Exploring Medical Marijuana for Improved Health

Exploring Medical Marijuana for Improved Health

Cannabis has been one of the most controversial topics in the last hundred years. For centuries, this plant was used for a wide array of different purposes. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was criminalized in the United States by the bureau of narcotics. As a result, for the next couple of decades, this topic was neither debated nor studied.

The start of the 21st century was marked by the enormous amount of studies that investigated all the benefits of cannabis, including medical ones. Today, you will find a plethora of them just a few clicks away. Therefore, we want to talk about how medical marijuana can help with improving your health. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is one of the most widespread medical problems in this day and age. According to studies, around 50 million Americans have some chronic pain. Many things cause chronic pain, but the most prevalent ones are peripheral neuropathy, spinal cord injury, joint problems, and chemotherapy.

What does it mean to feel chronic pain? It means that an individual cannot sustain the pain without consuming certain medications to help cope with it. As we all know, the number of painkillers on the market is exceptional. Unfortunately, they usually come with a high number of potential side effects.

The reason medical marijuana can help this pain is that it works similarly to pain medications. At the same time, there is no risk of experiencing any addiction, and the chances of experiencing any side effects are practically minimal. Thankfully, the market is filled with cannabis-infused products that can help with these difficulties.

Helps with Medical Disorders

Numerous studies have been published on how CBD can help with treating anxiety, depression, and some more severe mental disorders, such as Alzheimer’s. Interestingly enough, the effect medical marijuana has on mental conditions was promoted by Kristen Bell and Jennifer Aniston a couple of years ago.

Of course, many studies showed completely different results from this. Still, their number is insignificant to those that confirm these benefits. Plus, you will find many stories online about how people could overcome problems with depression and anxiety by consuming these products.

As you can presume, it is not recommendable for patients to consume these products independently without consulting a doctor. An experienced medical professional will examine the case and prescribe the proper dosage. Alongside the dosage, the patient will be issued a medical marijuana card to use these products.

Reduces Chemotherapy Side Effects

Chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for cancer, and it helps save millions of patients annually. Without this treatment, it wouldn’t be possible to overcome the illness. However, we need to point out that the side effects of this treatment are quite numerous, and having them under control is an absolute must to prevent them from going out of hand.

Despite all the improvements made in the last couple of decades, the treatment still comes with many risks. However, we can see that numerous studies have concluded that cannabis-infused products can help with managing a lot of these side effects. For instance, studies have shown that they help prevent hair loss, vomiting, neuropathic pain, malaise, and nausea, which are all common.

The commonest side effect is neuropathic pain, with around 75% of patients experiencing it. Using CBD products, like edibles or oil, has shown massive improvements in these cases. One of CBD's most important known benefits is that it helps alleviate pain, which perfectly aligns with managing neuropathic pain.

Epilepsy

In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration approved medications for treating specific forms of epilepsy. What’s interesting about this approval is that those medications include CBD. The specific types of epilepsy we are talking about are known as Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

One of the reasons why CBD is included in these medications is that it is not psychoactive. So naturally, CBD is purified since the effects that come with THC would only make the condition worse. The clinical trials for these researches lasted for years before the conclusions were drawn.

The professionals were extra careful enough since any mistake made in this regard would make the condition much worse. Dravet syndrome is particularly dangerous since the seizures are repetitive and potentially lethal. Thankfully, people who suffer from this rare and dangerous form can find a solution for their state these days, thanks to CBD.

Suppressing Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Drug and alcohol addiction is one of the biggest problems in modern society. Seeking the proper treatment for these addictions was the primary task for the medical industry for a couple of decades. As a result, you can see there are many treatments to choose from, but none of them can provide 100% success.

Recently, a study about the positive effects of cannabis products for suppressing drug and alcohol addiction has been published, and it has completely changed the perception of this plant. However, before that, we can see that a significant amount of studies showed that cannabis could make these addictions even worse.

Thankfully, modern science has made it possible for professionals to isolate certain compounds beneficial for managing various addictions. But, of course, that doesn’t include smoking cannabis, which has a high percentage of THC since it has psychoactive effects on the human brain.

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is quite widespread in the United States. You will see that around 1 million Americans older than 45 experience pain from multiple sclerosis daily. However, the same survey states that roughly 66% of them found a solution in using medical marijuana, no matter their chosen form.

At the same time, they are likely to give up on all other sorts of medications. When you think about it, that makes perfect sense. These medications don’t cause addictiveness, characteristic of many painkillers on the market. So, nobody should be surprised that most people prefer them.

The plant's chemicals help prevent muscle spasms, stiffness, and tremors. The only downside to studies on this subject is that they are relatively small compared to the ones involving CBD. Thankfully, some studies of a larger scope are planned for the future.

Insomnia

Lastly, insomnia is a condition many people suffer from, especially the younger generation. The modern way of life brings a completely different touch to the one our ancestors had. A good example is that many people work night shifts, which wasn’t widespread just a couple of decades ago.

Not to mention that numerous medical conditions can disrupt the proper order of sleeping. Consuming cannabis-infused products can help with this problem massively. The way it helps is, let’s say, the collaboration between CBD and THC. They are plunged inside the cannabinoid receptors in the human brain and help with alleviating all the causes of the lack of sleep.

The only concern individuals can experience consuming higher doses of THC, which can cause this issue to become even bigger in the future. A bit of THC helps regulate sleep, but higher doses can cause the “high effect.” So it is necessary to look towards products with a higher percentage of CBD and lesser doses of THC.

In Conclusion

The benefits of medical marijuana are numerous, even though not all the potential has been disclosed. Here, you can take a look at a couple of ways medical marijuana can help people who struggle with certain conditions and how they can improve their health.