It is amazing how much forward momentum we have in the main stream medical world in regards to studies of medical marijuana in the 20 years since it was first legalized in California. One of the most recent findings is actually extremely good to know for those who are using medical marijuana and in need of an organ transplant.
Marijuana may actually help lower the chance of rejection – or prolong the time between receiving and rejecting the organ at the very least. This is great news because for years people using medical marijuana have been denied organ transplants for that reason alone.
The study was done on mice, each of whom received a skin graft and were then separated into two groups: the one receiving THC and the one receiving a placebo. The mice who were treated with THC had a much longer average time between receiving the graft and rejecting it when compared to the mice on the placebo.
This means that medical marijuana could soon be on the list of treatment options post-op for those who have organ transplants. It could be especially useful in antirejection therapy, especially in those cases where the only available organ was not a perfect match, but needs to work.
This is also the first time that researchers have been able to prove that cannabinoid receptors do play an important part when it comes to organ transplants – something that has been speculated but until now not proven.
So far, the studies suggest that THC can effectively work as an antirejection therapy medication due to its ability to suppress the patient’s immune response – which is something that will not only benefit transplant patients but also those who suffer from inflammatory diseases.
Of course, this is only one study – there needs to be more before this will be an approved treatment option. Yet this is how everything else started in the world of conditions treatable by medical marijuana – they start off as one man’s curiosity that he decides to act on. From there his research will be questioned and tested to its limits until the community is sure of its beneficial uses in treating that condition.
So even though this information is still very young, this still shows great promise for patients in the future. For now, it is likely that medicinal marijuana users can find comfort in knowing that their choice of treatment should no longer stand between them and organs that would keep them alive and healthy.
