All I have to say about this, is just watch it. It's only 2 minutes and 30 seconds or so, and it very clearly demonstrates what an incredible benefit cannabis can have for shutting down the muscle tremors and spasms that are associated with Parkinson's disease. It's literally a life-changing night and day difference in a matter of minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNT8Zo_sfwo
This is information which has been circulated around lefty circles for a while, mostly among the pro-cannabis legalization crowd, but just because only lefties have been paying attention to it doesn't necessarily mean it isn't accurate. A lot of conservatives, due to their more adversarial attitudes towards cannabis use and legalization, do not seem to be aware of this yet.
Cannabis of course has a long and complex history regarding its prohibition, and legalization at the state level, and I don't really want to get into the legal complexities of state versus federal legalization or the morality aspects of its use as an intoxicant for recreational purposes with this post. There are a lot of ways in which medical knowledge can be politicized and weaponized, and to get into all of that here and now would take a really long time and be kind of exhausting.
The fact remains that the cannabinoids found in cannabis can do quite a lot to calm down the symptoms of some very serious diseases, as you can plainly see from the video above.
The reason why this works is because dysfunction in the endocannabinoid system is largely what is responsible for the active tremors and spasms that you see in many Parkinson's patients. The cannabinoids found in cannabis can help modulate your endocannabinoid receptors so they stop freaking out.
Now some people might rebut this and say that, well some studies also showed that cannabis didn't help Parkinson's patients! This necessitates differentiating between tremor-predominant and akinetic-rigid Parkinson's.
Parkinson's has a few different ways it can manifest, due to dysfunction in different types of neurons and receptors in the brain. A large part of Parkinson's dysfunction also involves dysfunction of your dopamine receptors, and your body's ability to produce dopamine. This is what results in the rigid forms of Parkinson's where people are more locked-in and unable to move at all.
If your dopamine system is fried, cannabinoids won't do anything to fix it. If your endocannabinoid system is fried, they might be able to help, and often do.
And for those who are not particularly keen on using cannabis for intoxicating purposes, you'll be pleased to know that the non-psychoactive CBD has also been shown to be extremely helpful, but Parkinson's is one of the diseases where the more active THC also has very important functions.
Here are some studies you can check out for more information:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31909680/ "Conclusion: Acute CBD administration at a dose of 300 mg decreased anxiety in patients with PD, and there was also decreased tremor amplitude in an anxiogenic situation."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24614667/ "Results: Mean (SD) total score on the motor Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale score improved significantly... Analysis of specific motor symptoms revealed significant improvement after treatment in tremor..."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33381646/ This study only had 13 people, 3 dropped out because they didn't react well to the medication, but the study still states, "Adverse events were mostly mild; none serious." It goes onto state that "Ten (eight male) that completed the study had improvement in total and motor Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale scores... Nighttime sleep and emotional/behavioral dyscontrol scores also improved significantly."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33216043/ This study involved a large survey of patient's self-reported results from using medical cannabis for their Parkinson's symptoms. The study states: "Reduction of pain and muscle cramps was reported by more than 40% of cannabis users. Stiffness/akinesia, freezing, tremor, depression, anxiety and restless legs syndrome subjectively improved for more than 20% and overall tolerability was good. Improvement of symptoms was reported by 54% of users applying oral CBD and 68% inhaling THC-containing cannabis. Compared to CBD intake, inhalation of THC was more frequently reported to reduce akinesia and stiffness (50.0% vs. 35.4%; p < 0.05)."
So, is there a buried cure for akinetic-rigid Parkinson's? What about other uses cannabis has in treating other serious issues like Crohn's disease?
Well, you'll have to wait for parts 4 and later to read about those. Stay tuned!
I read an article back in the '90s that some low level toxins are actually beneficial - they are used to enhance the immune response. I think that holds true for some things.
We can all agree that alcohol is a toxin. But some alcohol, like wine with a meal, can release many beneficial components from foods, that are otherwise difficult for the body to extract. I'm not suggesting everyone start drinking wine (I seldom do), but I have noticed that many extracts have some alcohol in them because it's required to release the compounds we want to cook with.
Take saponins, for example. This is something I only recently uncovered when researching my own allergy issues, and I might have a megathread about just this at some point.
Saponins are common in many foods. In safe amounts, they have the function of upregulating your immune system response. If you have a weak immune system, this is actually quite helpful. If you have a strong immune system, a diet very high in saponins can actually make things like chronic allergies much worse, without getting to the point of having a full-blown allergic reaction. You might just experience this as, "Oh wow, my allergies are real bad this year, must be those damn trees kicking out all that pollen into the air! I'd better take a Benadryl."
There's obviously a balance here and everyone's immune system is different. I'm already highly prone to allergies, so I now make a point to limit my intake of saponin-rich foods.
Is a saponin a "toxin"? I mean, not really. For some people, they are essential to maintaining a healthy immune system, for other people, they may simply cause your allergies to get worse. This is something that's understudied and varies a lot from person to person.