Medical marijuana is promoted as a treatment for several diseases, as well as glaucoma. And currently that the sale and possession of marijuana has been legalized in states like Colorado and Washington, it may be easier than ever to self medicate as a glaucoma treatment while not consulting your medical specialist. however will it extremely work?
Glaucoma is a watch condition within which the optic nerve becomes damaged over time, reducing aspect vision. It generally results in visual defect. One reason for optic tract harm in eye disease is higher-than-normal pressure among the attention (intraocular pressure or “IOP”).
Currently, the sole thanks to management glaucoma and prevent vision loss is to lower your IOP levels. Your medical specialist will treat glaucoma with medication, reminiscent of prescription eye drops, or surgery, counting on the sort of glaucoma and the way severe it is.
Learn a lot of about: glaucoma treatment choices
The idea that marijuana may be useful in treating glaucoma dates to the 1970s. Studies conducted then showed that smoking marijuana lowered the IOP of individuals with glaucoma. As a results of this analysis, further studies were conducted examining whether or not marijuana or its active ingredient, a compound called tetrahydrocannabinol, might be wont to keep IOP lowered . This analysis was supported by the National Eye Institute, a division of the federal National Institutes of Health.
The research found that once marijuana is smoke-dried or once a variety of its active ingredient is taken as a pill or by injection, it will lower IOP. However, it solely lowers IOP for a brief amount of time—about 3 or four hours.
This short amount of your time may be a major disadvantage for the employment of marijuana as a glaucoma treatment. as a result of glaucoma must be treated 24 hours on a daily basis, you’d need to smoke marijuana six to eight times on a daily basis round the clock to receive the advantage of a systematically lowered IOP. attributable to marijuana’s mood-altering result, smoking most of it daily would go away you too impaired to drive, operate instrumentation or operate at the height of your power.
The result that marijuana has on your ability to operate isn’t the only aspect result from the drug, however. Marijuana cigarettes contain many compounds that harm the lungs. analysis has shown that regular and frequent use of marijuana, notably in high doses, will cause issues with remembering and concentration.
As scientists learn a lot of concerning glaucoma, they need additionally return to grasp that IOP isn’t the sole issue that damages the optic tract. Recent studies characterize sickness} as a medical specialty disease like shaking palsy or Alzheimer’s disease. And, there’s increasing proof that reduced flow of blood to the optic tract may additionally cause harm in patients with glaucoma. sadly, marijuana not solely lowers IOP, however it lowers vital sign throughout the body. As a result, it’s the potential to lower the blood flow to the optic tract, effectively canceling out the advantage of a lowered IOP.
Scientists area unit still exploring whether or not the active ingredients in marijuana might nevertheless provide a glaucoma treatment. However, such developments need way more analysis and area unit a few years from changing into a reality.
So, whereas marijuana will quickly lower your IOP, it isn’t suggested for treating glaucoma. Prescription medication and surgical treatments are tested and tested as effective treatments for the condition. On June 27, 2014, the american Academy of medicine reiterated its position that it doesn’t advocate marijuana or alternative cannabis product for the treatment of glaucoma.
