Does Cannabis Make You Pee More?

Do you use cannabis? And have you noticed that you urinate more often than non-users around you? While these questions may seem strange, a recent study shows that these two traits may be related.

Although researchers often explore the potential link between cannabis and the bladder, there is still a lot we don’t know about the effects of cannabis on our overall body systems and health. A recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine sheds new light on the effects of cannabis use on overactive bladders. Ultimately, the researchers discovered that marijuana users were more likely than non-users to suffer from these conditions.

Cannabis use in the United States

With the recent legalization of cannabis, medicinal and recreational cannabis use is becoming increasingly common in the United States. As of December 2021, the commercialization of medicinal cannabis for various health conditions has been approved in 36 US states and the District of Columbia.

In addition, recreational marijuana use is legal in 19 states. According to recent surveys, 49.6 million Americans over the age of 12 said they have used cannabis since 2020. Still, the conflict between the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and the health issues associated with it has made marijuana use controversial.

What is an overactive bladder?

The study describes overactive bladder as a storage phase condition characterized by recurrent urinary urgency and nocturia (the impulse to wake up at night and go to the toilet) with or without urge incontinence, which are symptoms of the lower urinary tract. Chronic illnesses, such as an overactive bladder, have a significant impact on patients’ life experiences and productivity in the workplace.

According to the authors, previous research has shown that cannabis helps reduce lower urinary tract symptoms, which can lead to significant health problems. The study researchers then examined the relationship between overactive bladders and regular cannabis use as one aspect of common urinary tract symptoms.

Many drugs have been developed to treat this condition, including 3-adrenergic receptor agonists (Mirabegron) and M-choline receptor blockers (Solifenacin). These drugs are designed to improve patients’ quality of life and relieve symptoms. However, these drugs often have a certain percentage of side effects and limited therapeutic effectiveness. This implies that improved pharmacological therapy is still needed.

With marijuana’s growing acceptance and accessibility, several researchers are investigating whether it has the potential to become a brand new class of drug that is both efficient and well-tolerated. A study of men aged 20 to 59 found that chronic cannabis users were much less likely than non-users to report lower urinary tract symptoms.

However, given the similar prevalence of overactive bladder in adults of both sexes, it is not yet known whether marijuana helps treat symptoms of overactive bladder in the general population.

About the study

Since only these datasets from 2005 to 2018 included queries on cannabis use and symptoms of frequent urination, data from seven 2-year cycles of the NHANES were collected. NHANES is a continuous cross-sectional survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study the nutritional health of children and adults in the United States. It combines interviews and physical examinations with a sophisticated, stratified, multi-level, clustered quantitative research technique.

For inclusion in the study, participants between the ages of 20 and 59 completed questionnaires about kidney disease and drug use. During the interview at the Mobile Examination Center (MEC), study participants indicated whether they used marijuana regularly or occasionally. In addition, the questionnaire was used to collect data on the frequency of cannabis use.

The Kidney Disease Urology Questionnaire was used to assess symptoms of overactive bladder. The Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) Survey was used to quantify them. Overactive bladder disorder was considered present in those with a score of three or higher.

Researchers also collected information on participants’ age, gender, race, annual household income, family income-to-poverty ratio (FIPR), educational level, and marital status. The subjects’ body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and tobacco use were also examined. Finally, the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation was used to determine the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

study results

A total of 18,736 tests were used to reflect the weighted US population of 123,065,848. Almost 24% of respondents said they had used marijuana regularly in their lives. These individuals tended to be younger, leaner smokers, mostly non-Hispanic white or black single males with little education and low income.

Compared to non-users, regular cannabis users reported a higher tendency to urge urinary incontinence and a higher frequency of nocturia. In addition, normal users were more likely to show signs of overactive bladder than non-users across all severity levels.

Overall, the current study shows that regular marijuana users are more likely to suffer and develop severe overactive bladder problems. As such, the use of marijuana in treating symptoms of overactive bladder should be limited unless future research indicates otherwise, especially given the harmful effects of marijuana use.

Although the study found that regular cannabis users were more likely to experience nocturia and OABD, the researchers acknowledged that they are still not sure why marijuana would have such a marked impact on the bladder.

The study concluded that the available data does not support the rationale for the use of cannabis in the medical treatment of individuals with overactive bladder, especially given the challenging health problems caused by marijuana. This finding is confusing and unconvincing, and may leave readers with more questions than answers—especially given previous studies on the subject.

Conclusion

What is reality? Could there be other factors common to cannabis users that have additional causal links that also play a role? Is there a perfect cannabis composition that will make things better or worse? Numerous cannabis studies have concluded that further study is the very important next step. It will take some additional research to fully decipher the connection between cannabis use and bladder problems, although there is undoubtedly some correlation.

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