Can Marijuana Work Better For Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetes neuropathy is a common condition in the United States. But how much do you understand about the condition? Statistics show that one in
ten Americans has diabetes. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that over 33 million individuals in the country have diabetes.
The number of residents with prediabetes is even more alarming. Prediabetes is a unique condition causing rapid blood sugar or glucose elevation due to insulin resistance. Remember, too much sugar or glucose in the bloodstream reduces the ability of body cells to use glucose for fuel. Thus, failure to burn sugars or glucose results in higher blood glucose levels, which may result in body damage.
Besides the shocking statistics on Americans with diabetes, the number of prediabetes is even more shocking, where in 3 adults, one has prediabetes. The CDC revealed that more than 88 million U.S adults suffer from prediabetes. It’d become even messier if all prediabetic patients developed the condition, as at least half of the total U.S population will have diabetes.
Experts reveal that Neuropathic pain is the most debilitating and common diabetes symptom. Besides the numerous conventional treatments, they haven't produced appropriate results. More so, some medication results in adverse side effects worse than the symptoms. Currently, most physicians and researchers consider Marijuana an effective alternative to alleviate diabetic Neuropathy.
Earlier Diabetes Signs that Many Patients Usually Miss
Running a blood test for sugar and glucose is a vital body procedure most individuals don’t consider. If you have functional health insurance or a great primary physician, they’ll ensure you get an annual blood sugar test after hitting forty-five years. Experts recommend that you consider annual screening regardless of age if you have one or more diabetes cases in your family.
Statistics show that after 45 years, you have a higher risk of Type II diabetes. The Americans Diabetes Association (ADA) advises that it’ll be wise to consider annual testing upon reaching that age.
Unlike other diseases, diabetes has some early signs to help you predict its progress and possibility of developing into a chronic issue. Lifestyle, genetics, and other diagnosis are some of the major risk factors that offer an advanced warning.
You're at risk of developing or having Type II diabetes if you:
● Originates from aboriginal, pacific heritage, Hispanic, or black heritage
● Have a parent or sibling with diabetes
● Above 45 years
● Doesn’t have healthy body weight, or you have obesity
● Have high triglycerides
● Have low HDL cholesterol
● Have a diabetes diagnosis during pregnancy
● Experience frequent urination
● Have high blood pressure or hypertension requiring education
● Experience unexplained mood changes, leading to high energy vs. fatigue
● Have a polycystic ovarian disease (PCO)
Despite being common, it may be hard to notice some symptoms. With the initial stages of the disease being chronic, it’ll be wise to check the early warning signs. However, these symptoms won’t present in a debilitating way that requires immediate action.
Early Detection and Diagnosis are Vital to Curb or Reduce Health Issues
Fixing a broken item can be easy. But what will you do when something or a system breaks inside your body, leading to improper functionality, and you don’t understand how to go about it? Remember, it’ll be hard to reduce or deal with the harmful effects of diabetes in your body if you don’t understand their existence.
Experts recommend that early diabetes diagnosis is vital. You can easily change your lifestyle after getting a prediabetes diagnosis. Alternatively, you can consider a therapeutic dose of insulin medications or metformin after the early diagnosis. These strategies or adjustments will help to improve your pancreas performance, delaying insulin resistance and diabetes.
You start experiencing high glucose levels causing considerable body damage if you fail to make early detection through regular testing. It can worsen as the damage is usually invisible for a long time. Remember, most patients will wait until they develop serious symptoms to take diabetes testing and diagnosis.
Studies show that you may not feel the symptoms during the earlier stages or years. In the earlier phase, you can only experience dry mouth, urination, and other manageable minor symptoms. Nevertheless, you can hardly reverse the damage once these symptoms become noticeable and cause disruption.
It's usually hard to cure diabetes and get it away from your body. You can only consider lifestyle changes (exercise, hydration, low-carb diet) and medication. These strategies help to stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin and reduce insulin resistance in most cells.
