Cannabis which is also known as marijuana, weed, pot, herb, etc…is a plant that comes from and are believed to have evolved on the steppes of Central Asia, specifically in the regions that are now Mongolia and southern Siberia, according to Warf. The history of cannabis use goes back as far as 12,000 years.   Humans have been using cannabis for thousands of years primarily for fiber, (popularly known as hemp), seed oil, medical purposes and for recreation. It is predominantly smoked, vaped, absorbed under the tongue or swallowed. It can also be applied directly to the skin.   The history of cannabis use has been marked by restriction, especially since the beginning of the 20th century. Many countries continue to have strict rules on possession, use or sale of marijuana, thus rendering it illegal in those places. In other places, herb is readily available, with several countries and states having legalized cannabis for recreational or medical purposes. In 2018, a country legalized cannabis at the federal level, ushering in a new era for users. This article will cover all you need to know about cannabis, from the different types of plants, to cannabis plant anatomy, to modern uses for the cannabis plant.  

What is Cannabis?

Cannabis is a term that broadly refers to a genus of flowering plants. To define cannabis as a drug used for recreational and medical purposes, while true, fails to tell the whole story. In fact, cannabis has been used as a significant material in textiles and as food throughout history in the form of hemp. Hemp, however, is very low in both THC and CBD, the two major molecules of therapeutic and recreational interest. So for the purpose of this article we will be referring primarily to cannabis that is cultivated for medicinal and recreational purposes as opposed to fiber and food.   So how is medicinal and recreational cannabis different from hemp? When people ask “what is cannabis?”, they are really asking about a medicine or a recreational drug with a wide range of psychoactive and physiologic effects. The part of the plant we are generally talking about is the clusters of flowers cannabis plants produce, a mass often referred to as the cola.   Flower, or bud, can be smoked or vaporized in dry form, but is also commonly extracted to produce a concentrated form. Other materials from the plant such as the stems and leaves may also be used, although these parts contain much less of the active ingredients. These extracts are often diluted with a carrier oil before being sold by licensed producers.   How many types of Cannabis are there? That depends on how you classify Cannabis. This plant is often categorized a number of different ways, for example:

• By strain (Indica, Sativa, hybrid)
• By cannabinoid content (CBD%, THC%)
• By its form or administration method (oil, hash, wax, flower, milled, edible, capsule, smoke, vape)
• By terpene content (limonene, ocimene, linalool, myrcene)

The most common way people classify cannabis is by identifying a strain as either an Indica, a Sativa or some form of hybrid. We won’t get into the botanical debate about whether these represent distinct species or not but rather focus on some of the current thinking about classifying cannabis this way.   When we talk about Sativa and Indica varieties we are really talking about the way the plant looks. This is called the morphology or phenotype. Tall with thin leaves vs short with wide leaves. By simply looking at cannabis plants you might be tempted to classify them this way. But this classification is not very scientific and does not adequately describe or classify the plants by their effect on the human body. Modern plants have been cross bred so many times that some may look like an Indica plant but chemically have a great deal of sativa properties.   Although these two types of cannabis are very different in appearance, their chemical makeup or chemotype is really what we are interested in when we think about cannabis as medicine. This is so much more important than the way the plants look or how they are prone to grow differently.   One of the most interesting things about cannabis is that it is dioecious, which means there are separate female and male plants. Most plants have both male and female traits within a single plant but cannabis has two distinct sexes. Male plants produce pollen sacs that fertilize the females, which in turn grow seed pods.   But female plants don’t need to be pollinated to produce marijuana. In fact, unpollinated female plants tend to produce flowers that are more resinous and richer in terpenes and cannabinoids as they are able to put all of their growth energy into producing medicine rather than seeds. The technique of growing cannabis while keeping male and female plants separated leads to females growing large flowers with no seeds.   These flowers or buds form together to make colas. Sometimes the cola at the top of the female plant is the most significant. It may be comprised of hundreds of tiny flowers and in full grown plants can exceed 4 feet by the time it is ready to be harvested. Smaller buds and colas can form all over the plant and contain the highest concentration of medicine. Contrary to popular belief the typical and well recognized cannabis leaf contains relatively little medicine.  Each cannabis flower is densely covered in glandular trichomes which secrete marijuana’s medicinal resin. These glands carry the majority of the terpenoids and cannabinoids that we use medicinally.  

What might Cannabis be used for?

