How Medical Marijuana Helps Older People with Their Ailments?

How Medical Marijuana Helps Older People with Their Ailments?

Scientists have discovered that marijuana has multiple medical benefits. These discoveries have pushed the legalization of marijuana further. As a result of such compelling evidence on the potency of marijuana to treat different diseases and ailments, more and more jurisdictions are legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the treatment of various health conditions.

One demographic group of people who have increasingly benefited from medical marijuana are senior people.

Below are 7 top ways through which medical marijuana can help older people with their ailments:

1. Anxiety Control

Anxiety is quite high among older people. The causative agents of anxiety among the seniors vary greatly. Some of the common factors which cause high degrees of anxiety among the older generation include failing health, dwindling savings, and the passing on of their age mates and friends. While counseling and psychiatric therapy play a key role in managing this condition, it has not been fully effective in treating the condition.

How Medical Marijuana Helps Older People with Their Ailments?

In some cases, the anxiety condition exacerbates to other conditions such as chronic depression. Such conditions serve to worsen the already failing health. Extracts from the Indica plant have been scientifically proven to have the ability to push anxiety levels to the minimum. The cannabinoids in the Indica strain interact with the CB1 and CB2 receptors helping the patient to regain a sense of control and wellbeing.

2. Neuropathy Improvement

As people age, the different systems within the body become less responsive. The natural homeostasis which is in charge of controlling the various processes within the body begin to fail and malfunction. One of the systems which have been known to fail with age is the nervous system. The neural transmission of triggers and messages between the brain and the various neural points within the body become less efficient with age. As a result, the overall coordination between the mind and the various movements becomes sporadic and non-balanced.

Once the medical extracts from the Indica plant are taken, they start improving the endocannabinoid system which improves nerve receptor sensitivity and response. It also works in triggering the repair of damaged neurons and initiates nervous cell exfoliation. The overall effect is improved neuropathy. The medical marijuana which has the cannabinoids needed to improve the nervous system is introduced into the body in the form of a vapor from a vaporizer. This can as well be ingested in tablet form.

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3. Pain Relief

As people age, different factors work together to cause different forms of pains. These may be arthritis-related or even pain caused by a terminal disease. The active compounds in marijuana have been shown to effectively reduce pain and put it in manageable levels. This pain treatment is applicable for both chronic and acute pain conditions.

Compared to other pain-relief drugs, medical marijuana is significantly cheap, has higher potency, and has fewer side effects. For instance, the retail price of CBD capsules is way lower than the price of other pain-relief drugs with the same potency. Such benefits explain why there has been a paradigm shift among the older people in preference of medical marijuana over the synthetically manufactured pain relief drugs.

4. Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease Among the Older People

Alzheimer’s Disease is characterized by the inability to remember things and even the names of people. This condition worsens in the old age due to a combination of factors including the reducing brainpower capabilities. Inhaling the vapor from dry herb vaporizer has been shown to significantly improve the memory and reduce the symptoms associated with this disease.

5. Cure Anorexia (Eating Disorders)

Anorexia is a potentially life-threatening disease and is characterized by poor eating habits. With increasing pressure to look young and of the right weight, older people may from time to time succumb to anorexia. This obsession with weight loss and body image has far-reaching effects and may be fatal. The condition can worsen if the patient is also suffering from other old-age diseases.

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Cannabinoid extracts from Indica plant can effectively treat this eating disorder and restore the normal eating habits among the old people. It does this by increasing the appetite and creates a feeling of wellbeing which is essential in restoring self-confidence. The Indica-based treatment combines certain proportions of THC chemical and CBD oil to create a natural remedy to this health condition.

6. Treat Glaucoma

As people age, different health conditions begin to manifest. One of the common conditions is the loss of vision due to glaucoma. Glaucoma is characterized by increased intraocular pressure around the eyes which contributes to optic nerve damage. The optic nerves act as visual signal transmitters between the brain and the eyes. Their damage will thus lead to eye blindness. Marijuana chemical extracts have been shown to control this disease by reducing the intraocular pressure thus saving the optic nerve from damage.

How Medical Marijuana Helps Older People with Their Ailments?

7. Help in Better Quality Sleep

Sleeping pills are the most commonly used sleep-inducing drugs. But their long-term usage has undesirable side effects including a reduced level of sensitivity by the body. Cannabidiol has been proved to work with the body endocannabinoid system to induce sleep. Since CBD is a natural remedy, the side effects associated with it are less severe than the use of synthetic drugs.

Conclusion

Medical marijuana helps older people with ailments in multiple ways. The discovery of these medical benefits of Marijuana helped solve many health conditions associated with older people more effectively than what existing drugs could do. Further research will certainly open up more medical applications for this naturally occurring herb.