since dopamine is transferred to your body when smoking weed, does it do good to parkinson’s disease sufferers?
"The primary symptoms are the results of decreased stimulation of the motor cortex by the basal ganglia, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the brain." -Wikipedia
my grandfather has parkinson’s disease, but is really chill. would him smoking weed help his disease at all? because parkinsons is a disease that is caused by "insufficient formation and action" would smoking pot help him?
Tagged with: brain • chill • dopamine • dopaminergic neurons • motor cortex • parkinson s disease • wikipedia
Filed under: parkinson symptoms
The answer is maybe.
Dopamine does not transfer to the body because of smoking marijuana, however. The short version is that higher doses of grass can indeed cause more dopamine to be released in the brain. The problem is that higher doses at sustained levels can also be not only self-limiting but also can produce or aggravate symptoms of PD.
http://www.scienceclarified.com/Io-Ma/Marijuana.html
That said, low doses can produce a feeling of well being, assist breathing and relieve some of much of the pain of Parkinson’s patients as caused by the muscle rigidity which is a prime symptom of PD.
There has been a longer history of using marijuana to treat Parkinson’s disease. It is not a cure and it doesn’t impact many symptoms but since one of the often unspoken symptoms is pain, I don’t think it should be overlooked.
A number of states now include Parkinson’s disease on the medical marijuana list.
http://parkinsonsfocustoday.blogspot.com/search?q=marijuana
One thing you will read in the articles at the above site is that far from leading your grandfather astray, it may reduce his reliance on certain far stronger medications…depending.
If your grandfather is not too uptight, get him a one-hitter and show him how to use it.
Oh yes, one last thing, while marijuana smoking in serious intensity can cause the same lung issues as smoking tobacco, this is not a concern here. There are plenty of "old" tobacco smokers. One reason that you don’t see that many with PD is that tobacco smokers do indeed appear to have a lower incidence of Parkinson’s.
Addendum:
Your grandfather might also benefit from hemp oil. It can be used as a salad dressing. Hemp seed butter can be used just the way it sounds or actually mixed with butter. While there is vitrually nothing little left to give you a high, there is plenty of nutritional value here in providing the right kinds of essential fatty acids. Should be used daily.
http://www.manitobaharvest.com/nutrition/index.asp?itemID=73
A connection similar to this has been reported before. The study attached claimed that smoking cured Alzheimer"s.
What the authors fail to realise is that the greater incidence of parkinson"s in non-smokers is not proof of smoking being a cure. It is quite the opposite. Smokers don"t live long enough to get this type of degenerative disease. It is one more proof that smoking kills. Nothing else.
Sorry to hear about your grandfather. My grandfather has parkinson’s too.
Only one way to find out, use your grandpa as a guinea pig and start lightin those blunts like it’s the fourth of July.