renal function tests

[throwback111]

I can only speak for myself, I got gyno before i started smoking weed. I smoked weed for the last 7 years and it just stayed the same. I could not even wear a t-shirt, When i got my surgery I smoked before and after my surgery.


I dont think my gyno is coming back so im gonna keep smoking, this is how i look smoking a 1/8 of a ounce a day for years:
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/6113/dsc003486vy.jpg
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5579/dsc003486yj.jpg

I think more people will get man boobs from beer with all those calories

[Hypo-is-here]

You are one person throwback- a case of one

The whole point/argument regarding both alcohol and marijuana is that in those that smoke/drink it there is a statistical increase in the number of people that develop gynecomastia.

Looking at marijuana;

If you take a x thousand healthy men who do not smoke marijuana and you compare that with x number of healthy men who do smoke marijuana, there will be a statistically higher number of men with gynecomastia in the latter group.

There is a proven albeit weak association between the two.

Many men will of course smoke or drink and have no problem whatsoever and not develop gynecomastia; that I would have thought is rather obvious.

But if you are one of the men in the minority, who is predisposed to gynecomastia who has developed it because of drinking or smoking marijuana, I don't suppose the fact that the odds that it would happen to you were slim would make you feel any better, do you?

Marijuana and alcohol are not strongly associated with gynecomastia in the way that steroids are or in fact a whole variety of medications, but they are nevertheless causative factors for some people.

[Paa_Paw]

There is a very small number of people who have medical problems for which Marijuana has given relief.

It is absurd that more research into this is not being done.

Meanwhile, the stuff is illegal.  That is the bottom line.

[Hypo-is-here]

Having been one of a number of men given a treatment called Nabalone (marijuana) to stop me being constantly physically sick on chemotherapy back in 1991 I concur Paw Paw.

It obviously does have its legitimate uses and like many drugs should be reseached more actively.

I think the fact that it is a naturally occuring substance that cannot be patented has a lot to do with the lack of fundiing/reseach.

That said the limited reseach that does exist does point to adverse changes in endocrine function and unless this is called into question I think you would need a pretty good reason to be using it, unless you are agreeing to expose yourself to the risks that seem to come along with it.

At present I would put the risks in the same brackett/context as smoking or drinking alcohol.