A marijuana plant (via Google).
Recently cannabis, or more commonly known as marijuana, is being frequently debated on multiple talk shows in the United States with respect to legalization, but its medical aspects are being overlooked. Marijuana has been used in the past to treat chronic pain and weight loss, both symptoms associated with HIV. According to a study published in AIDS Research and Human Retrovirus, marijuana may be able to prevent the disease from spreading once the patient has been infected.
For 17 months, researchers at Louisiana State University were busy getting Rhesus monkeys high— well, maybe not exactly getting the monkeys high– but more like administering a fixed amount of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, twice a day into the monkeys. All this was done while adhering to the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. By including THC in the monkeys’ diet, researchers were hoping to discover how this chemical affects the spread of HIV in monkeys.
_in_Kinnarsani_WS,_AP_W_IMG_5792.jpg)
A Rhesus monkey. The monkey used in this study (via Google).
The monkeys used in the study were in the age range of four to six-years-old, and had to pass a physical and blood test before the study was conducted to confirm that they were not presenting a new variable to the study that could cause the results to be scientifically flawed.
After the 17 month period, the researchers found the damage to lymphatic tissue in the gut area to have decreased. This is significant, as gut-associated lymphatic tissue plays a key role in HIV replication and inflammation.
Dr. Patricia Molina, a lead researcher in the study, stated “These findings reveal novel mechanisms that may potentially contribute to cannabinoid-mediated disease modulation.” These finding can be applied to humans as the direct injection of THC in monkeys has similar effects to humans smoking marijuana.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdt5mZMzHzE[/youtube]
Baltej Sekhon
