Medical marijuana reduces chronic pharmaceutical use, study finds

Medical marijuana reduces chronic pharmaceutical use, study finds


(NaturalNews) Medical marijuana may help reduce the use of
pharmaceutical drugs among the elderly, providing a safer alternative to
drugs that often carry serious side effects, according to a study
conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv University. The
researchers also found that elderly participants who took medical
marijuana achieved not just pain reduction, but also improvement in
markers of physical, emotional and cognitive health.

The study
was conducted on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel who
were between the ages of 69 and 101 and suffered from medical conditions
including pain, muscle spasm, tremors and lack of appetite.
Participants used medical marijuana (cannabis) in the form of smoke,
vapor, oil or powder three times per day. Over the course of a year,
participants were monitored for physical improvement and for improvement
in quality of life factors such as mood and facility with everyday
activities.

Within one year of treatment, 17 of the 19 patients
had achieved a healthy weight, with some of the participants
experiencing weight gain and the others experiencing weight loss, as
needed. Muscle spasms, stiffness, tremors, pain, nightmares, and
flashbacks related to post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) were
significantly reduced among participants, while sleeping hours were
significantly increased. Participants also experienced a significant
improvement in mood and in communication skills.

Use of pharmaceutical drugs reduced

Notably,
participants also significantly reduced their use of pharmaceutical
drugs such as antipsychotics, painkillers, mood stabilizers and drugs
for Parkinson's disease. After one year of medical marijuana
treatment, 72 percent of study participants had reduced their use of
pharmaceuticals by an average of 1.7 drugs per day. Researcher Zach
Klein noted that this finding is of particular importance because so
many of the drugs that patients were able to discontinue can carry
severe side effects.

Marijuana is gaining increasing medical
attention as a treatment for chronic conditions ranging from pain to
cancer to PTSD. It is known to act as an effective pain reliever,
appetite regulator and sleep aid even in cases that prove resistant to pharmaceuticals.

Another recent study, published in October in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry,
found that medical marijuana is effective at reducing debilitating
muscle stiffness in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This
stiffness, which is highly resistant to current MS treatments, affects
90 percent of MS patients and regularly interferes with mobility, sleep
and daily function.

Klein is currently working on another study,
to test whether medical marijuana can be beneficial to people who
suffer from dysphagia, or trouble swallowing. Dysphagia is a common
concern in the critically ill, and can actually lead to starvation if
not treated properly. Klein hopes that medical marijuana will prove
beneficial in treating dysphagia because it has previously been shown to
stimulate the part of the brain that is thought to regulate the
swallowing reflex.

According to a 2012 poll by Mason-Dixon
Polling & Research, three of every four U.S. residents oppose
federal prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries, growers, sellers
and users in the states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/038883_medical_marijuana_pharmaceuticals_drug_use.html