Can Cannabis Help People With Diabetes? The Answer is Yes

Diabetes has become a serious problem in the United States over the course of the last few decades. In fact, it has become such an issue for Americans that it has been named the “silent killer” by medical professionals and organizations who regularly treat diabetes patients. So what makes it the “silent killer”? Well, one of the reasons is that it can be hard to notice the symptoms of diabetes until the disease has really taken its course, because it can often be misdiagnosed as other diseases due to the nature of its symptoms.

In other cases, you may not even notice the symptoms at all. It is true that some states in the United States have diabetes listed as one of the qualifying conditions on their medical marijuana programs, which means that many Americans struggling with diabetes have a variety of treatment options in the form of medical grade cannabis.

However, like we are all aware of, not every state regards medical marijuana with the same reputation, and you may not be able to get a medical marijuana card in the state that you are living in, even though your symptoms qualify you for a card in a different state. When it comes to diabetes, there has been a lot of research done by medical professionals into how cannabis can help as a treatment option. Today we are going to be talking about those studies and learn more about how medical marijuana can help medical patients dealing with type 2 diabetes, not only to manage pain and other symptoms, but also to protect and heal nerve damage caused by diabetic neuropathy. 

There are approximately 34.2 million Americans in the United States who have diabetes, either type 1 or type 2. Of those people, only 26.9 million people have been diagnosed with the chronic disease. The scariest part is that the other 7.3 million people may not even know that they have such a life-threatening health condition, due to what we talked about earlier. Diabetes can be hard to notice sometimes, as well as hard to diagnose because of the way it mimics other diseases. With that in mind, it is important to note that there are 3 different types of diabetes: general diabetes, type 1, and type 2. Type 2 is actually the most common according to a study done by Iowa University, which states that over 91% of all diabetes cases in the United States are type 2. So how can medical marijuana help patients that have type 2 diabetes?

Well, we first have to identify and define some of the symptoms related to this disease. One of the more common symptoms of diabetes is dry mouth and persistent thirst, which is the body's natural reaction to your blood sugar levels getting too high. That is why it is so important for people with diabetes to drink lots of water! One of the most severe symptoms of type 2 diabetes is neuropathy, which causes the patient to feel painful pricks and stabs all over their body. This pain can last through the day and make it hard to function, and most diabetics attest to the pain worsening at night and making it very hard to sleep. 

We already know that medical marijuana can be a very effective way to treat and manage physical pain. Diabetics neuropathy is caused by nerves that have become damaged due to high levels of glucose in the body. Medical marijuana is already used for patients dealing with neurological pain in other chronic conditions and diseases, so it just makes sense that it would be an effective treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.

Cannabis and Migraines

Have you ever experienced a migraine? If you have not, then consider yourself lucky. I have personally had to deal with migraines in the past, and they can be some of the most debilitating headaches you will ever experience. People who have dealt with migraines before know that the pain can manifest itself in different ways beyond just a headache.

Migraines can cause vision problems, nausea, and a whole lot more problems. The worst thing about migraine is that it is really difficult to get them to go away. Most people who deal with migraines will tell you that the best thing you can do to treat them is to just lay down in a dark room and try to get some rest. In most cases, over-the-counter medication will not even touch the migraine headache.

Though there has been a lot of research done into what can cause migraines and the effects that it has on the brain, not a lot is known about what actually happens in the brain to set off a migraine. A lot of people experience migraines from various factors, some of them being specific foods, dehydration, poor sleep, alcohol, certain smells, and many others. It can be helpful to know what triggers your migraines so that you know what to avoid in the future.

For me, my migraines are usually triggered by a mix of poor sleep, not eating or drinking enough, and sometimes certain smells. For some reason, the smell of cooking onions gives me a headache as well. So what can be done for people who have to deal with chronic migraines? Well, like I mentioned earlier, there is not a whole lot of over-the-counter medications that can help. However, is it possible that medical-grade cannabis could be an effective way to manage and even cure migraines before and after they start? Read the rest of this article to find out!

Unsurprisingly, there has been an increased amount of interest in cannabis-related migraine treatments. This is partially due to the fact that medical marijuana is now more accessible to the citizens of the United States than it has ever been before. We are finally able to use medical marijuana the way that it always should have been used - to treat a variety of health conditions! And this does not exclude migraines. Migraines are one of those weird health effects where there is not one perfect way to cure them. Every patient that struggles with migraines has their own different ways of treating it. However, more research is being done into cannabis’ effects on migraines in patients who regularly struggle with them.

There was a study done in 2016 on adults who used medical marijuana to treat their chronic migraines. Of those adults, many of them saw their migraine frequency decrease from an average of 10 to 4 headaches per month! For many people, this can be a life changing experience and help them to live better lives from day to day. It is also important to note that this is not the case for every patient. However, another study done in 2017 also found that medical marijuana was an effective treatment option for both preventing and managing migraine headaches.

While there are still a lot of unknowns about cannabis usage and migraines, we can at least attest that it is worth a shot if it means not having to be in that much pain throughout the month. Plus, you can really use cannabis products in whatever way is most comfortable for you - edibles, vapes, topicals, buds, oils - the world of medical marijuana can truly be whatever you make of it!