What is Diabetes?

There are three forms, all of which are characterized by too much blood sugar for a prolonged period.

1. Type 1 diabetes occurs as a result of the pancreas’s inability to produce sufficient insulin. The cause of this kind of diabetes is unknown. As insulin is responsible for taking the sugar from the blood into the fat, liver, and muscle. Having too little of it means too much sugar stays in the blood.
2. Type 2 Diabetes develops primarily because of too much body weight and too little exercise. De to these factors, cells in the body stop responding to insulin properly, causing too much sugar to stay in the blood.
3. Gestational diabetes occurs when pregnant women develop high blood sugar levels, but this type results in few symptoms.

Symptoms usually include increased urination, thirst and hunger. Low blood sugar as a result of either a lack of lack of insulin or its ineffectiveness can lead to a diabetic emergency. Signs of this problem include sweating, trembling, confusion, seizure, unconsciousness, and sometimes brain damage or death.

In the long term, diabetes puts patients at risk for some complications. For example, patients are at twice the risk of cardiovascular disease. The disease also increases the risk of coronary artery disease and strike. The illness damages small blood vessels over time, potentially causing damage to the eyes, kidneys and nerves. As the illness progresses, it comes with a host of problems, including diabetic neuropathy, or intense nerve pain.

Traditional Treatment

The disease is virtually incurable, accept for a few instances when it just disappeared. As such, treatment revolves around managing symptoms and maintaining a healthy body weight. This is achieved by making lifestyle changes such as following a balanced diet and  exercising regularly. The goal is to bring blood sugar levels down to a normal level.

Medications are also used to lower blood sugar levels in those with type 2 diabetes. For those with type 1, however, insulin shots are required. In rare cases, a pancreas transplant is offered to those with type 1 diabetes in hopes of receiving an organ that produces more insulin. Whether a patient has type 1 or 2 diabetes, however, they often suffer from nerve pain brought on by the disease.

Cannabis Treatment for Diabetic Pain

A study was conducted on rats to assess the effectiveness of cannabis for diabetic nerve pain. They found that the neuropathic pain that is symptomatic of some diabetes sufferers was effectively relieved by a cannabis-based medication. Because diabetic nerve pain is the most common of all neuropathic pains experienced around the world, the scope of its research is quite broad.

In humans, cannabis has been shown to be an effective treatment for chronic nerve pain. Given what was found in the study on rats, it stands to to reason that cannabis-based medication is also a suitable treatment for nerve pain in people.

Cannabis Prevents Development of Diabetes

Another study conducted on diabetic rats used Cannabidiol, and examined the effects. The results were shocking: incidence of diabetes plummeted from 86% in the placebo rats to just 30% in the rats receiving Cannabidiol. The researchers explain that the medication works by inhibiting and delaying insulitis, a disease of the pancreas that causes sufferers to become diabetic.

On humans, researchers just last year conducted a national survey. They observed that recent or current active cannabis smoking was inversely associated with having diabetes. In other words, people who use cannabis are less likely to develop the disease from those who don’t. What this suggests is that cannabis smoking possible protects users from developing the disorder. The study notes that while this is not conclusive, more research is needed to confirm their findings.

The Future of Cannabis for Diabetes

Studies have shown promise for using cannabis as medicine to treat the symptoms of diabetes as well as prevent it from ever developing. Unsurprisingly, surveys conducted on the subject reflect this, with cannabis users being less likely to develop the disease. More research will probably corroborate these findings, and soon cannabis may be used more commonly to treat diabetes.

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At this moment in th United States, there are 25 states (including Washington D.C.) that have legalized medical cannabis. That number is likely to grow as more and more states consider making changes to their marijuana laws. Even though it hasn’t been legalized in every state, there’s been enough medical cannabis activity to see what the medical marijuana landscape looks like for certain health conditions.

There have been a couple of important surveys this year that have shed light on how medical marijuana is is used by patients. The first survey was conducted by Hello MD and it was published in January. This particular one was sent to 17,000 medical marijuana patients, but only 1,400 of them responded.

The second survey was published more recently by Marijuana Business Daily. It used data from patients in states that publicly release this kind of data, such as Arizona, New Jersey and Oregon to name a few.

Using these surveys, here are the health conditions most frequently being treated with medical cannabis.

Top 10 Health Conditions Treated With Medical Cannabis

1. Pain
2. Anxiety and Stress
3. Insomnia
4. Depression
5. Severe Nausea
6. Migraines
7. Arthritis
8. Cancer
9. PTSD
10. Epilepsy

There are tons of other conditions that are being treated, that wasn’t included in the list. These include Multiple Sclerosis, Glaucoma and Parkinson’s disease.

Issues Facing Medical Cannabis Patients

The surveys highlight a broad range of health conditions currently being treated with cannabis. Despite all this, there are a few challenges facing the medical marijuana community.

The most obvious one is that medical cannabis isn’t legal in every state. It depends on where you live. This is a reason why waves of people are moving to states where they can get medical cannabis. A term “marijuana refugees” have surfaced and refer to individuals who travel to places in search of medical marijuana.

The other big issue is that not all health conditions can be treated with cannabis. Most states with medical marijuana programs have limited lists of conditions that qualify for it.If your illness isn’t on the list, you simply won’t be able to use it.

The good news is that a lot of states have started adding conditions to their list of illnesses. An example would be New Jersey which added PTSD to its list of qualifying conditions during last month.

The fact, however, remains that most medical marijuana states haven’t made cannabis accessible to any and all health conditions. This limits the degree to which people can use cannabis for medical reasons.

Beyond all that, there are also restrictions that can make it challenging for researchers to study medical cannabis. And some states only let patients use particular types of medical cannabis products. In New York, for example, patients are not allowed to use smokable marijuana, and they can only get certain types of extracts.

The Point

As these patient surveys revealed, medical cannabis is currently being used to treat a wide raange of health conditions. There are still legal challenges if medical cannabis usage is to become more widespread.

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