Editor’ note: Cannabis and THCA/HEMP CBD products should have an active ingredient list on the container and have a Certificate of Analysis (COA). Discuss your use of THC, Cannabis or CBD products with your health care provider. Dosing of CBD is variable, especially since it is not FDA regulated. Cannabis/CBD may interfere with other medications and should not be used in individuals with certain health conditions, including liver issues. CBD skin care products can be absorbed through the skin and have similar effects. Do not use Cannabis products including edibles and CBD if you are pregnant, nursing or may become pregnant. Do not use cannabis products if driving or operating difficult or dangerous machinery. Children should not be exposed to cannabis or CBD products.
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Dr. Swartz[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
James A. Swartz, PhD
Professor, Jane Addams College of Social Work
University of Illinois Chicago
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: For the past 5 1/2 years, my project team has been charged with monitoring the public health effects of adult cannabis use legalization in Illinois. To fulfill that obligation, we have monitored state data and have tried to keep informed about ongoing research on cannabis legalization and public health. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) rose to the surface of this continual monitoring through a growing number of publications indicating the prevalence of this condition was on the rise and clinical case reports. As context, for any readers unfamiliar with the clinical syndrome, CHS is a paradoxical reaction to long-term, heavy cannabis use. Instead of relieving nausea, cannabis in some people appears to trigger cycles of severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Patients often present repeatedly to emergency departments, undergo extensive workups, and only much later does someone connect the dots and consider CHS.
Resource use is substantial. CHS visits often involve repeat ED presentations, imaging, laboratory testing, and sometimes hospital admission. Even though CHS is rarely life-threatening, it is not a trivial condition from either the patient’s or the system’s perspective.
Most of the existing literature has been case reports, small series, or single-center studies. Those reports clearly show that CHS can be debilitating and is frequently misdiagnosed, but they don’t tell us much about the bigger picture:
- How often Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is showing up in emergency departments nationally
- How those rates have changed over time, especially as cannabis policies and patterns of use have shifted
- What the typical patient profile looks like at a population level
Our goal was to step back and use a large national emergency department database to describe CHS at scale in the United States from 2016 through 2022.
Dr. Serena Guo[/caption]
Serena Jingchuan Guo, MD PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
University of Florida College of Pharmacy
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Dr. Hao Dai[/caption]
Hao Dai, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Biostatistics & Health Data Science
Indiana University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Obesity and type 2 diabetes are both known to increase the risk of several cancers. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have become very popular for both glycemic control and weight loss, but their long-term effects on cancer risk are still unclear. Using a large real-world dataset, we emulated a target trial comparing more than 43,000 GLP-1RA users to matched non-users.
We found that GLP-1RA use was associated with a significantly lower overall cancer risk.
Dr. Del Pozo Cruz[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Borja del Pozo Cruz, PhD
Department of Sport Sciences
Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Sport Sciences
Universidad Europea de Madrid
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We now have consistent evidence that taking around 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day is associated with substantially lower risks of death and cardiovascular disease. However, much less is known about how those steps are accumulated throughout the day. This question is particularly relevant for people who are mostly inactive, as their steps are often of lower intensity and accumulated in short, fragmented bouts. Understanding whether different step accumulation patterns have distinct health effects in this group is essential to refine physical activity recommendations and make them more inclusive.
Shemyia Smith[/caption]
Shemyia Smith, MBS
Department of Medical Education
Geisinger College of Health Sciences
Scranton, PA 18509
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Over the past several years, legal marijuana (also known as cannabis) use has substantially increased in many states and countries. Alongside this, more patients visit the emergency room and specialist with severe recurring nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Often, this may be misdiagnosed since these symptoms are now known as Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS). Although CHS is now widely known, there is still a lot of uncertainty among clinicians about how to diagnose it confidently and manage it effectively.
Dr. Massimiliano[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Massimiliano Orri, PhD
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry
McGill University
Principal Investigator at the Douglas Research Centre
within the McGill Group for Suicide Studies.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What types of medical conditions were associated with the early cannabis use?
Response: We already know that cannabis use can be linked to both mental and physical health problems. But what about problems severe enough to require medical attention? In this study, we wanted to see whether young adults who had used cannabis during their teenage years were more likely to seek medical care for mental or physical health issues. Using medical service data allows us to look at more serious cases - those that required professional attention and were diagnosed by healthcare providers. It also helps us understand the broader impact of early cannabis use on the healthcare system
Dr. Dehghani[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ali Dehghani, DO
Department of Medicine
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center / Case Western Reserve University
Presenting Author, IDWeek 2025
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Shingles (herpes zoster) is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which can inflame blood vessels and the nervous system. Evidence over the past decade has linked shingles to higher risks of heart attack, stroke, and dementia—but it was unclear whether the shingles vaccine might lessen those long-term effects.
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Clubfoot
Clubfoot
Dr. Jiyoung Ahn[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jiyoung Ahn, PhD
Dr. King[/caption]
Brett King, MD, PHD
Dr. King was named an American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) “Patient Care Hero”
for his work treating patients with severe alopecia areata
Dermatology Physicians of Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain the condition of Alopecia Areata?
Response: Alopecia Areata (AA), an autoimmune form of hair loss, is common and its treatment has been revolutionized in the past ~3 years with approvals of 3 JAK inhibitors, bariticinib, ritlecitinib and deuruxolitinib. Prior to these approvals, off label treatments included the JAK inhibitors tofacitinib and ruxolitinib.
Prof. Lemesle[/caption]
Gilles Lemesle, M.D., Ph.D
Lille University Hospital, Lille, France