What’s the story with medical marijuana?
First, let’s broaden this a little bit. People are starting to understand that many of the critical applications of cannabis to medicine are not solely related to marijuana, which is the THC-heavy version of the plant that was previously considered a controlled substance.
Instead, many companies are now creating cannabis products without significant THC levels that are often collectively referred to generally as “cannabis.”
Cannabis and the Endocannabinoid System
Now, even if you understand that cannabis is a different consumer application than marijuana, you still may not be familiar with the basic science of why cannabis can be so promising for a wide range of health conditions.
To understand many of these opportunities and possibilities, you have to research the body’s endocannabinoid system, a lesser-known part of our immune system and biology.
When you start to see how endocannabinoids work with receptors in the body, it becomes clear why cannabis would be used as an effective medical treatment.
No Silver Bullet
Many people who start reading about the endocannabinoid system get extremely excited, thinking that it means cannabis is automatically incredibly effective against any virus or bacterial infection.
The true picture is much more complex, as pointed out by medical experts who caution consumers about doing anything without qualified medical advice. In the end, any kind of supplement use should be subject to the same care and caution as pharma drug use.
At Atlantic Coast Cannabis, M.D., Dr. Lorraine Ryan provides that kind of contemplative medical cannabis advice to patients. As we note on our website: “We are also a participating member in an online peer-to-peer portal for medical professionals …Through this portal, we are able to evaluate current patient treatments and efficacies and use this info to better treat our patients.”
It’s that specific review of efficacy and real medical data that allows us to guide our patients in an authoritative way – that makes our cannabis work more than just guesswork or opinion. It’s shortsighted and even dangerous to use anecdotal experience and basic theoretical science in place of actual medical data and clinically tested strategy. We prefer to build our office on the practical use of the best up to date information and use that to provide personalized consultation and service to patients around one of the more exciting medical innovations of our age. If you’re interested, call Dr. Ryan- let’s talk!