There is a lot of research underway to understand if cannabis may be useful to treat a variety of conditions including:

• Chronic pain
• PTSD
• Seizures
• Anxiety
• Autism
• Arthritis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Cancer

  Scientific research on cannabis as a medicine is understood to have faced significant setbacks due to the history of restrictions imposed on production and possession in countries across the globe. Many doctors and health care providers feel there is not yet enough evidence to support the use of cannabis in treating certain conditions. In other conditions, there is more evidence and the use of cannabis has become more accepted.   As medicinal cannabis becomes used more often, there is a great opportunity to gather data on the benefits and potential risk of this medicine moving forward.   At we support the notion that much more research is needed to fully unlock the therapeutic potential of the cannabis plant as well as to identify possible harms of using cannabis as medicine.   As with many medications there are both potential benefits and side effects. Depending on the way it is administered, potency and individual circumstances immediate side effects of using cannabis may include:

• dry mouth
• decrease in short-term memory
• paranoia
• poor coordination
• red eyes
• anxiety
• blood pressure changes

Long-term side effects can include both mental and physical problems including but not limited to, cognitive impairment, addiction and bronchitis   Contact All Natural MD today (800) 250-6737 as we encourage you to resist the temptation to self-medicate and speak with a medical professional first. A trained doctor can help you take a measured approach to cannabis dosage and select the right strains according to your unique condition.   Contact All Natural MD today to learn more about qualifying for a medical marijuana card in Florida. Our doctors are authorized and certified to recommend medical cannabis in all of Florida including Sarasota and Bradenton Florida. All Natural MD

Physicians often prescribe medical marijuana for tremors and other movement disorders. There are about 20 different types of tremors that range from mild to crippling. They can be classified as either a resting tremor or an action tremor.

 

A resting tremor occurs in relaxed muscles and often affects only the fingers and hands. Most tremors are action tremors that occur when a muscle is voluntarily moved. Patients with tremors receive treatment to help manage symptoms, since most types of tremor have no cure. In this article, we will explore some of the research supporting the use of weed-based medicines for alleviating tremors and other movement disorders.

 

Patients who treat their tremors with marijuana may see improved motor coordination, but the research is still inconclusive on the effect marijuana has on tremors. MMJ has been observed to improve other movement disorders such as spasticity, and treatment plans involving marijuana for tremors hold a lot of promise. A tremor is an involuntary and rhythmic muscle contraction that causes shaking in one or more parts of the body. They can occur constantly or intermittently.

 

Tremors are considered a movement disorder that may happen sporadically or because of another disorder. Hands are most commonly affected by tremors, but the disorder can also affect patients’ arms, legs, torso, head and vocal cords. Another movement disorder is spasticity, a condition where specific muscles remain contracted. The constant contraction can lead to muscle tightness and can impede normal movement, speech and gait. Spasticity is typically caused by damage to the area of the brain or the spinal cord that controls voluntary movement. Spasticity has a negative effect on joints and muscles of the extremities. Movement disorders can occur on their own but are more often symptoms of a neurological disorder, such as:

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson’s
• Cancer
• Seizures

Marijuana is a medicinal plant that contains chemical compounds called cannabinoids, such as THC and CBD, and aromatic compounds called terpenes, both of which have medicinal properties.

Marijuana produces flowers that are dried, trimmed and cured to make buds. Dried buds can be smoked or vaped. The flowers can also be turned into medicinal oils that can be ingested or taken under the tongue. Marijuana oil is a concentrated form of marijuana that combines concentrated, decarboxylated cannabinoids with a liquid oil carrier. Marijuana oil can be more potent than dry flowers. It can also be administered through a capsule, a vaping cartridge or in edibles. Licensed providers provide high-quality oils to medical patients in Florida.

 

Can THC Help With Tremors

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) has research-backed effects for the following conditions: acute psychosocial stress, anorexia, anxiety, asthma and other breathing difficulties, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, Huntington’s disease, nausea, pain, PTSD, Tourette syndrome and multiple sclerosis. Patients disabled by tremors and ataxia have been observed to have improved motor coordination when they took oral doses of THC and when smoking a marijuana cigarette. Spasticity, a movement disorder related to tremors, is also improved by THC.

 

In another clinical research study, researchers orally administered THC to patients with spasticity and central nervous system lesions. They found that 10 mg of THC significantly reduced patients’ spasticity, especially for patients with tonic or continuous spasms. While these findings did not focus on how THC helps tremors specifically, they did observe improvements in motor coordination and spasticity.

 

Parkinson’s is a disease of the central nervous system associated with progressive degeneration of the basal ganglia region of the brain and a deficiency of dopamine. The disease is marked by stiffness and tremors. In a clinical trial on patients with Parkinson’s disease, researchers assessed the clinical effect cannabis had on motor and non-motor symptoms of the disease. 22 patients smoked cannabis and were evaluated 30 minutes later. Researchers found significant improvement in the patients’ tremors, sleep quality and pain scores.

 

This study involved the whole cannabis plant and not just CBD, but other studies have looked at the effects of just CBD on motor symptom scores in addition to other effects like neuroprotective outcomes and quality of life measures. The researchers concluded that there were no statistical differences in the motor symptom scores between the three groups, suggesting that cannabis oil for tremors may not be effective without THC. The researchers also stated that larger samples were needed to verify the findings. Some researchers believe that the known neuroprotective characteristics of CBD may prove to be an effective therapy to stem the progression of the disease due to a combination of CBD’s anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

 

Contact All Natural MD today for a medical marijuana doctors certifications and ID card in Florida.

All Natural MD

(800) 250-6737

Cannabis commonly known as marijuana is being used widely for recreational or medicinal purposes. Have you ever pondered the edibles that you are taking inside your body, what they are capable of doing? How do your organs respond to them? And most importantly what power they hold to cast the effect on your body?

