How does Cannabis Help Multiple Sclerosis?

cannabis for ms

When diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), your life changes instantly. It is bad for everyone, but even more so if you were a very active independent person. It hits where it affects you most- your mobility. As it is an autoimmune disorder, it attacks the central nervous system. It is not a disease that takes age into consideration. This neurological disease is frequently found under young people as well.

Literally, millions of people all over the world are diagnosed with MS. No one knows yet how and where this disease comes from. They only know that it has something to do with the autoimmune system. The symptoms are clear. There is a variation from muscle spasticity, to vision problems. Fatigue, vertigo, and numbness are also included in the package. At least doctors identified ways to slow down the progression of multiple sclerosis, but they are not close to finding a cure yet.

Patients constantly are looking for ways to relieve the discomfort they are suffering from. Some are looking into cannabis as an alternative way to treat the disease. Most have found wonderful results.

What does MS mean exactly?

We already established that MS is reckoned to be an autoimmune disorder. The body´s own immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy tissue and cells mostly in the brain and spinal cord. What actually happens is that the immune system attacks the protective sheath, a fatty substance, called myelin. This interrupts communication on the nerve fibers between the brain and the body.

When something like myelin is damaged, it forms scar tissues. This is called sclerosis. First to be damaged is the myelin, but over time it moves on to the nerve fibers. When it reaches the nerve fibers, it obscures clear impulses and many different symptoms appear. Pain gets intense and the body starts losing mobility control.

What Symptoms are to be expected?

There are a variety of symptoms because it depends on how many nerves are damaged and how severe the damage is. It also depends on which nerves are affected. Sometimes symptoms appear overnight. From a very active person to all of a sudden having problems to walk without support, a person has to learn to adapt to this new lifestyle. At first, the symptoms are not that noticeable, and treatment might not be needed yet. As the disease progresses, treatment is definitely needed.

As there is a variant of symptoms and it differs from person to person, here follow some possible ones:

Numbness and tingling in one or more limbs noticeable on one side of the body

Electric-shock sensation. This happens especially if the head gets turned and bend forward

Unsteadiness and tremors

Loss of vision starting normally with one eye first. There is also blurred vision and double vision. Eye movement normally is quite painful.

Fatigue and dizziness

Difficulty in speaking clearly

Hard to eat

Sudden paralysis and difficulty to control bladder and bowel movements

Hard time thinking and brain fog

Muscle spasms become more frequent

Depression

Using Cannabis as an alternative to treat MS

The endocannabinoid system of the human body is a perfect system to receive the cannabinoids provided by cannabis. The cannabinoids in cannabis interact perfectly with the CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system. Both THC and CBD play an important role when it comes to treating Multiple Sclerosis.

As cannabis has anti-inflammatory properties, it helps with muscle spasticity in people suffering from MS. THC contributes to better muscle control, where CBD helps to relax the muscles. As we know that damage and inflammation are caused to the myelin in the nervous system, cannabis as a whole will contribute to the reduction of inflammation that would ease pain and lead to better functioning of the nerve fibers.

Depression has an ugly head and when you were used to living a fully active life, changes that MS brings along could move a person to fall into depression. Both THC and CBD help with depression and might make it a little easier to cope with the constant changes related to MS.

Because cannabis has properties to relieve muscle stiffness, it works very well for people suffering from MS. In studies, it was found that patients using marijuana had double the relief than those not using it.

Cannabis also contributes to sleeping problems and better bladder control. It also helps with stomach problems and tremors.

Conclusion

Though there is not a cure for Multiple Sclerosis yet, cannabis is found to bring great relief to those suffering from it. It also helps to slow down the progression of MS. As an alternative to traditional medicine, it is a far safer option. Apart from normal side effects like dry eyes and dry mouth, no severe side effects are experienced. In fact, it rather makes it easier to cope with MS.