Cannabis products come from the dried parts of the marijuana plant. The flowers, seeds, stems, leaves, all go in the making of good cannabis products. Known by several other names marijuana has different ways of consumption. Some prefer vaping and smoking, while others use it through products like CBD oil. In fact, some even consume it through brewed tea and food.
All these different methods of consumption affect our bodies individually. If you are smoking cannabis, it will directly go into the bloodstream and travel through the brain to other organs. However, indirect cannabis consumption has a different effect altogether. It takes a little longer to feel the impact, especially when you eat or drink cannabis. Moreover, this is just a generalized view of how cannabis interacts with the body. Here’s what happens when CBD and THC, the two main components of the cannabis plant combined with the body.
Cannabis and the human body
It is first important to understand how cannabis interacts with the human body. Scientifically, the human body consists of an endocannabinoid system. This system comprises two main receptors, known as CB1 and CB2. Both receptors control an array of functions in the human body. Similarly, the cannabis plants also consist of cannabis cannabinoids – the non-psychoactive THC and the psychoactive CBD.
Interestingly, there is a stark resemblance between cannabinoids and phytocannabinoids. This also explains why cannabis can interact with the human body. Though it is vital to note that terpenes, flavonoids, and some unidentified compounds also contribute towards the interaction. This is why we can increasingly see a rise in the use of cannabis. Especially medical cannabis. Several Americans are using it to treat medical conditions like chronic pain, epilepsy, glaucoma, inflammation, PTSD, etc. So, let us get straight to the point and see whether cannabis can boost physical health or not.
Chronic Pain
Pain management is the most common reason why people choose to treat their condition with cannabis. Even though most people are using cannabis to temporarily get rid of the pain. Be it a headache, joint pain, or pain caused by other deadly diseases. There has definitely been a significant rise in its usage. But do we have enough scientific proof to claim the efficiency of cannabis? Unfortunately no because we have very limited evidence about cannabis treating chronic pain.
One of the few studies suggests that cannabis can be used for the treatment of neuropathic pain. However, this is just one type of chronic pain and several others need attention. Only further studies can reveal the medicinal role of cannabis.
Heart health
Mainstream medical practitioners are of the view that cannabis consumption makes the heart beat faster. This, in turn, means that marijuana smokers are at risk of heart attacks and strokes. Here is a report that says people who smoke marijuana quite often can suffer from heart diseases in the long run. On the contrary here is another research that shows no association of cannabis use with cardiovascular disease hospitalization. Further implicating that extensive research is still required on this subject.
If you are keen on taking marijuana for heart diseases, you should take help from medical marijuana doctors or well-known experts. The dose guide and the effects of cannabis on your body will be thoroughly checked by a licensed practitioner. Though mainstream doctors do not recommend cannabis use for heart attack.
Cancer
Cancer can affect the body in several ways. There is no doubt that there are scientific studies that say cannabis can alleviate the symptoms of cancer. But how? First and foremost there is an active cannabinoid in the cannabis plant called Delta-9-THC. This compound can lower inflammation and pain. Although these studies do not show how cannabis can cure cancer. In fact, like many other drugs cannabis too has some side effects. So, do not avoid conventional medical care methods for treating cancer. Depending on cannabis alone can be dangerous.
Marijuana can treat other symptoms besides pain and inflammation. Those symptoms are nausea and vomiting, the side effects of chemotherapy. Not only this but also the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the usage of two cannabinoid drugs to alleviate the symptoms of cancer. Those two cannabinoids are dronabinol and nabilone. These two drugs have been tried and tested on cancer patients. This shows that cannabis definitely has an upper hand in improving symptoms like vomiting and nausea in cancer patients.
Lung Health
Cannabis will affect lung health but it depends on how you consume cannabis. For example, some of the marijuana users smoke marijuana and tobacco together. Smoked forms of marijuana severely affect lung health. Especially when smoked along with tobacco. Smoking cannabis can lead to medical conditions like bronchitis, phlegm production, and cough. However, if you take medicinal marijuana to treat a specific condition, then your lungs might not get affected. So, it is quite evident that if you smoke marijuana along with carcinogenic substances. The chances are that your lungs will get affected over a certain period of time.
Dravet’s Syndrome
Dravet’s Syndrome is a qualifying condition for cannabis use. The FDA approves the use of specific CBD rich strains to treat the symptoms of Dravet Syndrome. This condition mostly affects children and it has a close resemblance to epileptic seizures. In fact, there is clinical proof suggesting the use of cannabis for epileptic seizures.
Charlotte Figi, a young girl, suffered from Dravet’s Syndrome. She witnessed frequent seizures, almost twenty plus seizures in a day. The seizures reduced when Charlotte consumed CBD rich strains. The effect was such that seizures got reduced to 1 seizure a week. Call it a miracle or the interaction of phytocannabinoids with ECS. In the end, cannabis came out as a hero.
So, it can be clearly seen that while cannabis has the potential to treat certain medical conditions. There are still some uncertainties surrounding cannabis as a whole. So, make sure you stay under the supervision of a good health practitioner before jumping right into the world of cannabis.