Cannabis sativa, or marijuana, is becoming a world known drug not only for recreational use, but also for medical intentions. Over the past 40, years the main compound in marijuana, THC and other types of chemicals found in the drug, have been experimented and found to have many advantages when it comes to certain disease. These diseases may include: Menta disorders, cancer, chronic pains, Multiple Sclerosis, and many more.
Cannabis sativa, also called Marijuana, is the dried flowers, seeds and leaves of the Indian hemp plant. People either smoke or digest it to feel the “high” it gives. This high is from all the chemicals found in the plant, the main one being THC. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) produces a state that results in a relaxed mood and an increase of the senses. The effects from smoking marijuana are felt as soon as the THC enters the bloodstream and can last from 1-3 hours (Helmestine, 2014). THC acts on specific molecules in the brain called cannabinoid receptors. These receptors are usually activated by chemicals just like THC that naturally occur in the body. Receptors are part of a neural communication system called the endocannabinoid system. This system plays an important role in normal brain development and function. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors is found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, sensory, time perception, and coordinated movement. Marijuana over activates the endocannabinoid system, causing the “high” and other effects that users experience (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”, 2014). Although most people think of marijuana as a terrible drug that people get addicted to, it has numerous benefits for the patient who maybe suffering greatly.
History
Marijuana has been around for a very long time. It was first discovered thousands of years ago by the Chinese; it has been used for medical purposes ever since. The use of cannabis for purposes of healing predates recorded history. The earliest written reference is found in the 15th century BC Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Rh-Ya.”, and it has been used for medical purposes ever since. It was not until the early 1900s when people began to prohibit its use and outlaw it in certain areas and states. Seventy years later, Universities began experimenting with marijuana with medical intentions. However, the U.S. government would not prohibit actual experiments of marijuana on patients. Thus in the 1970s a new synthetic version of THC was introduced for many medical purposes called Marinol (“Historical Timeline – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org”, 2013).
Today 23 States of the U.S. has legalized the use of medical marijuana, and many colleges across the nation have been given the right to run experiments with it. In result of various experiments, medical marijuana has been proven to benefit patients with certain illnesses and/or disorders (“Medical Marijuana for Pain and Depression”).
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
After a trauma or life-threatening event, it is common to have reactions such as upsetting memories of the event, increased anxiety, or trouble sleeping. This disorder is called post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is often found in veterans due to a serious injury, near death experiences or sexual assault (“PTSD: National Center for PTSD”, 2014). People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger. PTSD was first brought to the public’s attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”).
The use of medical marijuana for PTSD is focused on getting the patient into a relaxed state. Most who suffer from this disorder have bad anxiety and are extremely stressed. Doctors prescribe marijuana to calm patients down and relieve the symptoms due to PTSD.
There are many trials prescribing medical marijuana to veterans with PTSD. For example, according to Associate Professor Zach Walsh, “There is promising preclinical and anecdotal evidence supporting the potential of medical cannabis to alleviate PTSD symptoms, particularly among veterans. We have an ethical responsibility to examine all possible treatment options to ease their suffering” (“UBC and Tilray Team for Canadian PTSD Cannabis Study.”).
