Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: The Silent Killer Treatable with Cannabis

luekemia and cannabis

Leukemia alone is a threatening name. It is one of those diseases that people do not want to be diagnosed with. Leukemia is one of many cancers that imposes fear of death because of its terminal status. There are different types of Leukemia and can be divided into two main streams. Lymphocytic Leukemia starts in the white blood cells, and Myelogenous Leukemia can also begin in the white blood cells but can also spread to the red blood cells and platelets. Then they get further labelled as either Acute – fast-growing or Chronic – slow-growing.

Cannabis has, in a way, became the remedy for falling back on with cancer patients because of its ability to deal with many of the symptoms associated with the disease. When it comes to Leukemia, cannabis is fast growing in popularity because it can treat the symptoms and fight cancer. The chronic forms of cancer are slow-growing and sometimes get detected in a much more developed state. When the diagnosis is caught in the latter stage, the prognosis is often not good. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is such a disease.

What is Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia?

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or CLL is often called the silent killer. It is tough to diagnose as people show the symptoms much later. It is one of the most common cancers under adults. It mostly affects older adults of 70 years and more. Leukemia develops when the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, multiply too fast and replace normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in the bone marrow. It is not easy to find a conclusive reason why this happens, but it is related to genetic mutations of your DNA in blood-producing cells.

To complicate things more, CLL can be split into two different forms. They are:

Indolent CLL

This type of leukemia is very sneaky as you can have this disease for years before you know about it. There is an increased lymphocyte count, but your other blood count is normal. Your doctor might not be sure what to make of it and would suggest you wait but keep an eye on it. There are no typical symptoms as this type of Leukemia is very slow-growing.

Aggressive CLL

As the name indicates, this cancer grows very fast and immediate treatment is necessary. There will be too many abnormal cells, and the white blood cells don´t allow other blood cells to be there. There are definite symptoms like frequent infections, anemia, severe tiredness, bleeding, and shortness of breath. Blood transfusions might also be necessary.

People with any of the two CLL´s often struggle with recurring infections and have other immune system issues like cancers of the skin, lung and digestive tract. The overall health condition of a person suffering from CLL could be varying depending on the stage they are in. As the disease grows, treatment might become necessary. Conventional treatments are available, but often with nasty side-effects.

How Cannabis Can Help Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Cannabis as a treatment for cancer goes back 2,500 years back. In an archeological discovery, a Siberian Woman was found with traces of cannabis in her. It seems that she was treating breast cancer with it. Many times, cancer patients look for marijuana to help with the side-effects of conventional treatments and medicine like nausea after chemotherapy. The latest studies also show evidence that cannabis fights cancer too.

Cannabis has a wide range of medicinal properties that are absorbed by your endocannabinoid system. Your endocannabinoid system is responsible for many vital human body functions like your metabolism, reproduction, digestion, cardiovascular system, and more. When your body shows a change related to an illness, your endocannabinoid system also responds to that. The cannabinoids in Cannabis reacts directly to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in your endocannabinoid system and helps to bring homeostasis back. The therapeutic results are phenomenal.

Both THC and CBD are effective in treating CLL. A study in 2017 showed that it killed leukemia cells successfully. The compound action of cannabinoids allows them to destroy cancer cells.

How Does it Work?

A variety of symptoms of CLL can be treated with cannabis. These symptoms are:

Apoptosis (Cell death)
Pain
Vomiting
Tiredness
Poor appetite

It was furthermore discovered that CBD acts as a preventative remedy against complications when leukemia patients receive bone marrow or stem cell transplants. Cannabis aids in sleeping better too. As a result, your body gets to rest, and you have more energy available for ordinary tasks. When the patients are undergoing chemotherapy, CBD also helps to reduce the amount of chemotherapy needed.

After Thoughts

Prevention is always better than cure. Seeing that Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is a disease that creeps up to you, the diagnosis could come so late that symptoms are harder to treat. Our health should always be a priority. Start as early as possible with cannabis as a preventative remedy by supplementing your diet with it. It could be in the form of oils, tinctures, or edibles. Prolonged use will strengthen the body and protects it against silent killers.