In the US, 33 states have legalized the medicinal use of cannabis for specific health issues, diseases, and mental states. Still, the entire country has patients looking for relief that comes from cannabis and its major components — cannabinoids.
The plant is proven to help with various symptoms and comes in the form of many different products. To get a medicinal cannabis card in Florida, however, one needs to be diagnosed with one of the illnesses listed below.
Multiple Sclerosis
Among the most common neural diseases of the modern world is Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The vicious disease tends to affect the myelin sheath (membrane covering the neural fibers), causing severe issues in the communication of the nerves in the nervous system.
There are many symptoms that are fairly simple to notice at some point — weakness of limbs, tremor, sight problems, and of course, pain.
A study conducted at the University of Arizona found that, from 30 to 97% of the participants felt great relief with the following symptoms of the disease, listed in descending order:
- Muscular Spasticity
- Limb Pain
- Chronic Paroxysmal Phenomena
- Tremor
- Emotional, Sexual, Bladder and Bowel, Vision, and Balance Dysfunctions
- Illness-Based Weight Loss
- Memory Loss
All the patients who took part in the study chose smoking cannabis rather than using other product types, though smoking cannabis has a long list of both pros and cons.
Another study, placebo-controlled, focused on the central pain in MS and used a cannabis-based sublingual spray. Out of the 64 people who completed the trials, 95% reported their pain was cut at least in half.
Chronic Pain
Numerous health issues are connected to chronic pain. More than 50 million Americans suffer from it, and chronic pain statistics show the reasons are many. This state is defined as pain lasting for three months or more, and some of its side effects are muscle tension, decreased mobility, inflammation, as well as rapid weight change. In the United States, roughly 62% of cannabis users choose cannabis over pain-relieving prescription drugs.
Chronic pain requires long-lasting solutions, and in these terms, edibles are likely the perfect choice. Chocolate, as well as baked goods infused with cannabis, are typically made with fractionated coconut oil (also known as MCT oil) that has shown much higher cannabinoid bioavailability, characterized by stronger and longer analgesic effects.
Usually, edibles take a bit more time to kick in but are a great solution for chronic pain overall.
Epilepsy
Similarly to MS, epilepsy heavily impacts the central nervous system and manifests through a series of epileptic seizures, often times followed by memory loss, unconsciousness, confusion, as well as fear or anxiety. Even though these episodes occur in a rather unpredictable and non-periodic manner, they often come with more or less the same set of above-mentioned symptoms.
On June 25, 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put a stamp of approval on Epidiolex, making a precedent in the country’s history for the first-ever medicine derived from cannabis.
The drug helps in the treatment of Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. However, as research never stops, we are probably looking at a much wider plethora of cannabis-based medicines for epilepsy.
HIV
Even though it seemed that its epidemic peaked back in the 1980s, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) continues to affect more than 50,000 Americans each year, with some 1.2 million known patients in the US alone. The most gruesome and damaging part is that most people who carry it are not even aware.
While there is no known cure at the moment, various medications help those suffering from this disease. Symptoms are many and treated with several different drugs. HIV/AIDS is normally on the list of endorsed diseases, allowing patients to obtain medical cannabis cards.
Parkinson’s Disease
A movement-affecting neural disease that is known as Parkinson’s Disease is also known for affecting the older adults aged 60 and over. The biggest known factors for this disease are genetic predispositions. However, scientists found connections between the disease and constant proximity or exposure to some toxins, like pesticides.
A study showed that, out of all the surveyed PD patients who consumed cannabis orally, almost 46% reported their symptoms were relieved to a certain extent. This comes as no surprise, as the endocannabinoid system in humans plays a major role in several basic body functions, including movement.
Another survey points to cannabis smoking as a potential way of reducing tremors, muscle stiffness, pain, and depression caused by Parkinson’s.
The Bottom Line
Cannabis and its beneficial effects on the body and mind have been recognized since time immemorial. Cannabis advantages are numerous, and so are the illnesses troubling modern society.
We only mentioned a few of these health conditions and ways to treat them, but the list does not end here. Make sure you talk to your doctor and do plenty of research, as cannabis might be the right remedy for you.
