Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0093.014 1998-2000 • 0 Cannabis sativa: • • . • one of the most important med by Glen Martin Swartwout, A.B. (Dartmouth College), B.D. (honorary, Universal Brotherhood Movement, licensed Minister), O.D. (State University of New York, licensed Doctor of Optometry), F.I.C.A N. (Fellow, International College of Applied Nutrition), F.C.S.O. (Fellow, College of Syntonic Optometry), with a doctorate in natural medicine from Clayton School The World Health Organization has acknowledged that traditional • herbal medicines are absolutely essential to the healthcare of the world's population. There is no question of caring for world -wide health needs without herbal medicine. There is no question regarding the sustainability and ecological wisdom of such an approach. What is in question in America in the latter portion of the 20th Century is the health and medical RECEIVED freedom to access a God -given source of healing. _ By ���County Council Cannabis sativa in Herbal Medicine Genesis 1:29 states that God has given us every herb, bearing seed to use for food and medicine. Cannabis sativa was historically, and is still, a major herbal and homeopathic medicine. • King's American Dispensatory lists the effects of as "anodyne, hypnotic, antispasmodic and phrenic, producing sleep even where morphine has failed, and without impairing the appetite, repressing the secretions, or causing constipation like opium and its preparations. It frequently allays pain, and has been found of great benefit in hysteria, chorea, and other nervous affections." In moderate doses, it "lessens pain, checks spasmodic action, improves the appetite, causes sleep, [and] exhilaration of spirits." "Medicinally, in small doses, its effects are less intense than those of opium, and the excretions are not so much suppressed by it; it does not disturb digestion, rather increases the appetite, seldom induces sickness of the stomach, never causes congestion, and disturbs the expectoration far less than opium, also effects [s.i.c.] the nervous system much less, and produces a more natural sleep without interfering with the • actions of the internal organs. Cannabis is one of the most • important of our remedies [emphasis added], but like our best agents, it must no be Cotes. Na. Fite Presented CO"" `"— Bet Rot. r> AEC 2 3 1998 0 used indiscriminately, but its cases should be be specifically selected. The great indication for cannabis (the keynote) is marked nervous depression. With this.indication present it will fulfil a multitude of uses. Specifically selected it has been efficient in delirium tremens, wakefulness in fevers, neuralgia, gout, rheumatism, infantile convulsions, low mental conditions, insanity, etc., and in inflammatory' conditions in cases where opium disagrees, and is often preferable to opium. Acute mania and dementia, epilepsy, hysterical catalepsy, cerebral softening (with potassium bromide), anemia of the cerebral cortex, paralysis agitans and senile tremors, traumatic or idiopathic tetanus, and irritable reflexes, are among the nervous disorders in which it exerts a positively beneficial and soothing action, when depression is the guide to its selection. In mental disturbances the guides to its are mental oppression, a dull, drowsy, or stupid countenance (a dreamy condition), with dizziness and violent throbbings in the head, and a morbid fear,of becoming insane. The patient sometimes has an "exaggerated idea of time and space" (Webster). The drug is a useful hypnotic for the insane. As a remedy for pain, it ranks among the first; the more spasmodic the pain the better it acts. The neuralgic pains of depression are those most quickly relieved. It should be administered in painful states of the stomach, as gastric neuralgia, nervous gastralgia, in gastric ulcers, where opium is inadmissible, and in pain due to indigestion. The pains attending lientery, after - pains, the passage of renal and hepatic calculi, gout, neuralgia of the uterus, cancer, locomotor ataxia, are all met by it, and, added to purgatives, it mitigates their griping effects. It relieves the itching of cutaneous disorders, particularly that of senile pruritis and eczematous affections: Migraine, nervous headache, facial, and other neuralgias, whether due to catamenial wrongs or attending the menopause, as well as those depending upon fatigue, are relieved when nervous depression is the most marked symptom. Head - pains, due to tumors, have been asserted to yield to cannabis. The pains of chronic