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Marijuana cannabis

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Canada legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, but people may be surprised to hear that medical cannabis has been legal ever since 2001. Still, today, medical researchers are still learning more about all the health conditions cannabis can help.

Thankfully, the stigma surrounding cannabis is fading, and medical professionals are authorizing it for a range of illnesses and conditions. Let’s take a closer look at how medical cannabis is helping to improve people’s quality of life.

Depression and Anxiety

It’s a good thing that today’s culture is more attuned to mental health needs, and medical cannabis can play a large role in helping to relieve people’s depression and anxiety.

In a 2018 Washington State University online survey of over 3,500 medical cannabis Consumers with depression, acute symptoms improved by 50% after just a small dosage of low-THC, high-CBD cannabis. To be sure, patients should be seen by a medical professional so they can obtain a medical cannabis authorization and get guidance on the correct products and dosages.

Speak to your physician or cannabis-trained pharmacist to learn more about medical cannabis. Expert medical guidance and access to a wide variety of cannabis brands and products should help you feel better soon.

Chronic Pain

Suffering from chronic pain is debilitating because it can last for weeks or even months after what caused it, and the pain may flare up but never totally disappears. Chronic pain is a complex condition, but medical cannabis can help treat different forms.

THC and CBD can help treat chronic pain because both contain a cannabinoid named anandamide which interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system. The body produces anandamide naturally to help regulate pain and other fluctuating states of being from mood and appetite.

Researchers only discovered anandamide after they came upon receptors that respond to the cannabinoid THC. During their search, they   found concentrations of THC-friendly receptors in parts of the brain that control pain sensations, like the cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and basal ganglia.

Because THC has a similar molecular structure to anandamide, the intoxicating cannabinoid binds easily to endocannabinoid receptors with an affinity for anandamide.

Epilepsy

Using medical cannabis to treat epilepsy and similar neurological conditions has been looked at for years. In the US, back in 2018, the FDA approved Epidiolex, a CBD oral solution, to treat seizures associated with two epilepsy syndromes: Lennox-Gastault syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

Epidiolex effectiveness was established in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial where 148 of 224 patients in the study received Epidiolex. The study measured the change from baseline in seizure frequency, finding that patients treated with Epidiolex had a significantly greater reduction in seizure frequency during the treatment period than patients who received placebo (inactive treatment).

This improvement was seen within eight weeks and remained in place throughout the 16-week treatment period.

Medical cannabis isn’t a magical cure-all, but it can help treat many different conditions effectively, and we’re continually learning new information about efficacy. As with any drug, there are potential side effects. If you have one of the above conditions or another one you think can be treated by cannabis, please visit your doctor today.


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