It’s nearly impossible to walk
through
the
the
University
of
Michigan’s
Diag
without
seeing a number of squirrels
roaming around. While these
furry little pals have come to
be a central part of the identity
of the University for many U-M
students, the squirrels are facing
an important issue: hair loss.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, LSA freshman
Rosemary Frederiksen said she
was shocked when she first saw
a squirrel with prominent hair
loss.
“I was really scared,” said
Frederiksen. “I thought someone
had shaved it.”
Ben Dantzer, U-M associate
professor of psychology, ecology
and evolutionary biology, told
The Daily the squirrels are likely
losing hair because of mange, a
mammalian skin disease caused
by mites or fungal infection,
though there could be other
factors at play.
“It’s hard to say (what is
causing the hair loss) without
doing some type of sampling on
them,” Dantzer said. “Mange
is caused by skin mites that
burrow and cause damage to the
skin, which eventually causes
the hair to fall out. Squirrels
can lose their hair due to fungal
infections too.”
Dantzer
said
a
possible
mange
or
contagious
fungal
infection could spread among
squirrels as they engage in social
interactions and explained how
students feeding squirrels can
increase the chance of infections
spreading among them.
“One thing that can increase
contact (between squirrels) is
feeding the squirrels (because
it) increase(s) aggregations of
them,” Dantzer said. “(It is the
same idea as) going to a crowded
party or social events in the
era of COVID-19 or RSV, and
there’s a high risk of catching
those
pathogens
because
you’re interacting with a lot of
other individuals of your same
species.”
Dantzer also said it is ill-
advised to ever touch a squirrel,
and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention states
no one should ever touch a wild
animal because of the risk of
disease.
“There’s never really a good
reason
to
touch
squirrels,”
Dantzer said.
In regards to the hairless Diag
icons, Dantzer said there is not
much anyone can do to help the
squirrels because their hair loss
is a part of nature.
“This is a natural part of the
natural world, and animals get
diseases,” Dantzer said. “This
shouldn’t be a situation where we
necessarily need to intervene.”
Many students also pointed
how the campus squirrels appear
to
be
incredibly
overweight.
Squirrels tend to gain weight
for the winter in order to store
energy when it is harder to find
food. Frederiksen expressed her
thoughts about how the squirrels
are gaining so much weight.
“I think the reason some
of them are getting so big is
because they’re stealing (trash
to eat) or people are giving them
giant pieces of pizza and (other
foods) like that,” Frederiksen
said. “When I was in the voter
registration line, (Ann Arbor
volunteers) were handing out
pizza and I saw a squirrel steal
an entire piece.”
Despite
the
issues
squirrels
face,
students
still
love
interacting
with
them.
Frederiksen helps run an account
on
Instagram,
@michigan.
squirrels, dedicated to sharing
pictures of the campus squirrels.
She said the campus squirrels
add to the student experience.
“They’re very cute and they
add
happiness
to
our
day,”
Frederiksen said. “It’s kinda like
seeing a dog.”
LSA
freshman
Catalina
Boyle is also an admin on the @
michigan.squirrels page. Boyle
said the squirrels help create
bonds between students.
“(Squirrels) add camaraderie
between students,” Boyle said.
“One time I came across a fellow
student who was feeding the
squirrels and they gave me some
food to feed the squirrels too.”
The campus squirrels were
unable to be reached for comment
at this time.
According to a University of
Michigan study, 31% of adults with
chronic pain reported having used
cannabis as a form of treatment. Of
this group, over half reported the
use of cannabis led to a decrease
in the use of prescription opioid,
prescription non-opioid and over-
the-counter pain medications.
The research project, led by Dr.
Mark Bicket, physician and assistant
professor
in
the
Department
of
Anesthesiology
at
Michigan
Medicine, was published in Jama
Network Open, a monthly medical
journal published by the American
Medical Association, on Jan. 6. The
findings highlight the importance
of further research on the metabolic
effects of cannabis as a pain
treatment.