In another trial in Canada, Brent Zettl, CEO of CanniMed said, “We are very pleased that Veterans Affairs Canada has recognized the need to continue funding medical marijuana for the veterans who are using it successfully”(“Study: Oral THC Safely Addresses Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms”). In 2013, researchers at the New York University School of Medicine published findings indicating that PTSD subjects experience a decrease in their natural production of anandamide, a natural compound in the brain that binds to the same brain receptors as the cannabinoids (as THC). They hypothesized that an increase in the body’s production of cannabinoids would likely restore subjects’ natural brain chemistry and psychological balance. They affirmed, “[Our] findings substantiate, at least in part, emerging evidence that … plant-derived cannabinoids such as marijuana may possess some benefits in individuals with PTSD by helping relieve haunting nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD (“Study: Oral THC Safely Addresses Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms”). With marijuana being a Schedule I drug, it is very difficult for a patient to receive a prescription, but many trails are proving it to be very helpful when it comes to helping patients to cope with the disorder of PTSD.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that causes unprovoked seizures at any time. This is the fourth most common neurological disorder and affects people of all ages. The human brain is the source of human epilepsy. Although the symptoms of a seizure may affect any part of the body, the electrical events that produce the symptoms occur in the brain. The location of electrical event, how it spreads, how much of the brain is affected, and how long it lasts all have profound effects. There are approximately 65 million people with epilepsy worldwide (Sirven & Shafer, 2014). There is no cure for it; however new trials are beginning to find treatments, using medical marijuana.
Due to marijuana being a Schedule I drug, medical trials have been limited due to the restrictions with human testing’s. Therefore, the Epilepsy Foundation continues to call for further study of the role of THC in animal models and for randomized placebo controlled studies of this potential treatment of seizures. There is some scientific evidence from animal studies regarding the effectiveness of marijuana for the management of epilepsy (“Treatment Options”). The use of marijuana’s rich strain of cannabidiol (CBD) is what is used in the treatment for epilepsy. In states where medical marijuana is legal to treat epilepsy, the select few with epilepsy, who received the prescription, report beneficial effects, including a decrease in seizure activity. Many people believe that the serious long-term effects that accompany the use of anti-epileptic drugs and a lifetime of intractable seizures cannot be ignored for something that most have been lacking- hope. Polly VanderWoude, the mother of three year-old Olivia VanderWoude has Aicardi Syndrome along with epilepsy. Polly believes in giving her daughter cannabidiol to prevent her seizures. “Nothing I have heard about marijuana makes me afraid to give it to my daughter. It’s a lot less scary than most of the other FDA-approved medicines she is on” (“CURE Epilepsy: Research: CBD and Epilepsy”, 2014).
The positive outcome resulted to, a dramatic decrease in seizures, far outweighing the adverse side effects of the medical marijuana resulting too many other families also supporting its use (“CURE Epilepsy: Research: CBD and Epilepsy”, 2014).
Cancer
Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancer is becoming disease known by just about everyone. The estimated amount of new cases of cancer in the United States in 2014 was 1,665,540. The death toll from this disease was 585,720 (“What Is Cancer?” 2014). These abnormal cells create tumors. These tumors could come about wherever on the body. There are two types: Benign tumors which aren’t cancerous and malignant tumors which are cancerous.
People with cancer who use marijuana say that it benefits them in several ways: by quelling nausea, suppressing vomiting, increasing appetite, relieving pain, and soothing anxiety. Although most clinical studies show that the medical marijuana is replacing drugs of similar effect; it has the apparent advantage of treating several symptoms simultaneously. Researchers have tested several cannabinoids for their ability to suppress vomiting caused by chemotherapy the patients are undergoing. They do not know what exactly causes the vomiting in chemotherapy, but they do know that the THC in the drug helps prevent it (Mack, 2001).
Chemotherapy causes most patients to lose their appetite and induce in vomiting. At best these conditions diminish quality of life. THC is known to stimulate one’s appetite and prevent nausea. Patient’s are usually bound to experience a great deal of weight loss and malnutrition, but when they are given this drug to increase their ability to hold food down and eat more due to due to an increase in appetite (Mack, 2001)
Further research has been done on cancer patients to decrease tumor sizes. Scientists using an extract of whole-plant marijuana rich in pot’s main psychoactive ingredient THC as well as cannabidiol (CBD) showed a remarkable decrease in tumor size in brain cancer. Researchers discovered that marijuana kills cancer cells in proportion to its dose and duration of treatment, and the whole plant cannabis rich in THC was more efficacious than pure, lab-grade THC alone. Moreover, pre-treating cells with THC and CBD for four hours prior to irradiation increased the cancer-killing effects of radiation. Scientists think THC and CBD prime cancer cells to commit suicide when exposed to radiation — a process called apoptosis (Downs, 2014). This prescribed drug is being used for more and more ways to benefit cancer patients.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the nervous system. The immune system targets the protective cover, called myelin, for nerves. When the Myelin is damaged it disrupts the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Eventually these nerves will begin to break down and deteriorate. The symptoms are based on how bad the case is. If it is severe patients may lose the ability to walk independently, but others may not even have symptoms (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). There is no exact cure for this disease, but marijuana is being tested to reduce body pain and spasms, and to increase sleep quality.
