Unconventional Methods of Therapy Prove Promising

By Dr. Julian Reindhurst

For thousands of years, marijuana has been used for medical reasons ranging from a reliever for earaches, child pains as well as stress. It can be traced all throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Medical research recently has also unearthed in the past decade marijuana's effects on various kinds of pains. These range from damaged nerves in people that have HIV, diabetic treatment, and spinal injuries--marijuana has also shown promise to patients with cancer and Multiple Sclerosis.

Medical marijuana has been theorized to help with nausea related to symptoms induced by chemotherapy, and with severe loss of appetite as with patients with AIDS wasting syndrome.

Marijuana is effective with these actions due to the active ingredients of tetrahydro cannabinol (THC) and some 60 other cannabinoids, which mimic the action of chemicals that are known as endogenous cannabinoids, and exist naturally in the brain. Those cannabinoids activate receptors in our nerves, triggering physiological responses.

The only legal extract of THC currently available is Marinol however the results are not evn close to the effects of naturally smoked medical marijuana. Taken orally, its absorption is highly variable and unpredictable and often delayed, says Dr. Igor Grant, a UC San Diego psychiatrist who directs the university's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. "Smoking is a very efficient way to deliver THC," he mentions.

Medical marijuana is considered illegal under federal laws, so its only available is selected clinics in states such as California where they have passed laws making marijuana legal for personal medical use.

Research on the medicinal use of marijuana relies on government-issued marijuana cigarettes, which come in different strengths and are supplied by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research in San Diego helps coordinate clinical studies to investigate the safety and effectiveness of marijuana and they've discovered in their studies related to neuropathic pain, Multiple sclerosis, and nausea. - 30287

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