Blind Faith? Considerations About Medical Marijuana & Glaucoma

Generally speaking we tout the potential of marijuana, advocating its medical advantages left, right, and center. We praise its benefits for pain reduction, epilepsy, nausea, autism, MS, anorexia, and countless other conditions – the list is positively exhaustive. And yet, we would not advocate for marijuana unequivocally. One case where we do not outright recommend marijuana’s medicinal properties is with glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a condition where increased pressure within the eyeball causes damage to the optic nerve, risking and often causing blindness, especially among the elderly. Several advocates of medicinal marijuana cite small-study or anecdotal evidence that cannabis can lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with glaucoma.  However, these products are less effective than safer prescription drugs. 

Side Effects

In order to produce a clinically-relevant pressure reduction on IOP, frequent inhalation is required because the effect only lasts a few hours. This means one would need to smoke a joint every 3 hours. The number of significant side effects generated by long-term oral use of marijuana or long-term inhalation of marijuana smoke can make it a poor choice in the treatment of glaucoma, a chronic disease requiring proven and effective treatment.

The only marijuana currently approved at the US-federal level for medical use is Marinol, a synthetic form of tetra hydrocannabinol (THC) – the most active component of marijuana and the one which produces the “high.”  Marinol was developed as an antiemetic (an agent that reduces nausea used in chemotherapy treatments), which can be taken orally in capsule form.

But it turns out that the effects of Marinol in general, and on glaucoma in particular, are not impressive compared to the real thing. Yet in terms of glaucoma, no studies have shown that marijuana or any of its approximately 400 chemical components can safely and effectively lower intraocular pressure better than the variety of drugs currently on the market. In addition, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, while marijuana might lower intraocular pressure, it also lowers blood pressure, which in turn could provide less blood to the optic nerve.

IOC pressure notwithstanding, the issue of pain still remains. That is to say, while medical marijuana might not help with curing glaucoma, it can provide a great sense of pain-relief comfort to glaucoma sufferers.  Part of the reason for legalizing marijuana is to allow adults to make the best choices. Glaucoma, it seems, is a prime example of such a dilemma, best discussed with your medical marijuana supportive care provider.

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Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com

Can Medical Marijuana Help People with Hep-C?

There is a growing list of diseases that medical marijuana can help with, and lately many people have been investigating if medical pot can help people suffering from Hepatitis-C. So, what are the details?

First, let’s discuss Hepatitis-C. Hep-C is an autoimmune disease that mainly affects the liver. If left untreated, it can be a fatal disease, slowly eroding the body’s ability to digest food properly. In order to combat Hep-C, you have to take a daily pill regimen to halt the progress of the disease. Unfortunately, these pills can have a large variety of unwanted, and very acute, side effects.

One of the side effects of these pills is extreme nausea, to the point where simply moving around can make your stomach feel like you’re trapped on a cruise ship. In order to deal with this (and to avoid adding more pills into the mix) many doctors are beginning to prescribe medical marijuana thanks to its ability to easily calm your stomach. This continues to be the common use for medical marijuana — to nullify the side effects of a prescription drug without forcing you to take other pharmaceuticals.

In terms of helping with the disease generally, medical marijuana is not particularly useful. While it can dull some of the symptoms, it cannot halt the disease, and is therefore only a supplement to a treatment regimen.

If you have Hep-C and are looking to alleviate some of the side-effects of your medications, talk to your doctor and see about possible medical marijuana options in your area.

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Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on December 5, 2016.

How Medical Marijuana Can Increase Your Metabolism

There’s always the stereotype–someone high on pot, going throughout their house, gobbling up any food they can find. And yes, one of the side effects of medical marijuana can be hunger. But surprisingly, marijuana has actually been found to increase your metabolism despite this stereotype.

How is that possible?

Recently, the University of Miami examined around 8,500 individuals, ranging from 20 to 59 years old, via the National Health and Nutrition Surveys. They found cannabis users on average:

• Had lower blood sugar levels
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Less risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes
• Less abdominal fat
• Lower levels of bad cholesterol.

There have also been several other studies reconfirming this research. This led down another series of questioning, because how could a substance famous for making people eat more actually have an opposite effect on their bodies?

