Here’s how marijuana can help your grandpa stay healthy.

Fragile bones, insomnia, poor memory, and eating disorders are common as a person ages.

While there are several medications and multiple therapies available to treat those elderly problems, marijuana has become an effective alternative to these medications.

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According to one study , 80% of physicians approve medical marijuana as a treatment. And 90 percent of patients admitted that marijuana has helped manage the symptoms of their disease. Seniors made the largest age group of those consumers.

Here is how marijuana can be effective in the treatment of elderly health issues.

1. Provides Pain Relief:

As people age, they are prone to arthritis, headaches, lower back pain, sore muscles, muscles strain, and pelvic pain. These conditions can be acute or chronic. Marijuana can help them manage the symptoms.

According to a study conducted on the patients  65 or older by The European Journal of Medicine , medical marijuana can significantly reduce pain and improve the quality of life for elders.

Medical marijuana relieves pain as it contains cannabinoids like CBD and THC that contain anti-inflammatory effects.

 2. Improves Bone Health:

Declining bone density is another elderly issue caused by arthritis and osteoarthritis. Even worse, the bones are so fragile that they can’t resist shocks or even normal wear and tear.

And marijuana can be effective in this condition. Its CBD compound heals fracture callus when the bone is on the mend, thereby slowing down the bone deterioration process. A mice study performed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has proved that marijuana can heal fractures and enhance bone health.

Also Read: Elder patients and cannabis have an amicable relationship

 3. Aids in Sleeping:  

Troubled sleeping is common among elders. Sleep pills have become a necessary evil which can cause addictions or other side effects.

Marijuana has been found effective in reducing light sleep stages. Its compounds like THC and CBD can reduce the time a person takes to fall asleep. According to a 2006 study , marijuana can boost the alertness with the lights and had no effect on lights-off sleep. The study concluded that CBD can be effective for people with insomnia.

Here’s what Dr. Matt Roman , a medical marijuana physician, has to say on this—

“ Marijuana is an effective sleep aid because it restores a person’s natural sleep cycle, which so often falls out of sync with our schedules in today’s modern lifestyle.”

However, the “drowsy” effects of marijuana depend on the intensity of its strains. For example, mature marijuana is five times more effective drowsy effect than the fresh strain.

 4. Improves Appetite:

Declining appetite is one of the topmost health concerns among elders. The main causes are depression, changing taste buds, health conditions and medications’ effects. Inappropriate eating can lead to major health problems as they don’t get vitamin or essential nutrients. Marijuana is useful to trigger appetite in elders. This is because it stimulates the sensitivity to scents and flavors using the neural networks to let the brain know that it’s starving.

A team of European neuroscientists found that THC found in cannabis impact the receptors located in the brain’s olfactory bulb, improving one’s ability to smell food and encouraging them to eat more of it.

Also Read: How Marijuana Can Cure Cancer, AIDS and Depression?

5. Helps Manage Alzheimer’s and Dementia:

Mental disorders like Alzheimer’s take a toll on elders’ ability to think, speak and recognize. Luckily, cannabis can help manage such problems. According to one study , psychoactive components like THC removes the Alzheimer are causing plaques from the nerve cells.

THC and CBD can preserve the learning cells in the brain, according to another study. CBD is believed to remove the toxic protein by reducing inflammation in the brain while triggering the regeneration of the damaged cells.