Finally, More Research Revolving Around CBD

Finally, More Research Revolving Around CBD

Marijuana is one of the most intriguing plants known to man and has been around for thousands of years. However, before 1964 no one knew how or why it gets people high. That particular year was the turning point because it was at that time that the curious Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam, who is also known as “the father of medical marijuana,” isolated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and embarked on a journey full of groundbreaking studies on how exactly marijuana affects brains of its users. Besides THC, there was also this other compound that attracted his interest, the one he discovered a year earlier. Unlike THC, this one did not get people high, but instead a different kind of effects have been noted about it, such as improving sleep in people with insomnia or controlling seizures in laboratory animals. This other compound was, of course, cannabidiol (aka CBD), click on this link about CBD to find out more.

The Father of Cannabis

Mechoulam continued his research and in 1980 published what he found out. A small clinical trial showed that CBD reduced seizures in seven out of the eight epileptic patients tested. This was a placebo-controlled study, which is a standard procedure when researching medical usefulness of any substance. The placebo group from Mechoulam’s study was significantly outperformed by the CBD group, meaning it’s safe to assume the existence of described effects of CBD. Mechoulam, happy with the results, went on to ask for more funding in order to be able to conduct a larger study to test his findings. Even though one would normally assume that drug companies would start flocking around Mechoulam, nothing happened at that time – no one wanted to have anything to do with an illegal drug.

Times Have Changed

Today, the situation is different. In US, more and more states are legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana. However, because the Federal Government still classified it as a Schedule I drug (equally dangerous as heroin, mind you!), scientists can’t just randomly start studying it. If they do want to work with it, the researchers need all kinds of approvals from several federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration. So far, numerous studies have reported on CBD’s potential benefits for treating an array of diseases and conditions and it might even have antibiotic properties! The problem is that all the studies were petri dish studies or on animals, and those results are difficult to apply on humans. Luckily, a few of large placebo-controlled studies concerning CBD-only products are currently in the works. A couple of pharmaceutical companies are running trials of drugs intended to treat either epilepsy in children and of synthetic CBD. If approved, those drugs will soon become available by prescription.

Surprisingly, or not, Israel has taken the leading place in medical marijuana research and development. It is considered to be one of the most forward-thinking countries when medical marijuana is concerned. Scientists from all over the world are flocking there, eager to learn more about this fabulous plant. Interestingly, and unlike in some American states, marijuana is not legalized for recreational use in Israel.

Daner's Story

Growing up, Daner and I were as close as a brother and sister could be.  He was movie-star handsome, smart, funny and kind, not only to me but to everyone that knew him. He was a great friend to so many, a loving son and wonderful brother.  He was my best friend! 

He was the bright star in our hometown of Arlington, TX. He was the dream boat of every girl in town!  Being three years younger, I always looked up to him in awe.  I was so excited to tag along with him wherever he went because I knew it was bound be a fun adventure.  As we grew, we continued to be thicker than thieves.  We shared everything in our lives, our stories of adventure, love and heartbreak and our dreams for the future.  We both worked in the family business and were fortunate enough to be able to travel all over the world together for work and pleasure.  Everywhere we went everyone loved Daner.

While Daner stayed single playing the field, I got married at thirty and soon had my first of three sons. Uncle Daner was right there hanging out with his nephews who loved him dearly.  Then Daner had an opportunity to accept a senior position in Atlanta, and though he was wasn't crazy about moving, he was excited about the opportunity and jumped on it.  He was very successful in this endeavor and stayed 14 years, all the while, longing to return to Texas where his heart, soul, and family were.  Although we lived in different states, we spoke regularly and stayed involved in each others' lives, as the distance between us could never separate us.

During those 14 years, he got married and he had two beautiful children, worked and supported many charity foundations.  Being an avid Harley enthusiast, he put together annual rides and raised a lot of money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the American Diabetes Association.  He loved supporting charities! 

Then in late 2010, Daner and his family came home to Texas and we all were together once again, it was so great having my brother back home!  After four years back in Texas, Daner was in the best shape of his life, working out regularly and living a healthy lifestyle.  Then suddenly he started having stomach aches.  He didn't think much of it and took over-the-counter medicine to relieve the pain, but it persisted so he decided to have it checked by a doctor.

I remember being in my car when I got his call and he told me he might have cancer.  I thought no way; we don't have serious cancers in our family, just me with some minor skin cancer. 