Well, it has to do with the chemicals that control hunger. In order to make us feel hungry, an endocannabinoid (yes, that is the actual term) called “anandamide” is released in our system. Anandamide is replaced by THC when we consume marijuana. This compound specifically activates the cell receptor known as the CB1 receptor, which increases appetite in your brain. But at the same time, other compounds in marijuana activate other cell receptors that encourage different urges to deactivate–for instance, the storage of fat from the food that you consume.

In effect, this cancels many of the effects from the added calories you may be consuming, as well as gives you the additional medical benefits associated with medical marijuana.

Does this mean you can use all the medical marijuana you want to not gain weight? Of course not. But it does show that Does this mean you can use all the medical marijuana you want to not gain weight? Of course not. But it does show that there continues to be more benefits to this substance than we fully understand yet, and we need to keep researching its health properties.

Does this mean you can use all the medical marijuana you want to not gain weight? Of course not. But it does show that there continues to be more benefits to this substance than we fully understand yet, and we need to keep researching its health properties.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on November 20, 2016.

Stop Feeling Sick to Your Stomach: Medical Marijuana and Crohn’s Disease

Every few months, as more research on the beneficial effects of Medical Marijuana is released, we find new diseases and ailments that it can help treat. One we haven’t talked about so far is Crohn’s disease, and how studies of shown that Medical Marijuana can help dull or eliminate the symptoms of this chronic condition.

First, a quick crash course in what Crohn’s disease is. Crohn’s is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, and affects the small intestine more than the large. It can be aggravated in many different ways, but it can lead to problems that include chronic diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and fissures in the digestive tract.

Most interestingly, it’s a disease that flares up from time to time, with patients often going long periods without experiencing a symptom before rearing it’s ugly head again. Because of this, many treatments involve taking steroids during the flare-ups in order to eliminate the symptoms and heal the intestine. However, because steroids can be habit-forming and many times are stronger than one needs, science has been trying to find a better solution to deal with this problem.

Which brings us to the Medical Marijuana study.

Original Published in the journal of  Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and then reposted on Medical Daily, an experiment was conducted to see the effects of Medical Marijuana on patients with acute Crohn’s disease, and the results were pretty shocking. 10 out of the 11 patients not exposed the placebo were weaned off of the heavy steroids used to commonly treat their disease, with medical marijuana having the exact same effects with nowhere near the level of side-effects.

Those are some incredibly promising results, effectively showing that Medical Pot could be a much safer alternative to the current steroid use the disease demands. Over and over again, we see evidence of Medical Marijuana’s ability to relieve the symptoms of diseases and conditions with no known cures. The more science behind the restorative properties of Medical Pot, the faster it’s likely to be approved, so we’re all for science continuing to push the limits of what marijuana can do.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on October 28, 2016.

Medical Marijuana Decreases Painkiller Use in the U.S.

One of the more interesting effects that the legalization of marijuana has had is the decreased use of painkillers in states where legal pot is now an option.

This is an interesting — if not unsurprising — trend, and there are plenty of pundits trying to debate what this means. In general, this seems like a positive step in the right direction towards pain management. Medical marijuana is non-habit forming, which means that unlike many pharmacological painkillers, there is no risk of becoming addicted to it. Addiction to painkillers has become a hot button issue over the last several years as there have been more and more instances of fatal overdoses, or of people switching to hard drugs (like heroin and meth) when they can no longer get their prescription in order to achieve the same pain relief.

Obviously, that is not a good situation for anyone, so if medical marijuana is helping cut down on those tragedies, all the better. And it goes to show that when given the option, people will pick a natural way to relieve pain/other chronic conditions than a pill.

Unfortunately, this also means the battle for medical marijuana’s widespread legality and acceptance may become more difficult. While these results would naturally make it seem like we should be giving more and more people access to legal pot to treat their medical conditions, this also adds additional hurdles. Many people still have a stigma against marijuana and its medical uses, and there are major pharmaceutical players who are not eager to see profits fall from painkiller divisions. They will fight tooth and nail to keep medical marijuana’s legality from spreading.

But with these results, it’s only a matter of time before progress marches forward, as people are going to demand medical marijuana more heavily as they see their friends in other states experiencing its benefits with none of the downsides of prescription painkillers. Hopefully, that day comes sooner rather than later.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on October 19, 2016.

Sleep Apnea and Medical Marijuana

“Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.”

- Thomas Dekker

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing stops and starts at irregular intervals. There are two types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax, and central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Some people may have a combination of the two called, complex sleep apnea. Individuals who suffer from sleep apnea are rarely aware of their difficulty breathing, even upon awakening.

