Top 10 Health Conditions that Medical Marijuana Can Help

Let’s take a look at the most common health conditions affecting Americans and discover how Medical Marijuana helps to relieve symptoms of those conditions.

As perspectives and policies on medical marijuana continue shifting around the nation, millions of people with health conditions have gained access to legal treatment using cannabis.

This article will explore 10 of the most common health conditions that Americans suffer from and how cannabis can be used to treat and alleviate the symptoms of these ailments.

1. Depression

Depression causes people to lose pleasure in daily life and has many side effects including insomnia, anxiety, and lack of appetite.

Cannabis has been used as a treatment for depression since as early as 1621 in England and in India, where it was actively given as a remedy for depression and melancholy.

The endocannabinoid system is directly responsible for regulating enzymes and hormones that control your mood. If you experience depression it is very likely that you are experiencing a decrease in cannabinoid production.

Cannabis helps to support the endocannabinoid system to regulate mood and provide relief from many symptoms related with depression.

2. Anxiety

Over 40 million adults in the United States are affected by anxiety disorders, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

There are various types of anxiety, and cannabis is beneficial for regulating many different types of anxiety because of its influence on the body's endocannabinoid system.

According to research, it is the cannabinoid anandamide that helps to reduce anxiety levels. THC found in cannabis mimics the effects of anandamide, which is why marijuana users often experience euphoric, relaxing states.

Cannabis also helps to increase anandamide blood level concentrations by inhibiting the metabolic enzyme FAAH, which breaks down anandamide.

3. Addiction

Whether it is to alcohol, tobacco, or hard drugs, addiction is a prevalent disorder among Americans that can easily destroy lives.

Medical marijuana can help those who wish to recover from addiction by providing relief from withdrawal symptoms and providing a continued therapeutic alternative for the body. 

Many recovered addicts have reported that they turn to substance use, such as alcohol or opioids, to help deal with stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain management, all of which are conditions which marijuana is prescribed to treat. 

This study funded by the University of New Mexico concluded that medical marijuana use was able to assist in ending opioid addictions by providing pain relief, better concentration, activity levels, and social interactions. 

Various studies have revealed that in states where medical marijuana is legal there is a reduction in opioid prescriptions rates. 

4. Cancer

Cancer can begin anywhere in the body. There are many different types of cancer and various cancer-related symptoms. 

Using cannabis can help you to find relief from cancer symptoms and from the side effects of traditional treatments.

Some of the standard recommended treatments for the different types of cancers include chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, or surgery. 

These studies indicate the potential for cannabis to assist people living with cancer by providing appetite stimulation, pain relief, improved sleep cycles, and nausea reduction.

This research also indicates that some types of cancerous tumors have a response to medical marijuana use. 

The cannabinoid THC was found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, while CBD was found to promote apoptosis, or reprogramming of cancer cells to encourage them to die.

More research is needed to understand the potential for cannabis as a treatment for cancer symptoms and cancer-treatment symptoms. 

5. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Commonly known as PTSD, this stress disorder is caused by shocking, often dangerous, and traumatic situations that imprint a triggered stressful reaction in people even when dangers are no longer present.

Medical marijuana has shown potential for providing therapeutic relief for PTSD patients, allowing relief from the effects and support in processing the traumatic events.

This study by Frontiers in Pharmacology shows that one of the effects of CBD on the endocannabinoid system includes assisting the brain in blocking conditioned fear-memory formation, as well as allowing fear-memory extinction. 

This means that when CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system it can assist the brain in restructuring and reorganizing memories without fear-attachment, essentially removing the fear-based emotional imprint. 

For those that suffer from PTSD, medical marijuana can help relax the nervous system, relieving stress and reducing the fear response. 

Marijuana can also provide relief from insomnia, nightmares, stress-related anxiety, and other symptoms that are often associated with PTSD. 

6. Insomnia

Many studies have confirmed that marijuana has a high potential as a treatment for insomnia.

Marijuana can aid in reducing the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and allow users to sleep more soundly throughout the night without waking up.

High THC medical marijuana products are often used to aid sleeping at nighttime because of the strong sedative effects, though be aware that long-term use might suppress the REM sleep phase and create negative effects for quality of sleep. 

According to Harvard Health Publishing, using CBD during the day will help to regulate sleep cycles at night without adverse side effects. 

CBD interacts with brain receptors that regulate the sleep and waking cycles, and in the right dosage has a powerfully sedative effect.

Using medical marijuana for insomnia can help bring relief to the brain and nervous system, easing anxiety and stress levels so that sleep cycles can return to balance.

7. Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons why people turn to cannabis as a medical treatment. Countless studies have been done exploring this plant’s powerful pain relieving properties.

NORML, a non-profit group that advocates for reformation of state and federal marijuana laws to ensure safe, effective and affordable medical marijuana access, has consolidated many studies to show that cannabis is effective against neuropathic pain and chronic pain. 

Cannabinoids can inhibit pain pathways through bonding with the CB1 receptors and imitating anandamide, a molecule that increases pleasure, euphoria, and appetite. 

Cannabis can also have anti-inflammatory effects when bonding with CB2 endocannabinoid receptors, which is very helpful for joint pain and arthritis relief. 

For those that suffer from chronic pain medical marijuana use can provide almost immediate relief by activating cannabinoid receptors. 

8. Hypertension

Also known as high blood pressure, hypertension affects one out of every three adults in America and is a leading indicator for an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

High blood pressure is related to inflammation of the arteries, in which the blood flow is persistently increased. Continued hypertension without treatment is a major cause of heart failure, strokes, and dementia.

Studies done to explore the effect of cannabis on hypertension have shown that cannabis significantly lowers blood pressure by targeting aspects of the endocannabinoid system responsible for dilating blood vessels, relaxing the brain and body, and more.

CBD, also known as cannabidiol, has even been shown to lower high blood pressure in as little as one dose and that it has several other powerful cardio-protective properties.

9. Diabetes

Diabetes is a complex medical condition that affects many areas of the body.

Over time, diabetes can lead to problems such as heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, eye problems, and strokes.

The American Alliance for Medical Cannabis has done extensive research to explore the potentials of marijuana as a medical treatment for diabetes. Those studies show evidence that cannabis is able to assist the body in stabilizing blood sugar levels.

In addition, cannabis can provide relief for diabetes patients by reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure, relieving pain, and improving fluid circulation throughout the body.

It’s important to note that, although cannabis has properties that may be beneficial for diabetic patients, it is not a cure or approved treatment for diabetes.

10. Epilepsy

Epilepsy is characterized by recurring, unpredictable seizures in which the brain’s electrical activity acts out an irregular circuitry.

There is a long history of medical marijuana use for the treatment of epilepsy and seizures, stemming back as far as 2900 BCE to ancient Sumerian texts.

Many people who have tried marijuana for epilepsy treatment have found that their seizures stopped, yet more research is needed to understand the exact correlation between cannabis and seizure relief.

In June of 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved CBD as an oral solution treatment for epilepsy by the name of Epidiolex.

This brought to the pharmaceutical market the first ever plant-based drug derived from cannabis available in the U.S.

Learn More about Medical Marijuana

Thanks for reading this blog about the therapeutic potentials of cannabis for relief of many common health conditions.

We hope this will inspire you to explore how medical marijuana can help you and those you know. If you’ve enjoyed reading this article please share it with others will also find it helpful.

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