Then on September 21, 2014 we got the news it was inoperable pancreatic cancer, which had metastasized into his liver with a prognosis of six to eight months to live.  We were in shock.  That's when panic set in.  All family and friends went into fight mode.  We were convinced he was going to beat this.  Cancer wasn't going to win, not today, not against Daner!  

Everyone was researching alternative treatments because Daner did not want to do chemotherapy or radiation having seen the negative effects on the quality of life when diagnosed with terminal cancer and felt it was not for him. Then Daner saw a program on patients who chose cannabis as their choice of treatment.  The program documented how cannabis prolonged the survival of many people and even cured some types of cancer. Through Facebook, Daner became friends with a gentleman who had the exact same cancer that Daner had and was using cannabis as treatment and it was working.  He had been given the same prognosis of six to eight months and was still alive, had returned to work and was actively taking care of his wife and kids for 20 month after his diagnosis. After further research Daner firmly believed that ingesting cannabis oil daily was going to save his life. 

So Daner, my father and I were off to Colorado to get some of this oil.  

Daner began using the cannabis oils daily. Sadly, during this first month he got a lot of resistance from his wife who was unwilling to research the benefits of medical marijuana.  She wanted him to do chemotherapy and was very persistent about it.  In an effort to reach a compromise with his wife, Daner agreed to start chemotherapy but insisted on continued use of daily cannabis oil, as he firmly believed this-not chemotherapy-would save his life. 

Following his first round of chemotherapy, he encountered many of the common side effects including hair loss, nausea, vomiting, pain, and diarrhea. After using cannabis for about a month and a half, and not having any guidance regarding dosage and frequency, his trial and error efforts paid off.  Within two weeks after his chemotherapy and a month and a half since using cannabis, we received great news; his cancer cell marker count decreased considerably.

This was so much closer to the normal range for healthy individuals we felt he was well on his way to remission.  We were told that chemotherapy couldn't work that quickly so we were confident it was the use of the cannabis oil.  Daner was so excited he said if he beat this he would have a story to tell and boy was he going to tell it!

We talked at length during this time about starting a foundation to educate people on the medical benefits of cannabis and to support human cannabis studies and somehow provide cannabis to people who wanted to use this form of treatment but could not afford it.  We thought it would be very important to do trial studies on humans to determine the exact quantity and dosage necessary to understand the miraculous benefits of medical marijuana for all types of cancer and numerous other diseases.  Daner always wanted to share his newfound knowledge and make sure other people knew too. 

When it came time for his second round of chemotherapy he refused again but that caused a lot of turmoil in his home as his wife was still very against anything that had to do with what she called, “dope”.  Again to reduce the stress and turmoil in his home, Daner gave into her demands and did the second round of chemotherapy.  Following this second round of treatment, he became much weaker and frail.  He skin started turning yellow which is indicative of liver failure.  Following a trip to see his oncologist, the subsequent testing revealed his dead cancer cells were clogging his bile duct, and slowly shutting down his liver.  A stent could have been placed to release the clogging but the doctors refused to do so, stating his cancer would spread rapidly and it was hopeless.  

Within two weeks, his skin completely yellow in color, Daner lost his life to liver failure, a complication from cancer.

On January 25, 2015, I alone, was with my best friend when he took his last breath and made a promise to him. I would make sure the world was educated and informed about the medical benefits of cannabis.  Programs would be set up to support all human cannabis studies as well as create programs to provide medical marijuana to those who qualify and cannot afford the medicine.

I promised Daner and myself that his story would be told and I would make sure that he was never forgotten, thus began Daner's Hope...

Is CBD Good For Treatment of Your Condition?

Is CBD Good For Treatment of Your Condition?

During recent years CBD has become very famous. After numerous stories of almost magical recoveries of people who used CBD oil to treat their disease or condition, now everyone wants CBD and expects equal results. But is it really what they need? There is quite a bit of misunderstanding about CBD’s place in cannabis therapeutics. It has been given a huge advantage over THC. Heightened media coverage and state legislators responding to demand with CBD-only laws have given rise to a few pervasive myths, including one that equates the sole medical value of cannabis with CBD. The truth is that you may come to your doctor’s office and discover that THC is what you need to treat your condition. Many people become suspicious when that happens.

Patients Who Might Benefit from CBD

Types of patients who can greatly benefit from a CBD treatment are most often epileptics; some patients with severe auto immune disorders; multiple sclerosis patients; some Parkinson’s patients; patients with bi-polar disorder; and people with ADD come to mind. As it turns out, CBD is most suitable as an anti-spasmodic and anti-anxiety remedy. It can also be beneficial with patients who are fighting pain and inflammation, though THC was found to be more consistently effective in this area. However, and this is interesting in cannabis research, THC and CBD utilize complementary and different pathways to fight inflammation. In general, CBD would be recommended for patients who cannot tolerate too much THC.

