Medical Uses of Marijuana
1) Pain Relief
Medical marijuana is used to treat pain and provide pain relief. Research has shown that the pathways in the central nervous system can be activated by the THC and this can prevent the brain from receiving signals. Similarly, marijuana has been really helpful in fighting the pain that comes with neuropathy or any nerve related pain.
2) PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder is another area where medical marijuana use is prescribed. It is noteworthy to state that the high that come with THC is also associated with memory impairments.
This may seen as a big disadvantage to the users of marijuana but at the same time, it is extremely beneficial to people who have a hard time forgetting painful memories e.g. PTSD. Research has revealed that PTSD-related symptoms such as nightmares, agitation, flashbacks etc can be relieved through oral doses of THC found in marijuana.
3) Nausea & Vomiting
Nausea and Vomiting is another area where medical marijuana can be used. Ever since the 1980s, THC has been used for curing or treating vomiting or nausea in cancer patients.
The first THC-based medication approved by the FDA is Marinol. It contains synthetic THC. Over time, more THC pills have been produced such as Cesamet and given to patients who are to undergo chemotherapy.
4) Appetite Stimulant
Medical marijuana has the ability to work-up ones appetite, therefore, despite its ability to minimize nausea, it can help both sick and healthy people alike in improving their appetite and diet as a whole. Drugs such as Cesamet and Marinol can help cancer and HIV patients. Apart from the aforementioned, drugs like Marinol can also help weight-gain in patients.
5) Asthma
Although this is hard to believe, since the 1970s, THC, which is found in marijuana has been observed to help asthma because of its ability to improve breathing in asthma patients. After this discovery was made, scientists have tried to make inhalers that can deliver THC, but are yet to come up with a working prototype. Some are of the opinion that the modern day vaporizers may be able to accomplish the task, although most of the scientists that explored the THC delivering inhaler have ultimately stopped trying.
6) Glaucoma
This is one of the first benefits that was discovered of medical marijuana use. THC has the capacity to relieve glaucoma patients of eye pressure.
Similar to the case of asthma, scientists have tried and failed to create some sort of eye drop that can administer THC to glaucoma patients. The fact that THC is not soluble in water made it extremely difficult for scientists to achieve this. The American Glaucoma Society are of the position that THC is not a viable solution for Glaucoma problems because the effects of THC are short-term although they cannot deny the fact that in that short term, THC is effective.
7) Sleep Aid
Medical marijuana used as a sleep aid is quite popular and the THC in it is the reason for the sleep induced effect it has. Studies have shown that THC helped both insomniacs and healthy individuals alike fall asleep faster. Even better, it can reduce sleep interruptions and enhance night time breathing. A THC based drug is now being worked on to help people with sleep apnea.
Other Uses for Cannabis with Overwhelming Anecdotal Evidence
The reason why there is so much medical potential for marijuana is that your body is stuffed with cannabinoid receptors which are crucial to several biological functions. One of the most beneficial being CBD which especially useful for tamping down an overactive immune system, similar to the autoimmune disease cases. It also has antipsychotic characteristics, yet doesn’t get you high. Below are some other medical conditions that marijuana can make better:
Dravet Syndrome
This also referred to as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI). It is a kind of life threatening epilepsy which is intractable and often found in kids. Kids with this condition can have up to one hundred seizures daily.
Dr. Mercola stated that kids with this condition generally do not respond well to normal epilepsy treatment. Some species of marijuana remain the only solution for these kids. Kids who have been placed under the low THC and high CBD treatment in the past have shown improved signs and not a single side effect. Marijuana may just be for fun to some, while to others, their lives depend on it.
Cancer
Several types of cancers have been identified in various studies as benefactors of the effectiveness of marijuana. Some of which include leukemia, melanoma, pituitary, colon thyroid, lung, prostate, breast and lung cancer.
It makes use of 2 mechanisms to fight and prevent the spread of cancer:
• Cannabis is anti-angiogenic, this implies that the blood supply to a tumor is cut off
• Cannabis is pro-apoptotic, this implies that it enhances cellular suicide of cancerous walls while the healthy cells are untouched.
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