rheumatism, sciatica, spinal meningitis, dysmenorrhea, endometritis, subinvolution, and the vague pains of amenorrhea, with depression, call for cannabis. Owing to a special action upon the reproductive apparatus, it is accredited with averting threatened abortion. It is a prominent remedy for certain spasmodic conditions and especially in the choreic states •of weak women and children. It mitigates whooping -cough and other convulsive coughs; alleviates palpitation of the heart, with stitching pain in the part; quiets hysterical manifestations, and allays.the distressing symptoms of spasmodic asthma, and periodic hyperaesthetic rhinitis. It is a valuable remedy in senile catarrh, with harrassing cough and profuse mucous'expectoration, and, both internally and by inhalation, it has afforded relief in the painful cough of consumptives." 0 0 "Cannabis is said in many cases to increase the strength of the uterine contractions during parturition, in atonic conditions, without the unpleasant consequences of ergot, and for which purpose it should be used in the form of tincture (see below); 30 drops, or specific cannabis, 10 drops, in sweetened water or. mucilage, as often as required. In menorrhagia, the tincture in doses of 5 or 10 drops, 3 or 4 times a day, has checked the discharge in 24 to 48 hours." "The greatest reputation of cannabis has been acquired from its prompt results in certain disorders of the genito - urinary tract. In fact, its second great keynote or indication is irritation of the genito- urinary tract, and the indication is even of more value when associated with general nervous depression." "It is, therefore, useful in gonorrhea, chronic irritation of the bladder, in chronic cystitis, with painful micturition, and in painful urinary affections generally. It makes no difference whether a urethritis be specific or not, or whether it is acute or chronic, the irritation is a sufficient guide to the selection of cannabis. Use it in gonorrhea to relieve the ardor urinae, and to prevent urethral spasm and avert chordee, and in gleet, to relieve the irritation and discharge; employ it also in spasm of the vesical sphincter, in dysuria and in strangury, when spasmodic. Burning and scalding in passing urine, with frequent desire to micturate, are always relieved by cannabis. The following is said to be a certain cure for gonorrhea: Take, while in blossom, equal parts of the tops of the male and female hemp (Cannabis sativa), bruise them in a mortar, and express the juice; to this add an equal portion of alcohol. Dose, from 1 to 3 drops every 2 to 3 hours. It should be remembered that the American hemp has the same properties as the Indian hemp, but is a much feebler product - the difference, therefore, not being, as some have indicated, in action, but merely in degree. Cannabis has been recommended in diabetes and hematuria, and in Bright's disease, with painful voiding of bloody urine, it is strongly endorsed. By its control over the mental functions, it controls lascivious thoughts, dreams and desires, and is, therefore, of some value in nocturnal seminal emissions. Probably its control over urethral irritation contributes to its value here. In this manner impotence is said to have been cured by it. Cannabis has some reputation as a remedy for chronic alcoholism, and for the cure of the opium habit." "Externally, the resin may be applied endermically or in embrocation with oils, ointments, chloroform, etc., in inflammatory and neuralgic affections. It may also be used in injections. The green plant collected in the spring, and 2 or 3 twigs placed in or between beds, will, it 0 0 . is asserted, certainly and effectually cause bedbugs to remove from the room in which they are used. Hemp seed, in infusion, has been found very useful in after - pains, and in the bearing -down sensation accompanying • prolapsus uteri. A combination of cannabis, collodion, and. salicylic acid has been. used to destroy corns, the extract of the hemp acting as an anodyne." "A tincture may be made by dissolving 24 grains of the resinous extract in a fluid ounce of rectified spirit; for ordinary purposes, its dose is from 10 to 30 drops. The extract varies in strength, which will require a variation in the doses. When well .prepared, the dose is from 1/2 grain to 1 grain; but this may vary from 1 grain to 20 grains, depending entirely on the quality of the article. The English extract is a good preparation, and of all extracts, the smaller dose is said to be an efficient hypnotic, though many declare it inefficient for this