A loss of bladder control that can occur due to multiple biological factors such as primary polydipsia , central or nephrogenic diabetes insipidus , uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, polyuria , etc. is known as UI or urinary incontinence. While polyuria usually increases the frequency and urgency of urination, it does not necessarily result in urinary incontinence. Cola, caffeine and co. stimulate the bladder. In men over the age of 40, an enlarged prostate or sometimes even prostate cancer can be responsible for this condition. Radiation and certain types of medication can also cause incontinence.
Many recent clinical studies indicate that cannabis-based cannabinoid therapy can reduce the occurrence of the distressing, embarrassing, and fairly common problem of urinary incontinence. This disorder has a profound impact on overall quality of life, and while it is a treatable condition, the underlying embarrassment discourages and prevents people from reporting this problem to doctors. There are several other diseases such as spina bifida, Blüten kaufen MS (multiple sclerosis), Parkinson’s disease, as well as spinal cord injuries and strokes that can affect the functioning of the nerves in the bladder, which can lead to involuntary urination. These diseases cause nerve damage, weaken bladder muscles, and cause inflammation.
It is known that more than 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 65 suffer from incontinence, and women suffer from this problem far more than men. Researchers at the Center for Enablement in Oxford, UK, reported in the February 2003 issue of the journal Clinical Rehabilitation that self-administered doses of whole plant cannabinoid extracts dramatically improved bladder control compared to placebo in patients with MS and spinal cord injuries . These initial findings were followed up by researchers at the London Institute of Neurology in a pilot and open-label study of medicinal cannabis or MMJ extracts for bladder dysfunction. A group of 15 patients with advanced multiple sclerosis were tested for the effect medical marijuana had on their urinary incontinence symptoms.
Investigators reported that after this cannabinoid -based therapy; Patients noted that the number, urgency, and volume of incontinence episodes decreased significantly. In addition, her nocturia problem and overall episode frequency also decreased greatly. The study concluded that medicinal cannabis-based extracts are not only safe, but also an effective treatment modality for patients with advanced MS who suffer from urinary incontinence and other problems. The results of this study were confirmed in a 2006 randomized, multi-center, placebo-controlled study involving 630 patients who were administered THC or medicinal marijuana extracts orally.
Medical researchers reported that subjects experienced up to a thirty-eight percent reduction in incontinence episodes from baseline to the end of treatment. A 33 percent reduction in the severity of the same symptoms was seen in patients administered THC. The clinical effect of cannabis in helping patients manage their incontinence symptoms was well established. At the 2006 American Urological Association Annual Meeting, preclinical data also showed that cannabis analogs can significantly reduce bladder overactivity and cystitis in animals. Following these reports and the data collected, experts are now recommending the use of cannabinoids as potential “second-line” agents to treat the problem of urinary incontinence in humans.
New treatment to help patients manage diabetes mellitus symptoms
While there is no clinical research of cannabis for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in the scientific literature, there is a small body of preclinical studies that suggest that cannabinoids found in marijuana may provide symptomatic relief in patients with diabetes mellitus. Medical marijuana is also known to alter the progression of the disease, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Autoimmunity.
The study reported that 5 mg daily injections of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD significantly reduced the incidence of diabetes in mice, and the researchers reported that about 86% of the untreated control mice in the study developed diabetes, compared to just 30 % of mice treated with CBD developed the disease. Diabetes mellitus refers to a series of autoimmune diseases characterized by defects in insulin secretion by the pancreas. This leads to hyperglycemia, or an extremely high level of glucose in the blood.
Type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes and type 2 diabetes or adult-onset diabetes are the two main types of diabetes. While type 1 diabetics depend on insulin medications for survival, type 2 diabetics produce insufficient amounts of insulin and their condition can typically be controlled through diet. In fact, statistics show that diabetes mellitus is the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. It can also lead to nerve damage, kidney failure, blindness, hardening of the arteries, and eventually death.
Researchers from the Medical College of Virginia reported in the March 2006 issue of the American Journal of Pathology that rats treated with CBD experienced significant protection from diabetic retinopathy when treated for periods of 1 to 4 weeks. Diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in adults, is characterized by a breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier and retinal oxygen deprivation. There are other pre-clinical studies that have shown the beneficial effects of cannabinoids in animal models of diabetes.
Medical marijuana is known to relieve neuropathic pain associated with diabetes mellitus, and studies published in the journal Neuroscience Letters in 2004 reported that mice given a cannabis receptor agonist experienced a decrease in diabetes-related tactile allodynia , or pain stimulus experienced due to non-injuring skin compared to the untreated controls. These results suggest that the cannabinoids in MMJ may have great therapeutic potential to treat experimental neuropathic pain induced by diabetes mellitus.
