Researchers: Marijuana can help with autoimmune diseases

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Research out of the University of South Carolina this week shows what medical cannabis patients have known for decades: cannabis can greatly help people with conditions like arthritis, lupus, colitis and multiple sclerosis.


A study published this month in the Journal of Biological Chemistry studied how THC can help control the functioning of certain cells, notably in the way that is helps calm a group of particles called histones that cause people to be inflamed. The study shows that THC affects DNA expression and alters how those histones are produced in the body.
“The recent findings show that THC can change critical molecules of epigenome called histones, leading to suppression of inflammation,” researchers wrote in their synopsis of the study. “These results suggest that one potential negative impact of marijuana smoking could be suppression of beneficial inflammation in the body. But they also suggest that, because of its epigenetic influence toward inflammation suppression, marijuana use could be efficacious in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, lupus, colitis, multiple sclerosis and the like, in which chronic inflammation plays a central role.”
In short: because cannabis controls inflammation, it can greatly help with the pain and discomfort caused by swollen joints, muscles, bones and colons.

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