Some major signs of sleep apnea include loud and chronic snoring, choking, snorting, or gasping during sleep, long pauses in breathing, daytime sleepiness (no matter how much time you spend in bed), insomnia, forgetfulness, morning headaches and more. If you think you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor. Treatment is necessary to avoid heart problems and other complications.

There are many different treatments to sleep apnea. Some of which are as simple as sleeping on your side or propping your head up, doing throat exercises, and changing your diet, but others can include prescription drugs, CPAP masks, and surgery.

How can cannabis help?

The journal of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, researchers at the University of Illinois Department of Medicine reported “potent suppression” of sleep-related apnea in rats administered either exogenous or endogenous cannabinoids. Investigators reported that doses of delta-9-THC and the endocannabinoid oleamide each stabilized respiration during sleep and blocked serotonin-induced exacerbation of sleep apnea in a statistically significant manner. Several recent preclinical and clinical trials have reported on the use of THC, natural cannabis extracts and endocannabinoids to induce sleep and/or improve sleep quality.

Following the positive results of this pre-clinical trial, lead author Dr. David Carley published the first human trial to investigate the effects of THC (dronabinol) on sleep apnea. The results showed an overall reduction in apnea indexes of 32%, despite significant variance between patients. Even though a 32% reduction is minor when compared to the effectiveness of current treatment options (such as CPAP and oral devices), the authors suggest that cannabinoid medications could still be of benefit to patients who suffer from mild to moderate cases of sleep apnea, and could do so in a much more natural way.

Currently, researchers are studying a synthetic cannabis based pill, called dronabinol, that might be viable, and a much less intrusive, treatment for sleep apnea if approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on August 31, 2016.

A Breath of Fresh Air: Asthma Relief Using Marijuana

Asthma is the shortness of breath and wheezing caused by spasms of the bronchial tubes, overproduction of mucus, and by swelling of the mucous membranes. A combination of genetic and environmental factors is believed to be the cause of asthma, and currently there is no cure. Avoiding triggers, such as allergens and irritants, can prevent symptoms, and there are a number of medications available such as fast acting inhalers like Albuterol, or long-term control such as Corticosteroids.

In short, it’s an irritating and occasionally life-threatening condition. Can medical marijuana help those suffering from it?

According to renowned pulmonologist and professor of medicine at the University of California Donald P. Taskin, yes it can. “Recent studies demonstrated significant, acute bronchi-dilation in healthy young men after they smoked marijuana”, he said. And other doctors have spoken as well, including Dr Tamás Freund of the Institute of Experimental Medicine of Budapest, who stated that the knowledge gleaned from this research could alter the way respiratory illnesses are treated.

Clinical research indicates that THC in both synthetic and natural forms acts as a bronchial dilator that clears blocked air passageways, causes an immediate reversal of exercise-induced asthma and hyperinflation and allows free breathing. These results may be grounds for an alternative treatment to steroids, and the Institute of Medicine and other medical authorities have recommended alternative methods of administration in order to test this. Plans for a non-combusting THC inhaler received attention for many years. Designers have failed to produce a workable prototype thus far, but are diligently continuing their research.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on August 16, 2018.

Can Marijuana Cure Epileptic Seizures?

Perhaps you’ve seen a news clip such as CNN’s report about Charlotte Figi, or you caught a rerun of this episode of the Thom Hartmann radio show, about how patients tried everything to get rid of their seizures, and nothing worked — or even worse, the side effects made life even more dramatically hard than it already was with seizures. Until they tried CBD cannabis, that is. And now they’ve been seizure-free for years. These case studies provide hope for those living with epilepsy, which , according to CURE, or Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, the figures are an “estimated 3 million Americans and 65 million people worldwide.”

Yet, as with much cannabis research, data is sparse because marijuana legalization has only recently started to take hold — at writing time, about half of the states in the US have legalized it for medical purposes. Even though relief from seizures might come only from CBD, and not THC — the psychotrophic (or “high” inducing) cannabis, since the US does not differentiate between types of cannabis use for legal reasons, if it’s cannabis, it’s ruled out. But epilepsy’s anecdotal successes are so clear that they became known as the “poster child” for medical marijuana. If an adult or child who has suffered seizures for years, but starts to use cannabis as a cure and immediately has no more suffering, the results do not seem coincidental.

