Cannabis for the Endocrine System 

The endocrine system is pretty much a system of different parts of the body that secret hormones that help with a lot of the biological problems that happen. 

Cannabis can help with this, especially if there is a problem with maintaining homeostasis and endocrine disorders too. 

What Endocrine disorders Entail 

This is pretty much when the endocrines system is producing too little or too specific of a hormone, or maybe too much of a hormone too, causing it to create an imbalance with the feedback loops that are needed for maintaining homeostasis. 

Tumors, lesions, infections, and the like cause a lot of problems. 

From weight gain to face puffiness, to pain of the abdomen, to even creating brittle nails and hair and making it harder to keep a period or pregnancy, these are all problems that the endocrine system can have. 

Where Cannabis Fits In 

So where does it fit in? 

Well, remember the ECS? That’s the system of cannabinoid receptors, and there are even receptors in the organs of the endocrine system including the pituitary, thyroid, and hypothalamus systems too. 

This is done to keep the homeostasis of the body, regulating the bone mass, your appetite, and even the neurotransmitters and the like. You can use this to bind the same receptors both directly and indirectly, changing the levels of the cannabinoids inside too. 

How does this counteract the disorders? While we don’t know for sure, the tight clinical trials will help to build understanding, investing how THC along with CBD may target these conditions. 

How THC can help 

THC is pretty much what makes weed well, weed, and it’s one of the biggest parts of cultivars looking to have cannabis. While some don’t like the feeling of getting high, it can help with quality of life improvements. 

This can be used to help with appetite stimulation, which can help to counteract appetite loss that comes with the disorders of the endocrine system, including thyroid and whatnot. Cannabis medicines including Marinol are oftentimes used to help with appetite boosting in those who have these conditions. 

Some may also look into how THC and cannabis may impact your mood. You may learn that in the short-term, these molecules can cause dopamine surges within the brain, resulting in both euphoria, along with relaxation. 

But long-term use may cause a blunting of this effect, and right now more studies must be done to look at these connections. 

What about pain and cramping that happens with this? Does THC help with this? While there does need to be further developments with this, there is a chance that there is a possibility that this can help with putting back the pain receptors in a patient too. 

What about CBD 

CBD is a little bit different. CBD works in a much more broad manner that binds the affinity of the cannabinoid to the sites, offering a chance to elevate the endocannabinoid in the body called anandamide. Because it binds in the same manner that THC does, it offers a similar effect that this does with THC, but milder since it isn’t psychoactive. 

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It does help with improving the mood and well-being, and it can also bind to the expanded endocannabinoid receptors, which can help determine whether or not CBD can help with pain and anxiety. 

It does help with some anxiety symptoms, especially those with hyperthyroidism. Right now though, there is still many clinical trials being done on the effectiveness of this on the body, and whether it’s a surefire treatment for those suffering from these various disorders as well too.

All about CBD topicals 

You’ve probably used CBD in one way or another, and you might’ve heard about these topicals. Are they worth it? 

Read on to find out a bit more about CBD topicals, the benefits, and the best ways to use these as well. 

What are these 

Topicals by definition are basically products that are applied directly onto your skin. 

CBD types use CBD in order to properly soothe the skin, help provide nourishment, and also improve the appearance of such. 

They can help with relieving dryness, improving the look of the skin, and also helping with inflammation and other skin conditions that may be a problem. 

There are different types including: 

  • Oils that infuse CBD in them, creating full-spectrum products 
  • Creams that moisturize the skin and offer a firmer barrier 
  • Lotions that have more water, are lighter, don’t have grease, and will maintain hydration 
  • Balm s which are solidified oils that melt directly into your skin 

How it works 

Basically, when they’re used they get absorbed into the endocannabinoid system, which is a network that has different receptors that can help with everything from the nervous to the immune system to even the skin and your digestive tract. 

The ECS is all over the place, and pretty much, the goal of this is balance. This prevents you from being also wand sluggish as well. 

It can be used to help keep everything properly in balanced, and it can do it in defend ways: 

  • Proliferate which helps with skin cell preproduction. When out of control this causes psoriasis 
  • Differentiation for functions 
  • Helping to reduce immune response in your skin area. 

How it interacts is simple. pretty much the substance goes from high concentration to lower concentration. 

The epidermis is a few layers that are the primary barrier. The dermis is below this, and while created with elastic tissue and collagen, it has nerve endings, capillaries, follicles, and also glands too. When CBD gets here, it goes to the bloodstream.

The CBD comes in contact with keratinocytes at the outer layer, and it can help preserve the endocannabinoids at the epidermis too, and it can help with topical wounds, itching, various acne, and even control the growth of hair as a result of this. 

It can go into the bloodstream, but for the most part it rarely makes it all the way down to the capillary level. 

But if you put it on the forearm, neck, head, or trunk, or even inflamed areas, it can immediately go there. 

The benefits? 

Well, we did go through a bit of the benefits, but when tested on humans, there are some treatment effects that can benefit rom this, including eczema and others. 

Soothing, reddened and sensitive kind of skin chapped and rough skin, and even aging can possibly be changed with the use of this. 

There are very rare side effects wit this. Sometimes though, for some people it may cause dermatitis, but that applies to any kind of application of this. 

Because the side effects of this are usually experienced when the CBD gets to the bloodstream, there might be other effects, including diarrhea, fatigue, headaches, and even changes in the appetite and also changes in your weight too.

But is it safe to use? The short answer is yes, it’s overall pretty safe to use. If you’re not sure whether or not it’s good for the skin, do a test patch on your skin before applying it to the larger area. If you notice that there isn’t a response, it’s good to use there too.

