09.28.07
Medicinal uses for cannabis
Cannabis has been used for medical reasons for thousands of years, over 4000 years ago medical uses were noted in literature written by a Chinese emperor, and in the 18th century cannabis was noted as being used as a medicine in the Susruta of India. However in present times cannabis is still used for medical reasons with the most popular uses being in the treatment of pain, nausea and MS. The medical use of cannabis is something which is continuing to be debated, but one fact remains in its favor, that while people claim is does help them with the symptoms of various illness there is no real evidence that it causes them any harm. Here we take a look at some of the most common illnesses which cannabis is used for in medicinal purposes.
Although cannabis is not used to cure any illness the use of it thought to alleviate a number of symptoms for a wide variety of illnesses, particularly many serious illnesses where the sufferer is very uncomfortable or is in a lot of pain either due to the illness or treatment given for the illness. Very few studies have been made into the medicinal uses of cannabis but rather it relies on reports given to doctors by patients who have tried everything else and have turned to the use of cannabis as a last resort. However one report did suggest that around 44% of doctors privately recommended the use of cannabis in seriously ill patients with specified illnesses, simply due to the fact that is was the best medication for their particular illness.
The majority of people who use cannabis for medical reasons take the drug by smoking it, this is due to the fact that this is the quickest acting method and gives the quickest relief. The leaves and seeds of the plant however are also used and these are used to make tea. It is also available for medical use in capsules and essential oils.
Those suffering from the debilitating symptoms of the Aids virus have found cannabis to be particular effective. Aids brings about many difficult symptoms as part of the illness and the illnesses progression, in California over 60% of the people who requested to use cannabis for medicinal purposes last year did so due to the Aids virus.
Glaucoma is a condition where traditional treatment has unpleasant or dangerous side effects, due to this fact alone many people have turned to using cannabis which lowers the pressure in end stage glaucoma dramatically with very little side effects which are associated with traditional treatment.
In patients who have cancer, cannabis has been used to successfully alleviate pain and nausea particularly when having treatment by chemotherapy.
Those who suffer from pain and tremor with multiple sclerosis have reported relief from both symptoms and in the cases of severe epileptic seizures; cannabis has been used to effectively control seizures.
Along with serious illnesses and medical conditions cannabis has also been used to successfully treat symptoms associated with arthritis, sever menstrual cramps, migraines, addiction to alcohol and mood disorders including depression.