THC & CBD Working Together in Cancer Treatment

Many cancer patients think that CBD is the active cancer-fighting component in cannabis – which is yet another myth about CBD. The truth is that THC has been the go-to compound for helping cancer patients for many years. More precisely, and this is something that recent research has shown, is that THC doesn’t act alone. CBD, while having anti-cancer properties in its own right and working on different pathways than THC, boosts THC’s effectiveness by mitigating its undesirable effects, and allowing for higher doses of THC to be administered for greater clinical efficacy and safety.

It Is Time To Change The Myth

CBD has long been overshadowed by THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the primary active ingredient in marijuana, because unlike THC, it does not produce a psychoactive “high.” CBD has nonetheless long been known to have useful anti-spasmodic, anti-epileptic, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic properties. Stories such as the one of Charlotte Figi are great but they also help in this myth creation. When the story broke, Charlotte was a 5-year-old girl, who suffered continual epileptic seizures from a rare disease known as Dravet’s syndrome. Her condition has dramatically improved after she was treated orally with an extract of CBD-rich cannabis. There’s even a strain, rich in CBD that carries her name. It’s called Charlotte’s Web. In response to growing demand, numerous strains of CBD-rich varieties have been developed by breeders in the U.S. and across the globe.

Medical Marijuana Could Help Children Suffering From Seizures

Medical Marijuana Could Help Children Suffering From Seizures

If you have been following medical marijuana related news in the last couple of years, you might have stumbled upon several cases of children suffering from epilepsy. Probably one of the most well-known cases is the one of Charlotte, a 5-year old girls from Colorado who was suffering from epilepsy and had about 300 seizures a week, some of them lasting for hours. Needless to say, her parents tried whatever they could. What they needed at the time was a strain of marijuana that is not rich in THC but is in CBD, obviously they didn’t want their daughter suffering from psychotic episodes as well. They somehow managed to obtain such a strain and instantly made oil out of it. Charlotte’s number of seizures fell from 300 per week to “only” a 4 or 5 a month. The actual strain was named Charlotte’s Web and you can get it by visiting the Stanley Brothers in Colorado.

Charlotte Was A Catalyst

This case was basically a catalyst for things to come. Charlotte was not the only child suffering from severe epilepsy and as soon as the word got out that she is feeling much better, families flocked to Colorado to obtain the strain. Today, a new drug is available on the market called Epidiolex. This particular drug contains no THC, only CBD, and has been approved for clinical trials by the FDA. In most of United States, cannabis is still illegal and will remain that way at least for a couple of years. However, the research being done with Epidiolex is basically groundbreaking because it is the first marijuana based drug that got FDA’s approval for clinical testing.

Epidiolex

Last Monday, first information on the efficiency of Epidiolex was released to the general public. It clearly states that out of 140 children treated for epilepsy, over 50% of them had witnessed a significant drop in seizures. The research was conducted in the Texas Children Hospital and what is even better is the fact that no placebo was used during the course of this research. The next several months will be spent testing Epidiolex on various people suffering from epilepsy all over the world. This will provide the team with even more conclusive findings.

Is It Really Groundbreaking?

Now, the question whether this is groundbreaking research or not still remains unanswered because, as we mentioned with Charlotte’s Web, this has been a long time coming and to parents and children suffering from epilepsy this is not news at all, no matter how groundbreaking the FDA claims it to be. In fact, the “science” of treating people with convulsion with marijuana goes back to 1843 when a certain British doctor administered marijuana to an infant suffering from frequent convulsions. The very fact that we had to wait for more than 150 years to get this thing approved is a bit ludicrous, especially considering FDA’s somewhat mind numbing policy of approvals. Let’s just hope this practice will not continue in the future so that children actually have a shot at a decent life.

How Medical Marijuana Affects Multiple Sclerosis

How Medical Marijuana Affects Multiple Sclerosis

Medical marijuana research is picking up pace. Thankfully, due to the overwhelming support from the general public, it seems that people are starting to believe in the power of cannabis. And how could they not. After all the testimonials that are currently available online, it is really hard not to believe that there is something very peculiar about this drug, something that most researchers cannot even begin to explain. For instance, one of the conditions that is most heavily researched in relation to medical marijuana has got to be multiple sclerosis. However, the research couldn’t be more conflicting. As far as I can tell, there have been 11 conclusive medical marijuana research studies that researched the effects marijuana has on people suffering from MS.

