Looking For Alternative Ways Than Pills

Dealing with stiff, cramping muscles, and daily aching is just another way of life for 2.5 million people who live with MS. Another 15 million people who suffer from spinal chord injuries have similar pains on top of limited movement and the lack of sleep they most desperately need.

Several conventional medications are available to help mitigate some of the discomfort, yet they rarely provide the patient with total relief. These conventional drugs often times cause weakness, make the patient constantly sleepy, and has side effects that many of the patients find intolerable such as constant constipation.

With an outlook such as this, many patients with both spinal chord injuries and MS have sought out medical marijuana because of the complete decrease in pain.

Patients of spinal chord injuries and MS also said they valued the drug because it relieved nausea or helped them sleep. A'82 study of people with spinal cord injuries, found that 21 of 43 of the case studies reported that marijuana lessened muscle spasticity (a condition in which muscles tense reflexively and resist stretching), while nearly every participant in a'97 survey of 112 regular marijuana users with multiple sclerosis replied that the drug lessened both pain and spasticity.

This study is not intended to show that all people who suffer from MS find relief simply those who use marijuana do.

Animal research demonstrates that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity. Spasms are theorized to occur in areas of the brain that manage movement, including various areas that have abundant cannabinoid receptors.

One experiment showed that rodents become more animated under small doses od cannabinoids and less active when they get higher doses.

Many marijuana users also note that the drug affects movement, making their bodies sway and their hands unsteady.

Researchers are still unsure of the exact mechanics behind the cannabinoids effects. With all of the findings that show marijuana contains anecdotal evidence, it's properties still go untested.

Very few reports are helpful because they are limited in the amount of people and in general hard to find.

Still, the lack of good universally effective medicine for muscle spasticity is a compelling reason to continue exploring cannonaded drugs in the clinic.