Home » Blog » 5 Top Benefits of Medical Marijuana in 2022.

5 Top Benefits of Medical Marijuana in 2022.

People frequently discuss the many benefits of medical marijuana, but these are often in the early phases of research. Today, we are going to cut through the noise and discuss five benefits of medical marijuana that are backed by facts and research.

What Are the Benefits of Medical Marijuana?

If you’ve read up before on the benefits of marijuana for medical purposes, you may have noticed very little information is conclusively proven. However, there is overwhelming anecdotal evidence suggesting it helps many people with many conditions.

Because of its legal status in many states and countries, medical marijuana isn’t subjected to the same level of testing that many pharmaceuticals are. That isn’t to say that that it isn’t helping people, but it does make things confusing when people ask, “Does marijuana have medical benefits?”.

Pain Relief

While it’s not quite strong enough to help with severe pain from injuries or surgery, pain control is the most common reason medical marijuana is prescribed in the United States. For chronic pain especially, it is an attractive alternative to opiates which are highly addictive and carry the risk of overdose. Medical marijuana is also prescribed to help specifically with nerve pain from diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Again, lots of patients prefer it over opiates which have a strong sedative effect. Medical marijuana provides patients relief from pain while allowing them to carry on with their usual activities.

Relieves Nausea and Stimulates Appetite

Cannabis is especially helpful to manage nausea and increase appetite in patients suffering from conditions that cause wasting syndrome. These conditions include:

HIV/AIDS
Chron’s Disease
Irritable bowel syndrome
Cancer cachexia.

Wasting syndrome is when a person loses 10% of their body weight along with diarrhea/fever and is associated with a higher mortality rate and decreased quality of life.

Siezures

While not enough research has been conducted on more common forms of epilepsy, the use of oral CBD has been approved by the FDA to aid with two forms that are difficult to control with other medication:

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
Dravet syndrome

This is significant, as both of these conditions start in early childhood, involve frequent seizures, and are associated with impairment of cognitive impairment.

Insomnia

Up to fifteen percent of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia, and another 40 million experience insomnia each year. According to Dr. Matt Roman, medical marijuana can actually restore a person’s sleep cycle, making it a viable sleeping aid. It accomplishes this by reducing the amount of REM sleep a person gets, meaning spending less time dreaming and more time in a deep and restful sleep.

Helping with PTSD

People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience issues. including:

Panic attacks
Nightmares
Overly strong emotions
Self-destructive behavior

These symptoms lead to poor mental health and at times suicide. Patients have been saying for years medical marijuana helps with the condition, and thanks to recent studies we now have an understanding of why.

The first reason is medical marijuana can help lessen the memory of painful and traumatic memories which can be therapeutic for people suffering from PTSD. The second reason is a reduction of activity in the part of the brain that responds to threats- the amygdala. After long periods of dealing with abnormal threat levels, this part of the brain can experience disfunction.

Consult Your Doctor

If you think the benefits of using marijuana for medical purposes we discussed today would help you, it may be worth talking to your doctor.

5 Top Benefits of Medical Marijuana in 2022.

5 Top Benefits of Medical Marijuana in 2022.