It’s well known by now that cannabis has a multitude of effects of the human body and the mind. What does marijuana do to your body? From red eyes to sleepiness, medical marijuana impacts multiple parts of the body and brain. Everyone responds differently to the cannabis plant. Some of these bodily changes can cause significant relief from debilitating medical conditions. Check out six ways medical marijuana affects the human body.
How Marijuana Affects the Human Body
Blood Pressure
THC, a known vasodilator, reduces blood pressure by expanding the blood vessels to allow more blood flow. Ever wonder why you eyes get red when you use marijuana? This is why. Blood vessels in your eyes allow more blood flow, leading to the possibility of red eyes. This effect can lead to tremendous relief for those who experience pain associated with eye pressure and glaucoma.
Heightened Senses
Marijuana’s ability to expand blood vessels and increase blood flow causes more than just red eyes. This same effect also leads to pupil dilation. Pupil dilation causes a sensation of heightened senses, which leaves marijuana users sometimes seeing colors a little brighter than normal.
Another way marijuana heightens the bodily senses is through stimulating the olfactory bulb in the brain. The olfactory bulb is the area of the brain known for detecting scents. So, not only do colors look brighter, but food smells better too. Which transitions nicely to the next effect marijuana can have on the body…
Munchies
THC in marijuana happens to affect the same area of the brain that also controls the appetite and metabolism. Smoking marijuana can kick your metabolism into overdrive, and jump start your hunger hormone, leading to none other than the munchies. During this process, your brain will stop caring about those silly things called calories, and the dopamine spike from the marijuana will make the whole experience taste and feel amazing.
Neurological Effects
By now you’ve picked up on some ways marijuana’s effects on the brain leads to a difference in the body. But marijuana’s effect on the brain leads to more than just the munchies. When you ingest marijuana, the chemicals in your brain engage with the compounds in marijuana. There are over 60 different types of marijuana compounds, known as cannabinoids, all of which act on receptors throughout the brain. Several neurotransmitters are impacted, including the “feel-good chemical dopamine” and appetite regulation, when the brain interacts with THC.
Marijuana’s effects on the brain can help relieve symptoms associated with mental health and neurological disorders such as ADHD, PTSD, depression, anxiety and Parkinson’s. View this infographic to learn more about marijuana’s effect on the mind.
Pain Relief
Marijuana also works the same areas in your brain that control pain relief. Marijuana’s ability to reduce pain can be as effective as opiate painkillers, and less dangerous. A research study published on WebMD is just one of many examples that show how cannabis is considered an analgesic due to its pain-killing abilities.
Sleep
The indica marijuana strain is known to be a sleep inducer, helping insomniacs and others with sleep disorders get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer. Research shows that taking either CBD or THC (both compounds in marijuana) helps to increase overall sleep. THC can even increase the amount of deep-sleep someone experiences and decrease breathing disturbances, significantly improving the sleeping patterns of people with insomnia and sleep apnea.
Marijuana is so effective at relieving pain, pressure, insomnia, nausea and other medical conditions, it is sometimes thought of as a miracle plant. It positively impacts both the brain and the body and helps people with a multitude of conditions in so doing. From anxiety to pain relief, the cannabis plant has medical benefits that are undeniable with a death rate of zero thus far.
Contact Las Vegas ReLeaf, a Las Vegas medical marijuana dispensary, to learn more about medical marijuana effects and benefits. If you suffer from a condition that can be relieved with medical cannabis, ask about how you can begin the process of getting a Nevada medical marijuana card. Shop online and stop by our dispensary, located just 500 feet from the Strip, to learn more about our medical marijuana products and how marijuana affects the body.,
