HIV/AIDS
Medical Marijuana and HIV/AIDS
If you’re not sure where to turn after being diagnosed with HIV or AIDS or are wondering about your treatment options, we can help. Your symptoms may include weight loss, loss of appetite, and peripheral neuropathy. The side effects of the medications may include nausea, vomiting, anxiety and trouble sleeping, and they lead many patients to research the effectiveness of medical marijuana for HIV/AIDS. Understanding how medical cannabis for HIV/AIDS works will help you determine if it’s a suitable treatment option for you or a loved one.
According to the World Health Organization, over 500,000 Americans have died from HIV/AIDS, and over one million US citizens are living with the disease. It is a chronic, life-threatening condition that is one of the most commonly cited reasons cannabis patients get medical marijuana. In fact, each medical marijuana state includes HIV/AIDS as a qualifying medical condition.
Patients living with HIV typically take antiretroviral drugs to prolong the onset of AIDS. But side effects of antiretroviral therapy—which include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and severe pain in the nerve endings (polyneuropathies)—are often unbearable. Other side effects of HIV/AIDS include wasting syndrome or cachexia and intractable pain. Many patients use medical marijuana to help manage their symptoms. According to 2005 study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, more than 60% of HIV patients use cannabis as a medicine.
Medical Marijuana is widely recognized as an effective treatment for symptoms of HIV/AIDS and the side effects related to the antiretroviral therapies that constitute the first line of treatment for HIV/AIDS. Its value as an anti-emetic (stops vomiting) and analgesic (relieves pain) has been proven in numerous studies and has been recognized by several government-sponsored reviews.
Medical marijuana for HIV/AIDS can help alleviate uncomfortable symptoms you may be experiencing from either the condition or its treatment.
