Health has been at the forefront of everybody’s mind throughout the pandemic. There’s a whole spectrum of health concerns, from minor to major, short-term to long-term. From bodily aches to mental health issues, medical cannabis can treat a surprising range of conditions.
Let’s take a look at what medical cannabis can do for you.
Pain and Inflammation
Cannabis has been used to treat pain for millennia, as was documented in texts about Traditional Chinese Medicine and India’s ancient Ayurvedic books. Mounting research supports its continued use in modern medicine as it relates to the endocannabinoid system, the human body’s most extensive receptor system.
Cannabinoid receptors respond to chemicals called cannabinoids found in large numbers in THC and CBD. Anandamide is an endocannabinoid the body produces to help regulate pain and other fluctuating states, like appetite and mood.
Licensed producers have a range of cannabis products that will bind with your anandamide receptors to help treat pain and inflammation. As with any medical journey, speak to your healthcare practitioner or a cannabis-trained pharmacist — they will authorize the specific medical product, strain, and dosage level suitable for your body and symptoms.
Anxiety
Medical cannabis products can include CBD and THC, which both activate specialized receptors that control sleep cycles, mood, emotion, pain perception, and more. CBD’s unique molecular shape and structure make it well-suited for treating anxiety because it mimics an endocannabinoid the body produces itself, called 2-AG.
Modern research suggests that by stimulating these bodily receptors, CBD activates the endocannabinoid system, which then, in turn, addresses neurological or physical imbalances. THC can do this too, but its effect is considered intoxicating, whereas CBD isn’t.
Anxiety is a natural response to danger, real or perceived. Everyone has it occasionally. However, feeling it disproportionately could be a sign of a condition needing treatment. There are some physical sensations that often accompany anxiety, such as:
- Bodily tension
- Chest pain
- Upset stomach
- Shortness of breath
- Racing heart
- Chills or hot flashes
- Dizziness
- Fear of dying
Speak to your healthcare practitioner or cannabis-trained pharmacist about whether medical cannabis is right for you. If it is, they’ll guide your journey and ensure safe and effective treatment.
Depression
Mental health can be a tricky thing to treat and diagnose. The patient needs to be forthcoming and openly describe what they’re feeling, or it can be hard to recognize officially.
Medical cannabis can help improve people’s mood and even their sleeping patterns, but patients must use the right strains, products, and dosages. No matter how down or hopeless things may seem, it’s crucial to remember there is always a way forward!
Whether you feel glum due to world affairs or are suffering a clinical condition, speak to your doctor about whether medical cannabis is right for you.
Thankfully, medical experts are still making important discoveries that modify what we know about health and the body. Decades ago, doctors may not have been very likely to proscribe medical cannabis. If you have any of the above conditions or other ones you think may be treated effectively by cannabis, speak to your healthcare practitioner.
