According to a new study, medical marijuana may prove beneficial in maintaining mental stamina in HIV patients. The paper recently published by researches at Michigan State University focuses on tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, as a miraculous therapy that assists with slowing down the mental decline of HIV patients.
The study revealed data which goes into detail how the marijuana plant could reduce this deterioration from the virus by as much as 50 percent. It’s a factor that could give those who suffer from the incurable disease a better quality of life.
“It’s believed that cognitive function decreases in many of those with HIV partly due to chronic inflammation that occurs in the brain,” said co-author Norbert Kaminski. “This happens because the immune system is constantly being stimulated to fight off disease.”
The study uncovers that marijuna performs as an anti-inflammatory in the brain of HIV patients, which put a stop to white blood cells and their proteins from causing chaos inside the body. THC has the effect on these cells which could “slow down, or maybe even stop, the inflammatory process,” according to researchers.
This process would give patients that suffer from HIV the ability to preserve a healthier cognitive function for a longer period.
For the study, researchers examined the blood of 40 HIV patients, some used marijuana and some did not. The researchers discovered, while isolating the white blood cells of each patient, that patients that did not use marijuana showed a significantly higher rate of inflammation.
“The patients who didn’t smoke marijuana had a very high level of inflammatory cells compared to those who did use,” Kaminski said, adding, “In fact, those who used marijuana had levels pretty close to a healthy person not infected with HIV”.
Even though antiretroviral therapy is for the most part successful, it does not always stop certain white blood cells from causing inflammation issues among patients. If the results of this study maintain positive, marijuana therapy would be an effective way to control this aspect of the disease. If you apply this theory to other diseases it may help patients with “other brain-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s since the same inflammatory cells have been found to be involved,” said co-author Mike Rizzo.
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