Up until a couple of years ago, the future of medical marijuana research has always been dubious. Luckily, marijuana is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Obviously, where there’s enough money to go around, surely there has to be enough money to conduct medical marijuana research as well. With that in mind, it is very important to emphasize where this crazy industry is heading and for what reason. Sure, we hear bits and pieces of various medical marijuana achievements in the news but we rarely get a full picture of what is really going on in the world of medical cannabis. We are about to change that and offer you a glimpse in the future of cannabis research.
HIV, Alzheimer’s and Asthma
Several research studies were conducted on HIV patients who tend to smoke marijuana. The studies reported that HIV patients eat better after smoking marijuana. Did we really need a study to tell us that? We don’t think so. But hey, any progress is good progress, right? Along with that, HIV patients who consume cannabis also sleep better and suffer from less neuropathic pain. Again, that is a no brainer. When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, some of the findings are quite similar. The studies show that people with Alzheimer eat and sleep better after consuming marijuana. There is absolutely nothing peculiar about that. However, what is somewhat groundbreaking is the fact that cannabis slows down the development of protein deposits in the brain, and these deposits are believed to be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, which is weird because nobody really knows what causes Alzheimer’s, they only assume. The assumptions are also rich when it comes to asthma, as some people feel relieved after consuming cannabis while others reported chest pain and coughing.
Cancer and Chronic Pain
When it comes to cancer, this is where cannabis gained its reputation. Several studies have shown that cannabis was indeed very effective in killing cancer cells. Other times, marijuana would slow down the development of cancer cells or completely stop it in its tracks. Cannabis can also improve efficiency of radiotherapy and bring back appetite in patients who have undergone chemotherapy. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is an entirely different ballgame mainly because it was used to cheat doctors who would then prescribe marijuana. This is why chronic pain is a bit frowned upon as far as conditions go. It can mean anything from a headache to…well…chronic back pain.
Epilepsy
Obviously, epilepsy is another disorder that is successfully confronted with cannabis, one significant case being the one of Charlotte, a little 5-year old girl from Colorado whose quality of life has improved significantly after she started using cannabis oil with no TCH but only CBD. The strain that was used in production of that oil was soon named after her and is now called Charlotte’s Web. In other news, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis have also been easier to combat with medical marijuana and research will surely continue in that direction.
There is definitely a lot of research that shows promise with using cannabis based medications. I am hoping that there will be good clinical trials in the future that exploit the the THC effects as a potent amyloid beta-peptide aggregation inhibitor. I hope also that researchers will use higher doses of cannabis as there is no lethal dose. These are exciting times in cannabis research! Thanks for reporting on all of the exciting preliminary news!