How Marijuana can help with hypertension 

If you look anywhere on the internet, you’ve probably noticed that marijuana has a profound effect on a person’s body, and there are some scholarly debates that say that marijuana is not good for cardiovascular health, while others say that it does benefit. So what’s the truth? Let’s discuss this. 

High Blood Pressure 

Hypertension is a condition where the blood pressure goes over 130 systolic, and the diastolic is over 80 mmHg in the body, and almost half of adults that have high blood pressure suffer from the effects of this. Only about a quarter manage to properly manage the problem, and over half a million deaths cite itself from hypertension as a major factor as well. The prevalence does increase as you get older, and it does increase the risk of heart disease and stroke too. High blood pressure is a major problem for the US population, which is why making sure that the condition is managed is very important. 

Cannabinoids and heart Health 

Heart health does benefit from cannabinoids.  Most of the time, the neurotransmitters do get activated through the usage of the CB1 and the CB2 receptors, making the arteries are THC reducing the effort needed to pump the blood, and is activated when a stress response happens, to protect against the tissues being damages. 

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THC was actually found in a study that it can help with progressing atherosclerosis, which is plaque buildup within the arteries.  The oral treatments with low levels of THC does inhibit this, especially in studies that were found in mice, especially when analyzing the pleotropic immunomodulatory results on the cells that control inflammation. It wsa mediated within the CB2 receptor, which is the main one responsible for immune reception in cells. 

How this affects blood pressure. 

It’s actually something which has been scientifically established since all the way back in the 1970s, to the point where early research discovered that cannabinoids had immense therapeutic potential that comes with this, especially when regulating blood pressure. 

It was discovered that THC did raise the rate of a person’s heart, but this was brief, and then, it would significantly lower the diastolic blood pressure followed by the systolic blood pressure. It actually found that it was an intense drop, and it lasted up to 4 hours, and it was something that actually resulted in ocular pressure and the responses of such in those who were hypertensive. 

However, the initial excitement that came with this as a means to treat high blood pressure was soon mitigated through reports which convicted on the efficacy of this. 

According to a few animal studies, those that had THC tolerance were actually caused by continued use, and it did negate the hypotensive benefit. 

Other research has found that it may not be something that exists for the long term, and that there was no evidence that showed that those who used for the long term were also developing tolerances. 

In another paper that wsa peer reviewed, it was discovered that cannabis did cause a spike in the systolic blood pressure, but then they didn’t find any sort of increase in the diastolic kind of blood pressure, and that there were not other indications of marijuana use regularly creating spikes in blood pressure, and the findings actually discovered that marijuana did cause users to get lowered blood pressure levels and it did in turn decrease their heart rate. 

It was found that this was something that may be hypotensive, but right now, there is no concrete research on it, so ’we’re still waiting on answers too. 

Marijuana and Lithium 

There are certain medications that some people use, and it can cause severe side effects. One of them is lithium and cannabis. It’s something that you should definitely try not to take together, and here, we’ll go over what happens if you take both of these, and why it’s frowned upon for you to do so. 

What Lithium Is 

Lithium is a medication that you take orally to treat bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and also manic disorders. It also reduces self-harm, aggression, and behaviors that are suicidal. You usually get this in a liquid or a tablet form. 

You must be over 12 to have this and have no kidney and thyroid problems, as it can affect both. Your doctor will get blood samples and sometimes an ECG before you can take lithium. 

The side effects include: 

  • Diarrhea 
  • Weight gain 
  • Dry mouth 
  • Thirst 
  • Metallic tastes in your mouth 
  • Tiredness 
  • Tremors 
  • Nausea along with vomiting 

You should never suddenly stop taking this though, and always discuss this with a doctor before your stop, as it might be dangerous. 

The mechanism on how this works isn’t definitely known, but it can affect the CNS and the brain when you take this. 

Some of the effects that lithium has include the following: – stopping the growth of specific enzymes that’ll stop the growth of cells 

Increasing the brain cell density for those with bipolar 

Increasing the concentration of the neuronal markers of your brain cells and the health of this 

Protecting the neurons from cell death 

The Risk of this 

There are a lot of risks that you should be mindful of, as they’re much more profound than just the benefits that might be there. First thing is the lithium toxicity. When you mix lithium with cannabis, it causes a lithium overdose. CBD also can interact with this. 

In severe instances, this can be fatal. The kidneys are able to excrete most of the lithium, with the rest of it leaving through feces and sweat.  This is not metabolized, and if your kidneys are struggling to excrete it as it metabolizes, it can accumulate within the blood, increasing the risk. 

This also can cause cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which is where you start to vomit excessively after using cannabis.  This is definitely something that’s majorly increased in the use of lithium and like. 

It also reduces the effectiveness of lithium, due to the way that the cannabinoid receptors can impact the enzymes necessary to break down these chemicals too. 

There are also some really bad side effects, especially if you mix these together. 

The side effects include: 

  • Cardiac arrest 
  • Dizziness 
  • Coma 
  • Drowsiness 
  • Itching 
  • Hives 
  • Respiratory depression 
  • Palpitations 
  • Shortness of breath 
  • Seizures 
  • Sluggish feelings 

This is something you do not want to mess around with, so if you experience any of the side effects listed above after taking this, it’s vital that you get to the ER before it’s too late. 

If you do wish to mix them, do not do this before talking to your doctor, as they can help with figuring out better and other treatment methods, and also go through the other side effects and the interactions at hand. 

If you mix these, do keep them in mind. If you noticed any of the other factors that are listed above, you should definitely be mindful. 

Finally, keep in mind that lithium toxicity also can happen, which includes all of those symptoms above, but weakness, uncontrollable feelings, and also vomiting.