Some Patients Are Searching For Medical Alternatives
An La Times medical reporter interviewed a group of doctors that were researching the benefits of medical marijuana. The issue of whether marijuana ...
An La Times medical reporter interviewed a group of doctors that were researching the benefits of medical marijuana. The issue of whether marijuana has any medical benefits is all determined on whom you ask–should marijuana be labeled with the dangerous drugs like PCP and heroin, or is it a miracle herb that has an abundance of uses and is being suppressed by the government–perhaps its something in between: an herb with tremendous medical benefits yet with drawbacks, worth looking into.
As the political campaigning over medical marijuana continues, a small group of scientist are investigating the effects on how inhaled marijuana treats nausea, pain, and muscle spasms
The researchers point out that all drugs carry risks–when you look into most medicine cabinets in American households, you will find them filled with aspirins, antihistamines, and pain killers. What doctors try to do is weigh the positives versus the negatives of what the medicine can do and from there they reach a decision–why not for marijuana as well, some researchers are asking.
Researchers say that their findings show that marijuana does have medical benefits– for chronic pain syndromes, cancer pains, AIDS wasting syndrome, nausea associated with chemo therapy, and multiple sclerosis. The research is hindered so progress is slow as they try to harness and understand all of the plants benefits. Another discovery has been that although there are real risks attached to marijuana, they are generally small.
Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of hematology and oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and professor of clinical medicine at UC San Francisco, says he sees cancer patients in pain, not eating or sleeping well, experiencing nausea and vomiting from treatment, and being depressed about their situation.
Dr. Abrams also is happy that he lives in California where medical marijuana is permitted by state law–this even with federal authorities who continue to raid cannabis dispensaries in California as well as scrutinize Doctors who choose to prescribe marijuana to their patients as a form of therapy.
“I can talk to patients about medicinal cannabis [and] I’m often recommending it to them for these indications,” Abrams says.
The medical use of marijuana has gone on for thousands of years. In the days before the bible, the plant was used as a medicinal tea in China, and in India it was used as a stress formula and pain reliever–All throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa marijuana was use for earaches, childbirth, and many other remedies.
Medical researchers have recently began to investigate marijuana’s effects on various kinds of pain such as damaged nerves in people with HIV, diabetes and spinal cord injury; to cancer; and from multiple sclerosis.
For the past 35 years, Dr. R has studied the medicinal effects that have been used in history. She currently maintains a web site full of information on the and the many uses it has had throughout man’s civilization.