Can You Use Medical Marijuana to Treat Cancer in Louisiana?

Types of Cancers

Cancer is a common disease in the United States, and the second leading cause of death in Louisiana as recent as 2017.

Cancer is approved as a qualifying condition for a medical marijuana card in Louisiana.

Cancer refers to a group of diseases that lead to the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. These cancerous cells can invade the body and damage tissues surrounding the cells, and even metastasize into other areas causing more damage.

When cancerous cells arrive, the condition is diagnosed as being in stages I-IV depending on how severe it is.

There are many types of cancers according to The American Cancer Society, which include:

leukemia
lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma
myeloid leukemia
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
multiple myeloma
Kaposi's sarcoma cancer
breast cancer
prostate cancer
cancer of the digestive system
cancer of the respiratory system
cancer of the urinary bladder
cancer of the uterus

Medical marijuana has only recently been found to possess anti-cancer properties; however, it has shown to be effective in treating certain types of cancers and has also shown strong efficacy in treating the side effects of the vigorous cancer treatments that often harm other parts of the body in trying to eliminate or slow the progression of the cancer.

How are Cancers Treated?

While there are many types of cancers, there are also many different types of cancer treatments, and the type of cancer you have will determine the type of treatment that is appropriate for you.

Often a combination of treatments is prescribed, which may include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplants, surgery, and others.

While there are many different treatments available, some treatment options may be more volatile on the body than others, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

These types of treatments can wreak havoc on the body and its immune system, causing severe nausea, hair loss, weakness, and can lead to depression, anemia, weight loss, and many other complications.

These treatments are designed to address the main danger concerning the health of the patient: the cancer.

As an aggressive way to either remove or prevent the growth of the cancer, sacrifices are often made in terms of health to other areas, in order to prolong or preserve life.

Can Medical Marijuana Help with Cancer?

Evidence has shown that medical marijuana can help with certain types of cancers, as well as help with the side effects from cancer treatments, both in vitro and in vivo.

Cannabinoids in the cannabis plant have anti-cancer properties, promoting the inhibition of cancer growth through apoptosis, or cancer cell death, and by inducing certain cancer cell suicides through autophagy, where cancer cells digest themselves.

Interestingly, with the targeted cellular death of cancerous cells initiated by the cannabinoids, healthy or non-cancerous cells seem to be untouched.

This may potentially offer a more efficient way to target cancers in the future, though more detailed studies need to be performed to understand this mechanism more thoroughly.

Treating Cancers with Medical Marijuana

Different methods are used when treating cancer with medical marijuana, such as the case when it is prescribed in addition to traditional therapies such as chemotherapy, medical marijuana can help with pain relief, nausea alleviation and vomiting prevention.

These three benefits play a large role in helping cancer patients get through their treatments by making them more comfortable, which can be a difficult thing to achieve when subjected to the harsh effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

Cannabinoids from the cannabis plant like THC have been found to help cancer cells differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous cells both in vitro and in vivo.

This is important for cancer patients because it may help stop cancer from spreading by causing cancerous cells to kill themselves without harming the healthy surrounding tissue.

There are even two synthetic drugs designed to work similarly to the naturally occurring compounds in the cannabis plant, dronabinol and nabilone, however many patients anecdotally report using natural and non-synthetic cannabis compounds as a more effective treatment option when combined with chemotherapy or radiation.

Get a Louisiana Medical Marijuana Card for Cancer

Cancer can be a difficult and sometimes lifelong battle, and with many more Americans being diagnosed with cancer as time goes on, treatment options for cancers is an important science to understand and develop.

With the expanding knowledge of cannabis as a potential medicine for cancers and their corresponding treatments, Louisiana approves cancer as a qualifying condition for getting a medical marijuana card in Louisiana.

To find out more about medical marijuana as a medicine for cancer, consult with our staff of qualified doctors that can help walk you through the path of getting medical marijuana to help with cancer.

Our doctors can be reached at (833) 253-2943 to help answer any questions you may have about getting a Louisiana marijuana card to treat cancer related symptoms.