purpose. The best preparation is the specific cannabis, which may be given in doses of a fraction of a drop to 10 drops. The ordinary prescription for its specific effects is: Rx Specific cannabis, gtt. v to xxx; aqua, fl oz iv. Mix. Dose, a teaspoonful every 1/2 to 2 or 3 hours." "Specific indications and Uses. - Great nervous depression; irritation of the genito - urinary tract; painful micturition, with tenesmus; ardor urinae, scalding, burning, frequent micturition; low mental conditions; wakefulness; insomnia, with unpleasant dreams during momentary sleep; spasmodic and painful conditions, with nervous depression; mental illusions; menstrual headache; palpitation of the heart, with sharp stitching pains in the heart; hallucinations; cerebral anemia, from spasm of cerebral vessels."' Cannabis _sativa in Homeopathic Medicine According to Clarke,Cannabis saliva was generally prescribed by homeopathic physicians as a tincture of the male and female flowering tops for conditions including ascites, asthma, cataract, cystitis, corneal opacity, contractions in the fingers, gonorrhea, headache, hysteria, infantile Ieucorrhea, nephritis, nose - bleed, palpitation, phimosis,. pleurisy, pneumonia, post- parturn hemorrhage, priapism, stammering, tetanus, mucus in the trachea and urethral caruncle.2 1 Felter, H.W. (M.D.) and Lloyd, J.0 (Phr.M, Ph.D.) King's American Dispensatory (Eighteenth Edition, Third Revision) 1898: 422 -7. 2 Clarke, J.H. (M.D ), Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, 1900: 380 -3. . _... o 0 Some of the general therapeutic effects of the tincture include the relief of "acute drawing, and contractive, pressive pains, with sensation of paralysis, or shocks and deep shootings in different parts, or else a sensation as if pinched with the fingers. - Rheumatic pulling during movement, apparently in the periosteum. - General, dejection, with tottering and soreness of knees. - Great fatigue, from having spoken or written. - Tetanus, chiefly in the upper limbs, and in the trunk... " etcetera In addition, Clarke lists about three pages of specific symptoms that this remedy allieviates, affecting the mind, head, eyes, ears, nose, face, mouth, stomach, abdomen, stool and anus, urinary organs, male sexual organs, female sexual organs, respiratory organs, chest, heart, neck and back, upper limbs, lower limbs, sleep and fever. 4 Cannabis sativa in Modern Medicine Specifically in my field of specialty, more recent research has explored the possible use of the herb Cannabis sativa (hemp), either topically on the eye or systemically, to reduce IOP (Intra Ocular Pressure) in glaucoma. With the potential to decrease eye pressure by 51 %, it is the most effective agent known for IOP reductions Smoking this herb unfortunately results in numerous side effects including tachycardia (speeding heart rate by 22 to 65 %, the opposite of beta biockers), low blood pressure, a false sense of euphoria, photophobia, blepharospasm, dry eyes, and loss of short term memory.678 Extracts of this herb were used widely in medicine until early in this century, when the economics of the paper industry resulted in political action against its abuse as a recreational drug. Now, hemp oil and a variety of hemp seed products are becoming more available, providing an excellent 3 Clarke, J.H. (M.D.), Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, 1900: 380 -3. 4 Clarke, J.H. (M.D.), Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, 1900: 380 -3. 5 Cooler P., Gregg J.M., Effect of delta -9- tetrahydrocannabino) on intraocular pressure in humans, S outhern Medical Journal 1977; 70:95.1 -54. 6 Cooler P., Gregg J.M., Effect of delta -9- tetrahydrocannabino) on intraocular pressure in humans, S outhern Medical Journal 1977; 70:951 -54. 7 Goldberg 1., Kass M.A., Becker B., Marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma, The Sightsaving Review, Winter 1978 -79, 147 -1.55. 8 Zimmerman T.J., Marijuana in opthalmology - past, present and future, Annals of Opthalmology 1979;203 -05. 0 0 �. source of essential fatty acids to nourish the nerves of the eye., Tinctures and homeopathics, however, remain unavailable, even high potency homeopathics that contain absolutely no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The herb was banned even for medical 'purposes in 1992.9 More recently, an increasing number of states are approving lawful medical uses of the therapeutic herb for glaucoma and other medical conditions. • • • • • 9 U.S. Rescinds approval of marijuana as therapy, The New' York Times March 11, 1992.