How Medical Marijuana Is Helping Patients Manage Symptoms Of Chronic Illnesses

All animals have certain instincts that help them differentiate things they can ingest versus the ones they can’t.

We also have a certain level of instinct that tells us what’s good to ingest and what is not. For example, if something is smelly, we have a natural urge to stay away from it. This is because such odor molecules are associated with something decaying and thus not safe for consumption.

However, we no longer need to rely on our instincts to know if something is good or not. Marijuana is something that our ancestors used in their regular life and they knew it was good. Now, with the help of the scientific approach, we can confirm that they were right and that we should use it. Medical marijuana has changed a lot of things in the medical community, especially when it comes to treating chronic illnesses.

1. Convenience

One of the biggest problems with treating chronic illnesses is the inconvenience of getting the treatment you need. Usually, it is a hassle to get the prescription you need and the costs of regular treatment can be quite high in the US. Getting medical marijuana is much more convenient than getting other types of medicine and treatments.

One of the pioneers in making medical marijuana convenient is Virginia. With the implementation of the Virginia marijuana card, people can get their treatment with great ease. Getting a card is pretty straightforward if you have the right to one. With it, you can get your cannabis much easier and cheaper compared to getting other types of medicine.

2. A New Approach

Treating chronic illnesses has never before seen this growth as it has seen with medical marijuana. Treating chronic illness is a problem because it requires constant treatment and there has been little innovation in this field. This is because big pharma companies get the most amount of money through the system that is currently in place.

Medical marijuana, on the other hand, offers an alternative that big pharma can’t have. These companies are more incentivized on improving their products and innovating medical marijuana treatments. Now, patients that relied on the same old medicine that did not help many others can try out a new treatment that can suit them better.

3. Less Addictive

The biggest problem with chronic pain treatments is the fact they are very addictive. Treatment that does not cause addiction is usually less successful compared to opioid treatment. However, medical marijuana is making changes in the field of treating chronic pain. The reason why opioids are addictive is that they bind very strongly to an array of opioid receptors that trigger a strong response.

Cannabinoids from medical marijuana also bind to an array of receptors that are called endocannabinoid receptors. However, these receptors do not promote strong responses that can cause physical addiction. This is why medical cannabis is not as efficient as opioids, but they are still more efficient than other non-opioid medicine.

4. Fewer Side Effects

Besides lesser proneness to addiction, there are also much fewer effects compared to medical marijuana compared to other medicine. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine is pretty damaging to the pancreas and can cause pancreatitis. Many other drugs that patients take constantly can cause problems with the kidneys and the liver, or dizziness and disorientation.

This does not mean that cannabis is perfect, if taken too much, it can also cause dangerous side effects. And also, not everyone reacts the same to cannabis, which means some people might not feel the benefits. However, the ones that can take medical marijuana are much less likely to experience other unwanted side effects. This is because cannabinoids and other natural products are much more specific compared to commercially-made drugs.

5. Coupled Therapy

Medical marijuana is most efficient when it’s combined with other therapies, whether other drugs or physical therapy. This does not mean you should mix and match cannabis with other drugs, do not do that unless you are permitted to do so. However, when combined with physical therapy, it can make those sessions much more effective and less painful.

Medical marijuana is also great when dealing with mental health problems that are also categorized as chronic illnesses. It is also much more effective when coupled with counseling, it makes those sessions more effective for finding long-term solutions. This field is also going to get much more interesting with the recent influx of medicine made to release active cannabinoids at a controlled rate.

6. Lots of Options

Innovation truly kicks in when you take into consideration all the different ways you can consume medical marijuana. Everyone knows that you can smoke it, but there are many more ways you can consume medical marijuana. Using oils is the next popular alternative, whether you are taking the oil directly or adding it to other things. For example, you can infuse tea or other drinks with cannabis oil if you do not want to smoke it.

Edibles are another popular way of consuming marijuana for many reasons. Eating an edible is very convenient and also healthier than smoking it with other additional effects. The cannabinoids are released at a slower rate when ingested, meaning the effects are prolonged. This is especially great for treating chronic pain problems because of this controlled-release effect.

These are some of the broad implications of where medical marijuana reshaped the medical world. What’s more important is that there are a lot of people who can attest to these claims regarding medical marijuana. These are not just speculations, these are facts proven in the scientific literature, in the scientific community, and among many patients. This treatment is something that will help out a lot more people as we begin to understand cannabis more and more.

It is important to keep an open mind and your eyes wide open for such discoveries, or in other words, repetitive discoveries. A lot of things were lost in the past due to poor storage of information but also something much bigger. Propaganda is the real danger when it comes to losing true information and spreading misinformation. The very reason why cannabis was not used for centuries was due to propaganda against it, all for the sake of winning a culture war.