Various Case Studies

In 2014, Dr. Peter Flachenecker published a study called “Long-Term Effectiveness and Safety of Nabixmols”. Nabixmols is basically just another term for Sativex, an oral spray that contains CBD and has reduced spasticity with a great number of MS patients, even those who are resistant to a bunch of other medications. Then, in another study by Tamela Stuchiner, cannabis makes MS patients disoriented, reporting more fatigue, pain, tingling and heat sensitivity. Another study that focused on Sativex comes up with inconclusive findings, making it hard to distinguish whether Sativex helps people or not. A study done by John P. Zajicek at the Neurology Research and Clinical Trials Unit of the Peninsula Medical School at the University of Plymouth reports that patients with MS benefit from cannabis in terms of muscle stiffness.

MS Patients Differ

In general, there are several studies on MS and cannabis that report marijuana is great for pain reduction and treating MS symptoms in general. Naturally, smoking cannabis has its side effects, which is why another study reported that MS patients who use cannabis have shady cognitive skills, which is really no surprise and should not refer to MS patients exclusively. Anybody who gets high will suffer from poor cognitive skills. There are about three to four additional studies that prove Sativex is indeed an efficient ailment in dealing with MS. You don’t have to be a scientist to put two and two together. It is obvious that cannabis works for some people but for some people doesn’t and it is important to make that distinction.

It is also important to know each and every strain currently available out there. I am usually against GM weed in terms of commercial consumption. However, if medical marijuana research could speed up to the point where you could modify certain strains to have more beneficial effects on their patients, there should be no time left to spare. In fact, CBD only strains are being modified while we’re writing this article and it would be ludicrous to even think what the future might bring. Hopefully, conclusive research and efficient medical marijuana strains will become a part of that future. Until then, we can be proud to live in a time where we finally accepted a plant that has been stigmatized for decades.

United States Says Yes To Medical Marijuana

United States Says Yes To Medical Marijuana

This was a long time coming. It seems like all the medical marijuana research has been leading up to this point, regardless of how scarce this research truly is. But we don’t have to go over ancient history with medical marijuana. Not even a few years ago, the feds were still busting down doors of medical marijuana dispensaries in California. And, keep in mind, they are still allowed to do that as state law acknowledges legalization but federal law still doesn’t.

So Much Funding, So Little Research

And don’t even get us started on research. About $1.1 billion was approved for marijuana research. But guess what? They spent the money on studying marijuana abuse and addiction. They were basically getting people legally high and studying their actions, like they were monkeys in a zoo. Instead of focusing on the benefits of the drug and expanding on that through various methods of research. Can we get some quality control here? Like, a well trained professional who would at least be able to stir the research in the right direction. Like a medical marijuana research coordinator? We’re sure that title needs to be added to the FDA or something.

So, now that we have got all the mistakes and delusions out of the way (well, not all, but maybe two), the United States have decided to admit that medical marijuana indeed does work. Just like that. For ages, the authorities have been busting down doors, trying to find the owner of that joint butt they found on the street but now – they’re totally cool with it. We wonder how Big Pharma took this in, or maybe it was their idea to begin with.

Rick Simpson’s Legacy

What did they say exactly? How did they explain the sudden change of heart? Did they only say that marijuana helps you get the munchies? Well, they decided to come out with a bang and state that marijuana indeed kills cancer sells. That’s how slow change truly is. Rick Simpson has been stating this for decades, numerous testimonials can be found online. Seminars, workshops, illegal THC oil cooks can be found everywhere so it is kind of fascinating to see just how long it took for a government to approve of medical marijuana.

While at the same time this fantastic news that is bound to open a few more doors for medical marijuana research, it is devastating that a huge chunk of time will pass before the plan is entirely legal. Because change costs a lot of money, but if you do it slowly, you can also make a lot of money. That’s the point of adjustment – money. Like when a country enters the EU but banks refuse to lower interest rates for a couple of years because “the banks need time to adjust”, like they’re a sensitive little wallflower that needs care and affection to grow.

Medical Marijuana helps people with these Conditions

Medical Marijuana helps people with these Conditions

Medical Marijuana: Nothing is New

The use of cannabis as medicine is not new, in fact, there are references to the use of marijuana as a medicine that date back to 2,000 years BC.  Marijuana use hasn’t been confined to just one geographical area either – there are global records of its use.  In China, it was used to treat conditions such as malaria, constipation and rheumatism.

