Medical marijuana helps sick patients live a normal life

Since California enacted a medical marijuana law in 1996, 20 other states and the District of Columbia have followed suit, the Medical Daily reported. This huge shift in public opinion can be credited, in large part, to a wide range of studies and patient testimonies supporting the drug’s health benefits. So, what are some of them?

Stress, anxiety, and PTSD

No matter how you ingest marijuana, there are possible side effects to the including anxiety and paranoia. These effects can subsequently lead to a higher blood pressure and arrhythmia. For those who know how much they’re taking and what to expect, however, may experience the opposite effect: calm, relaxation, and happiness.

For people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one of the worst possible anxiety disorders, marijuana might be able to alleviate symptoms.

In part, these calming effects could be the reasons why marijuana use has been linked to a 10 percent reduction in suicide rates, while also being considered for use in some Swiss prisons.

Cerebral palsy and other neurodegenerative diseases

These diseases and more are all debilitating in their own way, as they affect the nervous system’s ability to connect with the brain, therefore affecting a person’s ability to move. Marijuana has shown huge promise in saving these people.

Multiple sclerosis (MS), which occurs when the immune system attacks the nerve’s myelin sheaths, causes the nerves to become unable to communicate with each other. In turn, this causes weakness in limbs, partial to complete loss of vision, and tremors. Another UK study found that 12 weeks of marijuana treatment helped relieve muscle stiffness in 30 percent of almost 300 patients suffering from MS.

Marijuana has also been shown to reduce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which include rigid muscles, slow movement, and tremors. In a study of 22 patients who were all about 66 years old, tremor scores dropped after using marijuana.

In such patients, the results really do need to be seen to be believed. In December, Medical Daily reported the story of Jacqueline Patterson, a Missouri mother of four whose cerebral palsy had left her with a severe stutter caused by muscle stiffness, which has also caused her severe pain and the inability to use her right arm correctly. With marijuana, she becomes a totally different person, able to speak, move, and overall become less tense.

Cancer

Pretty much any state that legalizes marijuana for medical use lists cancer as one of the first conditions it can be used for. People undergoing chemotherapy for whatever their cancer may be often experience nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and pain, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Marijuana has been shown to alleviate all of these side effects.

Beyond chemo, there’s also evidence that marijuana can help prevent the growth of tumors. Cannabinoids have been shown to block cell growth, prevent the growth of blood vessels that aid metastasis (the spread of tumors), and kill tumor cells.

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