 

Let’s go down a brief introduction to get known about the chemistry between your body and marijuana to understand what happens in the liver when you ingest the cannabis.

 

What comes off when you ingest marijuana?

Everything that we take orally has to go through a first-pass effect. It means the things that we ingest have to go down the digestive tract and are entered and metabolized in the liver. And then finally, they become part of the bloodstream.

 

When marijuana edibles are ingested they follow the first-pass effect and enter the liver. The liver is the powerhouse of the body. It metabolizes cannabis, and cannabinoids are produced as a result of hepatic metabolism.

 

These cannabinoids upon consumption produce a psychoactive effect on the body and mind. More specifically, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a cannabinoid that causes the euphoric and intoxicating effect, while cannabidiol (CBD) is responsible for therapeutic effects. The more the dose of cannabis, the more powerful, euphoric, and the long-lasting results of cannabis appear. Ingested cannabis effects are more intense and of longer duration than inhaled cannabis. After ingestion, cannabis takes time to onset its effect as it has to undergo the first-pass mechanism, but once the cannabis ultimately shows its action, they stay much longer than inhaling cannabis.

 

Marijuana effects on liver

Doctors recommend marijuana for its medicinal advantages and therapeutic effects. Moreover, the chances are equal either it can benefit liver health or it can deteriorate the liver wellbeing. It all depends upon the consumption of marijuana. If not taken as advised by the doctors, if not inhaled or ingested for medicinal purposes and rather than it is consumed as a habit to get yourself high, euphoric, and intoxicated, then results are harmful as obvious.

 

Marijuana; how it benefits the liver health

Medicinal cannabis, as doctors suggest, is helpful in many liver conditions like

• HIV
• Chronic hepatitis C
• Alcoholic or no alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Hepatic fibrosis
• Hepatic encephalopathy

 

Now the question is how its benefits liver health in those particular conditions?

The CB2 and CB1 receptors that are present in the liver are responsible for liver health. Activation of CB2 receptors and blocking of CB2 receptors is good for hepatic health as it alleviates fibrosis, decreases inflammation, and enhances hepatocyte survival.

 

And luckily cannabinoids like CBD activate the CB2 and block the CB1 receptors thus acting as a hepatic protective element that is quite useful if it is taken in underlying hepatic disease.

So cannabidiol (CBD) having therapeutic effects helps the liver as

• It decreases hepatic inflammation
• Alleviate oxygen distress
• Decline in fibro genesis

 

If marijuana is consumed alongside alcohol, then the therapeutic effect subsides.

 

How marijuana harms hepatic health

Marijuana when is taken through the oral route issued by a Florida medical marijuana doctor or another mmj doctor in a location near you, it has to go through various steps before showing its medicinal, pharmacological, and also harmful side effects.

 

The inhaled cannabis shows instant results, as the instant recreational sensation, and euphoric state, soon these feelings wear off after some hours. That is not the case when cannabis is ingested. Although the onset of action is delayed when marijuana is taken orally. Once the effect is built, it is evident, prompt, and has a long onset of action. Meanwhile, it intoxicates the body with more power as compared to inhaled cannabis. That is why you need to be more careful while ingesting marijuana.

 

After passing through the first-pass metabolism that takes place in the liver, marijuana metabolites enter the bloodstream and brain. Once the THC and CBD enter in blood and brain, there is no U-turn, and the effect either beneficial or harmful will appear. Besides the therapeutic effects in many hepatic conditions, cannabis also worsens liver health.

 

Chronic hepatitis C

Cannabis if taken for chronic hepatitis C, it increases the fatty liver. The doctor advised should be entertained with great care before taking cannabis. Those who have chronic hepatitis C need to practice extra care if they are addicted to cannabis. Although cannabis is antiviral, still its effects are not more beneficial and useful in those patients with chronic hepatitis.

 

It all depends upon the usage of cannabis with how much intensity you prefer to consume it. if it is ingested out of precautions, and if you went against your doctors prescribed amount, the cannabis effects are fatal and can lead to end-stage cirrhosis.

 

It is not a matter of liver when we talk about marijuana’s side effects. All psychoactive drugs have ultimately negative effects on mental health to the level that if you start taking these drugs you get addicted and when you want to get rid of that addiction, the withdrawal symptoms are even more fatal. The consumers who get addicted, have to experience the rehabilitation center to come back to a normal way of life.

 

These psychoactive agents or drugs directly act on the central nervous system and alter its regular way of pattern. Anxiety, cardiovascular effects, auditory or visual illusion, pseudo hallucination, ataxia, cognition, memory problems, and many more adverse effects have arisen on a high dose of marijuana.

 

Final verdict

What exactly marijuana does to the human body, although the scientific study on it is not fully conducted yet, still it is obvious what it tends to do to our body and mind. What kind of risk factors and what therapeutic advantages it has?

 

It is fully understood that marijuana edibles do wonders when ingested. They bring relief from pain and create a joyful sensation in the body and mind. At the same time, they can damage mental health. Before taking it inside your body, ask your doctor how to take it to get benefit rather than harm.

 

Related: How To Get A Medical Marijuana Card in Florida