Watch US Medical Cannabis History in Educational & How-To |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

You might be surprised to find that it wasn’t just ancient peoples who used the drug; marijuana remained in the United States pharmacopoeia until 1941. Up until that time, cannabis was freely available in shops and, in the UK, Queen Victoria, that most conservative of royals, used cannabis to alleviate her menstrual cramps.

Medical Marijuana: The Truth

The truth of the matter is we don’t know exactly how many illnesses and symptoms that the medical use of marijuana could alleviate. This list will continue to grow as we discover more conditions that can potentially be treated with cannabis.

We believe Medical Marijuana will help these conditions:

·        Alcoholism: scholars call it the “Alcohol dependence syndrome” and it is a severe disease that’s destroying millions of people’s lives.

·        Alzheimer’s Disease: a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior

·        Amyloidosis: Amyloids are body-proteins that have folded in on themselves, making them insoluble. The fact that they don’t dissolve can lead to a build up of deposits in various organs, such as the heart, the kidneys, and the nerves.

·        Anorexia: an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight

·        Anxiety: a feeling of apprehension or fear, the source of which is not always known or recognized.

·        AIDS: (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to the immune system

·        Arthritis: inflammation of one or more joints, which results in pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement

·        Attention Deficit Disorder: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is one of the three subtypes of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

·        Autism: autistic spectrum disorders  are a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

·        Biopolar Disorder – Mixed results when it comes to using medical marijuana to treat Biolpar patients.

·        Breast Cancer: cannabis study suggesting that a particular compound may be effective at taming metastasizing breast cancer cells with low toxicity.

·        Cachexia: physical wasting with loss of weight and muscle mass caused by disease.

·        Cancer: a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell division leading to growth of abnormal tissue.

·        Crohn’s Disease: an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), causing inflammation of the digestive tract lining . This can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and malnutrition.

·        Dementia – Medical Marijuana has Potential to treat Dementia.

·        Depression: a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.

·        Diabetes: people who are dealing with diabetes are falling short of insulin. It is either not produced by the body or it isn’t produced in sufficient quantity.

·        Diarrhea: Well, we’ve all had it, that’s for sure. For those of you who are not familiar with this river of fecal matter, think of diarrhea as a casual turd, not very compact but quite fluid.

·        Epilepsy: a disorder that results from the surges in electrical signals inside the brain, causing recurring seizures.

·        Fibromyalgia: a constellation of symptoms that include widespread aching, stiffness, fatigue, and the presence of specific body tender point

·        Gastritis: It’s an inflammatory condition that can’t really be narrowed down to one single disease. When your stomach lining reaches the stage of inflammation, that’s a pretty good sign you have gastritis.

·        Glaucoma: a group of eye diseases characterized by damage to the optic nerve usually caused by raised pressure (IOP) within the eye.

·        Hepatitis: Several studies, as well as ample anecdotal evidence have demonstrated that medical marijuana can reduce nausea, increase appetite, and improve wasting in people with hepatitis.

·        HIV/AIDS – Medical marijuana can be used to treat the symptoms of HIV and AIDS.

·        Insomnia: chronic inability to fall asleep or to enjoy uninterrupted sleep

·        Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Anecdotal evidence suggests that use of cannabis/marijuana reduces symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

·        Mesothelioma: Well, let’s get this said up-front: as far as we know medical marijuana will not cure mesothelioma. Nevertheless, we know of at least one study looking at cannabis for chemotherapy patients (Harvard University) that showed THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, slashed tumor growth in common lung cancer by 50% and also reduced the spread of the cancer.

·        Migraine: a severe recurring headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, characterized by sharp pain and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances

·        Multiple Sclerosis: a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting movement, sensation, and bodily functions.Caused by destruction of the myelin insulation covering nerve fibers in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).

·        Nausea: a feeling of sickness in the stomach characterized by an urge to vomit

·        Obesity: Cannabis has pain-killing abilities that enable one to lead a more active life necessary for weight loss. Two compounds, Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) and cannabidiol (CBD), found in cannabis increase the amount of energy that the body burns.

·        Pain: an unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder.

·        Period Cramps – THC, assists in blocking pain while allowing the brain to receive pleasure signals. Second, cannabidiol, or CBD, works with the immune system to suppress inflammation.

·        PTSD: (post traumatic stress disorder) a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event

·        Rheumatoid Arthritis: It’s been known, anecdotally at least, for many years that cannabis can help ease the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

·        Spasticity: a constant and unwanted contraction of one or more muscle groups.