In
an
interview
with
The
Michigan Daily, Dr. Bicket discussed
the high volume of patients he has
seen who reported using cannabis as
pain treatment, a number which has
surged in recent years. Bicket said he
conducted this research to address
a lack of knowledge in the medical
field about how cannabis can reduce
the use of other pain treatments.
He said he was surprised by the
overwhelming reports of a decrease
in the use of other pain treatments
while using cannabis.
“One of the main reasons we did
this study was that evidence about
whether medical cannabis use can
lower the use of other treatments or
change them is not clear,” Bicket said.
“The main finding, I think … was that
most people who use cannabis to
manage their chronic pain said that
the cannabis use resulted in lower use
of prescription opioids, and that was
also the case for prescription non-
opioid drugs and over the counter
pain medications.”
Bicket added that the findings
of his study emphasize the need for
further research into the benefits and
risks of using cannabis as a treatment
for chronic pain. Since medical
cannabis is regulated separately
from other prescription medications,
Bicket said knowledge about its
effects is vital.
“What this study shows us is that
cannabis is an accessible treatment
for chronic pain,” Bicket said. “At
the same time, we don’t know
how safe and effective cannabis
is, as a treatment for chronic pain.
That’s important because cannabis,
(though) available in many states,
is not regulated the same way the
prescription drugs are.”
As of January 2023, 37 U.S. states
and the District of Columbia have
legalized the use of medical marijuana
(cannabis), while an additional seven
states have legalized the use of CBD
oil only. The Michigan Medical
Marijuana Program operates within
the state’s Cannabis Regulatory
Agency and administers the 2008
Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.
Notably, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reports that
cannabis is not an effective treatment
for chronic pain. According to the
CDC’s website, “There is limited
evidence that marijuana works to
treat most types of acute or chronic
pain.”
In contrast to the findings of
Bicket’s study, the CDC cites research
on its website from 2013 and 2018
that claim cannabis increases opioid
misuse,
stating,
“Importantly,
using marijuana either alone or in
combination with opioids has been
shown to increase risk for opioid
misuse.”
When contacted by The Daily for
a statement about the new knowledge
provided by Bicket’s recent research
and potential updates to the CDC’s
intelligence on the subject, the
CDC declined to comment. Instead,
CDC spokesperson Belsie González
quoted information in an email to
The Daily about the limited evidence
for cannabis as an effective pain
treatment found in the Health Effects
section of the CDC’s Marijuana and
Public Health feature.
The
United
States
Drug
Enforcement Administration lists
cannabis as a Schedule I drug,
meaning cannabis has “no accepted
medical use and a high potential
for
abuse.”
Cannabis
is
listed
alongside heroin, LSD, ecstasy and
methaqualone in the Schedule I
category.
Bicket said the DEA’s Schedule I
classification and separate regulation
agencies
provide
challenges
for
clinical
research
into
relations
between cannabis use and pain. He
said many questions about cannabis
remain unanswered by research or in
clinical care.
“Along with that classification go
a number of challenges that come
to
conducting
clinical
research
using cannabis, on top of the normal
regulations
that
govern
clinical
research and make it something that
does take a bit of time and effort
to do,” Bicket said. “There’s a lot of
differences in terms of what cannabis
use by one person might be for
another person … How are they using
cannabis? What’s in the cannabis?
These are really basic questions that
are still not easy to get the answer to
in research or in a clinical setting.”
LSA senior Will Phillips, who used
to own a medical marijuana card
licensed by the state of Michigan, told
The Daily cannabis “totally” worked
to treat his pain effectively. Phillips
had previously used a prescription
non-opioid drug for pain treatment,
but said he felt cannabis was more
effective.
“I was on pain (medication) and I
honestly felt like cannabis was doing
more for that pain than the pain
(medication),” Phillips said. “I think
especially in the states that don’t have
recreational
cannabis,
absolutely,
they should have medical (cannabis)
dispensaries.”
2 — Wednesday, January 25, 2023
News
One-third of adults with chronic pain are using
cannabis, UMich study finds
RESEARCH
Who’s shaving the campus squirrels?
Marijuana-based treatment options have been steadily gaining
traction in recent years
As it turns out, no one; but UMich squirrels are losing hair from mange
CAMPUS LIFE
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