Most of the MS studies examined pill or oral spray forms of medical marijuana. A review by the American Academy of Neurology of available scientific research on the use of medical marijuana in brain diseases, find certain forms of medical marijuana that is valuable for treating some symptoms of multiple sclerosis (AAN Releases Findings on Use of Medical Marijuana in Treatment of Certain Brain Diseases. 2014). Dr. John Zajieck of Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine preformed a study of 400 patients with all different types of MS using oral marijuana extracts to relieve muscle stiffness. He reported that muscle stiffness improved by almost two to one in the group taking the extract and improvements were also noted in body aches, tremors and sleep quality. Another controlled was performed using an oral spray from marijuana extracts called Sativex. Alena Novotna, MD and colleagues in the Sativex Spasticity Study Group reported the oral spray significantly improved spasticity in a proportion of people with MS who had been identified as likely to respond to the therapy. In a large scaled trial, 660 patients were taking capsules of extracts of marijuana to help control spasticity. After a final examination was preformed, physicians were unable to come to the conclusion that the trail drug had improvements to the patient. However, a significant amount of patients in the trial reported that they felt improvements in spasticity and pain, but it could not confirmed by the physicians (“Marijuana”, 2014).
Glaucoma
Glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions that leads to damage of the optic nerve. This nerve carries visual information from the eye to the brain. In most cases, damage to the optic nerve is due to increased pressure of the eye, also known as intraocular pressure (IOP). One of the commonly discussed alternatives for the treatment of glaucoma is the smoking of marijuana, because smoking marijuana lowers the eye pressure. However, the fact that marijuana’s effect on eye pressure only lasts 3-4 hours, requiring the patient to use medical marijuana 6-8 times a day in order to effectively lower eye pressure (“Should You Be Smoking Marijuana To Treat Your Glaucoma?” 2013). “In order to substantially reduce eye pressure,” says Dr. Harry Quigley of Johns Hopkins University’s Wilmer Eye Institute, “you’d have to be stoned all the time” (Cowley, 1997).
According to Paul Kaufman of the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, scientists have yet to figure out how marijuana lowers pressure in the eye. This makes some scientists uneasy about its widespread use as a treatment for glaucoma. Paul Palmberg of the University Of Miami School Of Medicine stated that human studies in the 1970s and 1980s showed THC’s effectively reducing glaucoma’s punishing pressure on the eye. However, researchers at that time discounted marijuana’s role in the treatment of glaucoma, based on patients needing to experience a high in order to gain any therapeutic benefit (Fackelmann, 1997). Marijuana does not cure glaucoma, but it does relieve the pressure the disease puts on the optic never which is vital to being able to see.
Conclusion
Experiments on medical marijuana are increasing everyday and researchers are opening up to new ideas that could very well save many people’s lives. Medical marijuana has endless uses. The THC and other compounds found within the prescribed drug have so many beneficial effects. Marijuana can relieve anxiety in people who have post traumatic stress syndrome, prevent seizures in epileptic patients, increase appetite in cancer patients, relieve muscle pains in multiple sclerosis, and relieve pressure on the eye for glaucoma patients. So much research and trials are being done, and there is still much to learn about marijuana and how it could help in other diseases and disorders. Although marijuana isn’t legalized throughout the U.S.