·        Stuttering –  Cannabis is said to reduce stuttering by relaxing the muscles thus removing that disruption to speech.

Find out the Medical Marijuana state laws where you live. Then you will know whether you are legally able to use Medical Marijuana to treat your medical condition.

Cannabis a solution to motion sickness

Motion sickness also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system’s sense of movement. Depending on the cause, it can also be referred to as sea sickness, car sickness, simulation sickness or airsickness.
It describes an unpleasant combination of symptoms, such as dizziness, nausea and vomiting, that can occur when you’re travelling. Children from 5 to 12 years old, women, and older adults get motion sickness more than others do. It’s rare in children younger than 2.

Causes of motion sickness

Motion sickness is thought to occur when there is a conflict between what your eyes see and what your inner ears, which help with balance, sense. The most common hypothesis for the cause of motion sickness is that it functions as a defense mechanism against neurotoxins. The area postrema in the brain is responsible for inducting vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance.

When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the discordance, the brain will come to the conclusion that the individual is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin.

Medication

Many pharmacological treatments which are effective for nausea and vomiting in some medical conditions may not be effective for motion sickness. For example, metoclopramide and prochlorperazine, although widely used for nausea, are ineffective for motion-sickness prevention and treatment. Sedating anti-histamine medications such as promethazine work quite well for motion sickness, although they can cause significant drowsiness.

Motion Sickness Cannabis as Treatment

The primary symptom of motion sickness is nausea. Marijuana has been known to cure nausea with no side effects as compared to the traditional medication. The National Cancer Institute also states that cannabinoid medications are FDA approved for nausea and vomiting. They not only work on nausea and vomiting but they often work better than the non-cannabinoid treatments that are currently available.

There are currently two cannabinoid medications available for nausea and vomiting in the United States. These drugs are Delta-9-THC medications that go by the names nabilone and dronabinol. The active ingredient – tetrahydrocannabinol – in these medications is the same as found in the marijuana plant. Inhaled marijuana vapors can work markedly faster as compared to smocking it.

Conclusion

The Federal Drug Administration has not cleared these medications for use with motion sickness. This does not mean that they do not show promise for all types of nausea and vomiting even in the case of motion disease. Medical marijuana has been proven utterly safe concerning overdose and emergency side effects. With the rescheduling of marijuana underway, the hope of more research and cure for several other illnesses is reassuring.

Cannabis, treating Graves’ disease symptoms

Graves’ disease is an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism). It is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in the United States with about 50% to 80% cases and often results in an enlarged thyroid. The thyroid gland is located on either side of the Adam’s apple in a patient and can be easily felt on physical exam. Its main function is to regulate the overall metabolism of the body. It also plays a role in calcium metabolism.

Although the exact cause is unclear, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. A person is more likely to be affected if they have a family member with the disease. Those with other autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis are more likely to be affected.

Signs and symptoms

Graves’ disease affects both men and women. However, it’s more common among women between the ages of 20 and 40. Graves’ disease is accompanied by a range of symptoms which include: irritability, muscle weakness, sleeping problems, a fast heartbeat, and poor tolerance of heat, diarrhea, and weight loss.

Other symptoms may include thickening of the skin on the shins, known as pretibial myxedema, and eye problems such as bulging, a condition known as Graves’ ophthamopathy. About 25% to 80% of people with the condition develop eye problems which involves eye irritation, double vision and even protruding eyeballs.

Treatment

The primary treatments have aimed at inhibiting the overproduction of thyroid hormones and lessen the severity of symptoms. These include radioactive iodine, antithyroid medications such as methimazole (Tapazole) and propylthiouracil (PTU), and beta blockers. In some patients, surgery is done. However, these conventional treatments re associated with a range of side effects.

Radioiodine therapy may increase your risk of new or worsened symptoms of Graves’ ophthalmopathy anti-thyroid medications, on the other hand can cause a relapse of hyperthyroidism at a later time. Side effects of both drugs include rash, joint pain, liver failure or a decrease in disease-fighting white blood cells. Beta blockers have been known to trigger an asthma attack in addition to complicating management of diabetes.

Using medical marijuana to treat the side effects

Graves’ disease causes a great variety of symptoms, many of which can be easily treated with cannabis. According to research and several trails, medical marijuana has been found to be an alternative to treat many of the symptoms associated with Graves’ disease. Medical marijuana can reduce eye pressure, reduce anxiety, relieve insomnia, reduce irritability, encourage appetite/weight gain, relieve restlessness/nervousness, slow or relax heart rate.