Experts reveal that it’s a big mistake to ignore diabetes. Remember, high glucose levels in the blood may result in digestion, central nervous system messaging, muscles, and nerve impairment. Furthermore, these diabetes signs may affect sexual and reproductive health. Remember that ignoring the symptoms may result in irreversible damage. The best weapons to protect your health are prevention and early detection.
What is Diabetic Neuropathy?
Individuals with Type II diabetes usually show numerous symptoms after developing moderate to severe resistance to insulin. Many individuals usually misunderstand diabetic Neuropathy as a severe disease or condition symptom. Experts reveal that this condition is more serious and debilitating than people think.
Commonly, diabetes increases the risk of amputations among most patients. Due to the increased amputation incidence, it’s possible that you know someone with an individual missing foot or toes, a foot, or a permanent disability resulting from diabetes. Besides threatening the toes, legs, feet, and arms’ health, the condition also causes a major threat to major organs.
Studies show that diabetic Neuropathy begins in the extremities of the body parts of the patient. Patients may have or experience tingling in their toes or feet as the condition begins. Hyperpigmentation of the feet and toes is usually common for individuals with darker or olive skin tones. The tingling feeling starts due to decreased blood circulation in the toes or feet due to more plaques in arteries and veins or slower blood flow.
Remember, diabetes leads to blood thickening and various health risks. Neuropathy worsens the situation as the furthest body extremities don't get enough oxygenated blood. Insufficient supply of oxygenated blood results in a tingling sensation. However, the condition worsens and starts feeling more stinging in the hands, feet, and toes. Statistics reveal that approximately 50% of diabetic patients experience peripheral Neuropathy during the different stages.
Physical Side Effects of Neuropathy and Type II Diabetes
Studies show that Neuropathy in diabetic patients can also affect major body organs. Unlike most individuals who think that the condition only causes numbness in the toes and feet, it can adversely affect major organs. Similar to restricting blood flow to the feet and toes, the condition will reduce the blood flow to the different vital body organs.
When having Type II diabetes, Neuropathy can result in numbness, impairment, pain, and inflammation in various body parts, including:
● Yeast infections
● Fertility
● Digestive functioning
● Bladder infections
● Eyes, leading to blindness
● Cardiovascular system, especially the heart
● Sexual health and performance
Numbness is a common and significant risk for patients with diabetes. For instance, you'll feel pain after sustaining a cut on your foot or toe and take appropriate measures to ensure it's clean and free from infection. Furthermore, you'll feel pain and discomfort when the wound becomes infected and seek medical care. Nevertheless, numbness in diabetes patients makes it difficult to detect injuries and care for the wound.
Furthermore, research shows that most diabetes patients are usually immune-compromised. The compromised immune system results from the impact of Neuropathy on the different body parts, which affects the body's immune system functioning. Thus, it's usually easy for these patients to contract various infections.
When having diabetes, fighting off any infection becomes very difficult. Besides the complexity of fighting off infections, it's also hard to treat any infection. Remember, the immune system depends on a strong blood circulation process and white blood cell production to deal with disease-causing microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria. Studies show that it’s usually hard for diabetic patients to recover after becoming sick.
Diabetes and Mental Health
Besides causing harm to your body parts, the elevation of blood sugars or glucose due to diabetes can also cause a wide range of mood or mental disorders. Hypoglycemia is usually a direct causal agent of various diseases, while complex emotions trigger other mental disorders after the diagnosis.
It’s usually stressful and upsetting to get a diabetes diagnosis. Experts reveal that the condition becomes more intimidating when you start understanding and learning about its risk factors. Changing lifestyles and adjusting to a diet is usually hard for most individuals, as they may find it challenging to switch to low-carbohydrate foods and have a weight loss plan. Furthermore, taking drugs or medications daily is more upsetting.
The companion diagnosis and companion diseases have also been major stress triggers in most diabetes patients. Diabetes could impede fertility in some women, making it impossible or difficult to conceive. After forty years, neuropathic pain, loss of sight, and other debilitating symptoms start appearing, leading to the disruption of normal life. These conditions and life changes may result in enhanced paranoia, depression, and anxiety feelings.
