According to a story from ibtimes.co.uk, Sue Cox, a 65 year old Welsh woman from Cwmbran, has sought alternative methods for dealing with the worst symptoms of her multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition in which the myelin sheath, and insulating layer that surrounds the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, is destroyed. Damage to the sheath disrupts the ability of nerves to signal and communicate. As a result, people with the illness experience symptoms such as poor coordination, muscle weakness, sensation problems, blindness in one eye, and psychiatric issues. The disease has multiple forms. In some cases, the symptoms appear in sudden episodes between periods of relapse. In others the symptoms appear and then progressively worsen. To learn more about this condition, click here.
For Cox, the standard medications that she was taking just weren’t doing the trick any more.
She had tried several different treatments, but all of them had unpleasant side effects and were not doing enough to help her symptoms. So Ms. Cox turned to cannabis.
Cox says that the substance helped her body and muscles relax and relieved pain. Muscle spasms and movement problems are a common problem with MS. They can be painful and keep the muscles tense. For Cox, cannabis has been the most effective treatment yet in alleviating her discomfort. It does not have to be smoked in order to obtain helpful effects. She even sprinkles it on her cheese toast for breakfast. The biggest complication for Cox has been the fact that she has had to obtain the drug illegally.
Cannabis is a common treatment for MS symptoms in parts of the United States, where it has been legalized for medical purposes. A survey implemented by the MS Society in the UK found that nearly one in five people with the condition would turn to cannabis to fight its effects, even though it is illegal. That was in 2014. Legalizing the plant, at least for medical use, would clearly be of great benefit to MS patients, and the survey results seem to indicate that there is high demand for cannabis treatment (no pun intended).