Studies have repeatedly shown the effectiveness of medical marijuana as an appetite stimulant. Medical marijuana can be used to help with any pain related to Graves’ disease. Conventional treatments often lead to painful side-effects such as joint pain.

Studies have shown that not only does medical marijuana significantly decrease pain levels, but it can also work to reduce a patient’s dependence on opiate based pain medications that are commonly prescribed for pain. By reducing the patient’s dependence on opiate based pain medications, the patient is at less risk for overdose, dependence or addiction.

Conclusion

Medical marijuana has a long history as a viable treatment for loss of appetite, insomnia and fatigue as well as for pain and anxiety. In addition, medical marijuana does not cause many of the serious side effects associated with traditional Graves’ disease treatments. For the many Graves’ disease sufferers in the US, the adoption to medical marijuana is an excellent option.

Medical cannabis, a fighting chance against autism

People living with autism make up approximately 1 percent of the global population. As of the year 2014, out of every 68 births in the United States, one child is autistic.

Autism, also referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of complex brain disorders, described by National Autistic Society as a lifelong development disability that affects how a person communicates and relates with others, and how they experience the world around them.

How it all began

Debra started to notice Roger’s autism symptoms at the age of three when he continuously failed to articulate his words and regularly threw tantrums. On critically looking at him, she noticed a dull look in his eyes and some occasional clumsiness where he could all of a sudden swing his arms involuntarily.

At first Debora thought it wasn’t anything serious and that Roger would soon grow out of it. Little did she know that this was just the beginning of her troubles of having to live with a child suffering from autism.

As a mother of a child living with autism, Debra Perkins always had to look out for her son Roger who had become a home-bound because his levels of cognition were far much lower than those of his age mates. For this reason, he could not go to school.

Need close attention

Autistic people have a tendency of self-injuring and so they always have to be under the care of someone. For this reason, Debra, who was by then working, had no choice but to give her work a break for a month as she sought of a way she could have her son well taken care of.

Soon enough, Debra was able to enroll Roger in a school for children with autism. With the doctor’s recommendation, she started him on a dosage of drugs for improving the mood and curbing psychotic behavior, although these presented some negative effects like sleeplessness and tremors. He also lost appetite and by age seven, he had lost a lot of weight.

What fellow parent has to say

One day as Debra picked Roger from school, she met a parent, also having a daughter there and he shared with her the wonders of cannabis as concerns autism. “I was delusional at first because I had grown up knowing that marijuana was like a drug for the most notorious people in society.” Worse still, Debra could not imagine introducing a narcotic to her little boy’s system.

After trying several therapeutic treatments, all seemed to be worsening and by the age of six, Roger had quite a number of scars from injuring himself. “He would frequently hit his head on the wall, or even tree,” Debra recalls, “It always broke my heart to see him like that!”

There is hope

Out of desperation, she decided to give it a shot – offered Roger a pot cookie. Alas, his behavior intensely improved; he became more relaxed, threw fewer tantrums and reduced on the self-injuring.

Discovering cannabis was a great breakthrough for Debra. Something she took for a street joke actually turned out to be the biggest reason for her smile. Roger is now on a dosage of cannabis tablets and it suffices to say that he’s moving proof of the wonders of the drug.

The dysfunction in the production of proper levels of endocannabinoids, the body’s own healthy molecules very similar to phytocannabinoids like Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) present in cannabis, may be one of the primary causes of autism.

Studies show that the cannabinoids from cannabis regulate emotional states and focus by redirecting the neurons in a way that is more manageable for the autistic. This way, symptoms such as anxiety, mood swings and hostility are dealt with. As earlier noted, autism is a life-time disorder. Despite this fact, the lives of thousands of people can be changed if they are to give cannabis a shot.

Cannabis and HIV/AIDS

Many people in the US living with HIV/AIDS have for long suffered with the disease alongside its illnesses.

The Human Immune Virus is a sexually transmitted infection that damages the immune system and interferes with the body’s ability to fight off organisms that cause disease. This can eventually lead to development of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

HIV can also be spread by contact with infected blood or from mother to children or breast-feeding. Without treatment, AIDS patients live, on average, about 10 years before they succumb to the disease.

The HIV virus enters the bloodstream, then enters the cells that make up the immune system and multiplies. It attacks the immune system making it easier for a person to get a variety of illnesses known as opportunistic infections.

Traditional Treatment

The anti-HIV drugs both reduce the viral load and the number of infection present in the blood stream. Some of the commonly prescribed drugs are used to help the body fight off opportunistic infections. Although these drugs are available to help slow down the virus, there is no cure to eliminate the virus from within the body. The major downside to antiretroviral therapy are adverse side effects that can be so depilating that “patients will often abandon their treatment.