High blood sugar and glucose levels, especially low blood sugar, may also affect your moods. Some research shows that approximately 25% of diabetic individuals usually suffer depression and mood issues. Furthermore, fluctuations in blood sugar (Glycemic) may contribute to hyperactivity, irritability, and abnormal fatigue.
Unstable blood sugar or glucose commonly causes fatigue and increases high-carbohydrates cravings to enhance energy. This food or diet is proper for individuals with weight loss goals.
Can Marijuana help with Diabetic Neuropathy?
Experts reveal that physician-supervised medical cannabis use helps moderate some diabetes symptoms. Furthermore, cannabis can be effective for diabetic Neuropathy to reduce inflammation to help lower the neurological pain severity. Despite the severe numbness that comes with diabetes, Marijuana won't help to remove the numbness or sensations due to nerve damage.
Some research reveals that cannabis’s powerful anti-inflammatory benefits are important in enhancing insulin sensitivity. Remember, after getting diabetes, the body cells will become sensitive to insulin, leading to various severe health risks for diabetes.
Results from a certain study in 2016 suggest that regular cannabis users usually have increased insulin sensitivity. From the large sample study, the physician's insulin levels were 16% lower in marijuana users than those who had never used the herb. Furthermore, insulin resistance was lower (17%) among regular marijuana users.
Recently another study revealed that in the same way the body's endocannabinoid system modulates energy and food intake, individuals using Marijuana regularly could also lose weight. Alternatively, regular marijuana use helps individuals achieve healthy body weight.
This study stated that the CB1 receptor modulation resulting from marijuana use significantly reduced triglyceride concentrations, waist circumference, and body weight. Furthermore, the modulation increased the HDL cholesterol & adiponectin concentration and HB-A1C reduction.
Thus, Marijuana can be effective in diabetes patients by making neuropathic pain manageable. It may also help to deal with symptoms, insomnia, depression, anxiety, or other associated problems.
How Do Diabetes Patients Use Medical Marijuana?
You can explore numerous medical marijuana products after getting your medical marijuana card. The card allows you to choose the appropriate option, such as vape cannabis oil (usually fast-acting and odorless), tinctures (includes sublingual drops or uptake), edibles, or other methods.
Remember, neuropathic pain usually becomes severe in the evening and may disrupt your sleep. Experts reveal that diabetic Neuropathy and frequent urination may lead to insomnia and fatigue in diabetes patients. Choosing an Indica tincture will help relieve stress and pain, helping you get sound sleep without disturbances resulting from pain symptoms.
You can also consider topicals. Many diabetic patients usually take a long time to heal wounds. Therefore, you should be aiming at preventing topical infections. Studies show that marijuana ointments and creams can effectively alleviate localized pain. More so, these products can help to condition the skin naturally to avoid cuts and cracks. Using Marijuana and CBD-infused topicals may be effective in enhancing foot health and care.
Experts reveal that some cannabis strains, especially euphoric strains, can elevate your mood. These marijuana strains help moderate feelings of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, you can use them to increase your energy and combat fatigue. It'll be wise to ask your physician about the appropriate way to use Marijuana to combat diabetes symptoms.
Can Diabetes Qualify You For the Medical Marijuana Card?
Currently, no state has included diabetes as a qualifying health condition. Nevertheless, most states consider severe pain (a common diabetes symptom) as one of the qualifying conditions for an MMJ card.
Studies show that glaucoma is twice more likely in diabetes patients. Glaucoma is a common qualifying condition in most states with an MMJ program. Thus, diabetes patients with glaucoma can apply for the MMJ card in most states.
You can also qualify for the MMJ card in some states after physicians diagnose you with treatment-resistant depression or clinical anxiety. Alternatively, in some states like Louisiana, the MMJ program allows the physician to prescribe medical marijuana use for any condition.
Reviewing your specific state laws will be wise when you have diabetes or symptoms you feel medical Marijuana can help you alleviate.
You can check at HappyMD to get more information. The platform has a friendly and knowledgeable team to respond to any questions or concerns about medical cannabis cards in your state. HappyMD will also refer you to a state-approved and licensed physician to help you apply for the MMJ card.
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