Benefits of Medicinal Cannabis in Glaucoma

By Pharmacology University

Glaucoma and cannabis? If the association of the two seems crazy to you, then this ebook is for you.

Firstly, what is glaucoma? ... Glaucoma is an eye disease that has among its final consequences the loss of vision, generally bilateral. Statistically speaking, it is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. And what does it have to do with cannabis?. Well, during the 1970 ́s, it was observed that regular cannabis users had low intraocular pressure figures. This finding was associated with the theory that medical cannabis could have an especially important beneficial effect for glaucoma patients. Fifty years have passed since this observation, and the issue is still debated today.
Vision is one of the most important senses for the daily life of a human being, it is a complex neurological process, susceptible to damage through various mechanisms.

For its part, glaucoma is a disease whose medical treatment has not been fully established, and for which various alternative therapies have been proposed, none of which has scientifically proven their effectiveness. The influence of cannabis on intraocular pressure has been a topic of medical interest for decades, so the available scientific information is abundant, although the conclusions are not entirely consistent. Therefore, its usefulness in management has not been officially established with glaucoma.
Despite this, there are observations and findings that describe an interesting role for cannabinoids on the pathological mechanism of glaucoma. In this sense, through this audiobook, a comprehensive tour is offered through some relevant aspects of glaucoma and its presumed relationship with medicinal cannabis. We begin with a recollection of the wonders implicit in the anatomical structure of the eye and in the physiological bases of its normal functioning, to then address the pathological aspects of glaucoma, knowing along the way the processes through which this disease causes an irreversible loss of vision.

Having known this, the next thing you will find are the characteristics and functions of the endocannabinoid system in the eye. Did you know of its existence? It is a set of cell receptors susceptible to stimulation by cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, whose effects on the eye are extremely interesting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pharmacology University
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005828073

Pharmacology University

Pharmacology University is a company with more than 12 years of experience in educational systems focused on medicinal cannabis. We were born in Texas and since then we have had the challenge of transforming the social stigma of medicinal cannabis with the best tool in the world: Education.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Anatomical Overview of the Eye

2 Glaucoma and Vision Loss

3 The Endocannabinoid System in the Eye

4 Cannabinoids in Glaucoma Treatment

5 Cannabinoid Products to Treat Glaucoma

6 The Future of Cannabinoids in Glaucoma

About the Author

Bibliographic References

INTRODUCTION

Did you know that glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world? It is estimated that in the United States alone there are currently more than two million people diagnosed with glaucoma, with approximately one hundred and twenty thousand of them losing their vision in both eyes. Throughout the world, by the early 2000s, these numbers had risen to sixty-six million cases, with nearly seven million blind people as a result (Järvinen et. al., 2002). In general, it is a disease with alarming numbers. By the same year, for example, Argentina had a population of almost thirty-seven million inhabitants, while Colombia had almost forty million inhabitants. The number of glaucoma patients in the world at that time could not fit in either one of those countries.

Glaucoma is a disease characterized by the progressive increase of pressure inside the eye, which eventually compresses and deteriorates the internal structures, the retina being especially affected by this damage. This gradually compresses visual acuity until it causes total and irreversible loss of vision (Nucci et. al., 2008).

In 1971, Hepler and Frank, two American physicians and researchers, observed that recreational cannabis users had low levels of intraocular pressure measurements. It did not take long for these observations to be published, which started a series of experiments and studies aimed at determining whether the medicinal use of cannabis was effective