Cannabis’ role in the HIV/AIDS related illnesses

Marijuana is widely recognized for its effectiveness in treating symptoms related to HIV/AIDS. Marijuana has been known to help reduce the following symptoms in HIV patients: Nausea, Lack of appetite, Nerve pain, Depression, Anxiety, Sleeping problems.

In addition to treatment of common symptoms of HIV and side effects of antiretroviral drugs, research indicates that cannabis may help fight HIV itself. An increasing number of scientific studies, are revealing antiviral effects of cannabis against HIV.

The effects of cannabis are as a result of interactions between cannabinoids and receptors located on many cells. These include macrophages (a tissue cell of the immune system), CD4 cells called cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2). Researchers at New York City’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine published data in 2012 demonstrating that stimulation of CB2 with compounds called cannabinoid receptor agonists can block the signaling process between HIV and CXCR4, one of the main types of receptors that allow HIV to enter and infect a cell. CXCR4 is used by HIV during advanced disease progression.

By stimulating activation of CB2 with cannabinoid receptor antagonists, Mount Sinai researchers decreased the ability of HIV to infect cells that utilize CXCR4, reducing the frequency of infected cells by 30 to 60 percent.

Cannabinoids may help prevent neurocognitive disorders

Macrophages are long-lived cells that are targeted by HIV and exist throughout the body. Macrophages are present in the blood and all organs, including in the brain. Some researchers hypothesize that these cells may be key to ongoing replication that creates inflammation, a damaging effect of overstimulation of the immune system. Inflammation can greatly contribute to many non-AIDS related illnesses, such as neurocognitive disorders, cardiovascular disease, bone disease, and some form of cancer.

The study authors found that anti-inflammatory compounds related to THC blind to CB2, effectively reducing viral replication and inflammation in the brain.

Many research studies by acclaimed medical institutions have found repeatedly, that Cannabinoids (components of Marijuana) are effective in treating AIDS conditions of; nausea, loss of appetite, anxiety, depression, wasting, and neuropathic pain. In addition, Medical Marijuana has anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties that aid in battling associated opportunistic conditions.

Conclusion

There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS. However, there are medications that can dramatically slow the progression of the disease. Cannabis has become an increasingly common prescription to help patients manage the often devastating symptoms of the disease and accompanying.

Cannabis, the hope for viral hepatitis illness

Hepatitis is a series of viruses that primarily attack the liver. These include, hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, F (not confirmed), and G.In the United States, viral hepatitis is most commonly caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). These 3 viruses can all result in acute diseases with symptoms of nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, malaise, and jaundice.

Chronic hepatitis may simmer for 20 years or more before causing significant symptoms related to advanced liver damage such as cirrhosis (scarring and liver failure), liver cancer, or death. Viral hepatitis, accounts for more than 50% of cases of acute hepatitis in the United States.American liver foundation estimates that one in every 10 people in North America is afflicted with a liver, biliary or gallbladder disease.This makes it a worldwide health problem in humans for which pharmacological treatments currently available are not adequate enough. With the letters representing the different hepatitis viruses going up, the need to venture into more research on ways to curb the illness has grown cannabis being one of the possible solutions.

Cannabidiol suppresses ConA-induced hepatitis

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major non-psychoactive cannabinoid component of marijuana (Cannabis sativa). CBD has been shown to have potent immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and is currently approved for clinical use in some countries for the treatment of pain in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. A research was conducted where rats where used to experiment the effect ofCannabidiol on suppressing the damage on the liver caused by the hepatitis virus.

Natural cannabinoids such as Delta (9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) effectively modulate immune cell function and have shown therapeutic potential in treating inflammatory diseases. According to the research results, THC treatment resulted into significant suppression of crucial inflammatory cytokines in ConA-hepetitis. THC treatment in ConA-injected mice led to significant increase in the absolute number of Fox3 (+) T regulatory cells in the liver.

Cannabis’ role in improving Treatment Response in Hepatitis C Patients

Auto immune hepatitis is generally treated with medications that suppress the immune system, such as prednisone and azathioprine, although these treatments are not universally effective and long term side effects exist.

Interferon-based therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is often limited by side effects including flu-like symptoms, fatigue, insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle and joint pain, and depression, which can lead to poor adherence, dose reduction, or treatment discontinuation. However, research has shown that Medicinal cannabis