Cannabis has been in use for its medicinal properties for thousands of years starting in Taiwan in 3rd century CE. Ancient China used cannabis for everything from a local anesthesia to curing various poisonings. An assortment of countries used cannabis to help with insomnia, headaches and even used the seeds to drive out tapeworms. Over the last couple of decades, organizations such as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies have been publishing studies to get medical cannabis legal through the federal government of the United States. There have been many instances of studies about medicinal cannabis through the centuries, which we will look into here. We will explore some diseases that cannabis has helped and learn the top five ways cannabis has been used as medicine.
Pain Relief
Cannabis has been proven repeatedly to be an effective analgesic. Cannabis helps with pain by slowing activity in the centers of the brain where pain is registered rather than blocking pain like modern painkillers. This means that cannabis can reduce pain for patients suffering from nerve damage or chronic pain. An additional side benefit of using cannabis as a pain reliever for patient suffer from chronic pain is that they also reported less anxiety and better sleep.
Nausea
The THC from cannabis has been proven to reduce or even stop nausea in cancer and AIDs patients. The anti-nausea effect helps improve patient’s appetite and reduce weight loss.
Reduced muscle plasticity
Multiple sclerosis patients have benefited from cannabis by its ability to help reduce spasticity in patients. Patients have also shown anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective when using cannabis as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Anti Inflammatory
Since cannabis contains powerful anti-inflammatory compounds along with pain management, it makes an excellent anti-inflammatory for patients suffering from all types of arthritis. The natural compounds in cannabis additionally slow the progress of arthritis through the joints. Try out different strains for different reasons.
Blocking the gene ID1
One of the most important ways cannabis can be used as medical treatment is by its ability in early studies in 2010 to block the gene called ID1 in cancer patients. ID1 is responsible for the metastasis, causing the fast aggressive spread of cancer cells throughout different areas of the body in cancer patients. This along with the added assistance of cannabis reducing nausea and pain make it an excellent medical treatment.
