Cannabis May Help Repair Brain Damage From Stroke; Stoner News
A stroke is when a blood clot blocks an artery, preventing the flow of blood to the brain. Brain cells begin to die and when they do, motor skills associated with that part of the brain shut down and become unusable. Strokes are the fourth leading cause of death in America and leave the afflicted without the use of certain limbs sometimes. There are some that are able to recover fully from smaller strokes but almost 2/3 will live with some sort of disability for the rest of their lives.
Recently, a study from the the University of Nottingham released information that chemical compounds in the cannabis plant can help shrink the area of the brain affected by the stroke. Cannabinoids, the cancer curing part of the plant, improve the function of the damaged brain cells. This study reflected on 94 previous studies on mice, rats, and monkeys. The researchers stated that cannabis shows “promise as a neuroprotective treatment for a stroke”. But of course, experts need more information on the effects of the cannabis plant in humans regarding stroke damaged brain cells.
With the stroke as the leading cause of disability in adults in the UK, more than half of these people are dependent on someone else to get through their every day activities. It’s important to find a way for these people to be able to take care of themselves if possible. Since there is no medicine to fix brain damage, it’s starting to look like cannabis is the only way. There are already studies done about the benefits of cannabis to your brain, repairing the cognitive system, rather than destroying it. Cannabis is even thought to be a preemptive strike against Alzheimer’s.
Further research needs to be done, as always. Since the drug is still illegal, a lot of labs don’t want to run tests. However, the results of studies on people with stroke related brain damage has been around for a while, but yet no one seems to be talking about it. By studying the effect of cannabis on stroke patients, there would be a good deal of people who could lead a more normal life, solely because of a plant.