The Epilepsy Foundation, an advocacy organization, toggles the line by stating that cannabis solutions should be pursued only if conventional medicines are unhelpful. Its stance references one study (presented at the Academy of Neurology, April 22, 2015, Washington DC) based on data from 137 subjects who used a pharmaceutical drug containing CBD, called Epidiolex. The study found that taking Epidiolex reduced the number of seizures for most people, and only 14 subjects (i.e. around 10%) withdrew due to the drug not affecting them. On the one hand, the Epilepsy Foundation encourages more large-scale research because this study was done on a small sample of people, and only looked at one drug. On the other hand, the Foundation outright advocates for cannabis’s legal use for medical solutions to epilepsy, as stated: “If a patient and their healthcare professionals feel that the potential benefits of medical cannabis for uncontrolled epilepsy outweigh the risks, then families need to have that legal option. Nothing should stand in the way of patients gaining access to this potentially lifesaving treatment.”

Since small-scale studies and anecdotal evidence can be indicative of larger-scale cure success rates, we encourage anyone suffering from epilepsy to seek out medical cannabis as an option. At present, this might mean moving states to live in an area where medical marijuana is legal. Is this not worth it?

If you would like to read Medical Marijuana’s report on epilepsy, including references to studies on medical marijuana’s effects, as well as a list of best strains to treat epilepsy/seizure disorders, click here.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on March 24, 2016.

Is Marijuana Safe During Pregnancy?

Nausea. Anxiety. Pain. These symptoms are part of most women’s pregnancies, often defining them for the entire nine months. Since marijuana can help these symptoms, and is now legal in several states, pregnant women are starting to beg the question: Could marijuana be medically useful for the nausea, the anxiety, and the pain? But if so, would it be dangerous for my baby?

For discussion purposes, we will look at two reports.

1) A December 2015 abstract from the NIH’s PubMed.gov (under the auspices of the national biotech research center) says don’t even go there. Evidence is lacking to prove marijuana is safe during pregnancy, and all the more so, past studies indicate that marijuana could be dangerous for the fetus. Complications center around “problems with neurological development, resulting in hyperactivity, poor cognitive function, and changes in dopaminergic receptors,” the report says.

2) A report by labor support doula Pamela McColl in the homebirth midwifery Birth Institute reviewed several studies dating between 1975 and 2011, and concluded similarly to the PubMed.gov abstract, stating outright, “Marijuana use during pregnancy interrupts fetal brain development.”

While both of these reports conclude that pregnant women should not use marijuana, neither of them can say that it is 100% dangerous. The PubMed.gov report admits that studies have not been comprehensive, and the studies cited by McCall are older and do not all examine cannabis usage during pregnancy per se.

More Questions Remain
 
 All things considered, perhaps pregnant women are missing out if marijuana could be deemed safe, in quantity and quality, for them and their babies. As a related matter on the feminine front, a recently-released cannabis product called Fiora Relief garnered viral attention for its cures for premenstrual and menstrual cramps. Stick the cannabis suppository up the vagina, and voila, those wrenchingly-heavy, stop-you-in-your-tracks uterine pangs and lower back aches are gone.

Wait a minute. Menstrual cramps are mini uterine contractions. So could this solution do the trick for the really heavy labor contractions? After all, it can also be inserted rectally. At this point it’s unlikely anyone in the conventional medical community will suggest this because the effects of a cannabis suppository, even rectally, might risk the baby getting high and affecting the heart rate. Another question is whether cannabis for pain relief would be any safer than other medical pain relief, such as epidurals, which can also affect heart rate. We do not mean to imply the safety of either option, rather to raise the question of statistical probability of risks when comparing marijuana usage to accepted modern medicine norms.

No for Now

All told, to date, the safety of marijuana usage in pregnancy is toggling the line of opening up a can of worms. Like many pregnancy safety questions, researchers and doctors understandably are leery of giving a definitive answer because there’s a developing baby involved. As such, the answer — like the blanket US medical stance on alcohol consumption during pregnancy — is “since we can’t know, the answer is no.” In other words, the better-safe-than-sorry approach is the official medical word. Pregnant women are advised against using marijuana routinely during pregnancy, legalities notwithstanding. What people try on their own has been, and remains, another story.

Originally published at www.medicalmarijuana.com on February 18, 2016.