Benefits of medical cannabis in Glaucoma

Firstly, what is glaucoma? … Glaucoma is an eye disease that has among its final consequences the loss of vision, generally bilateral. Statistically speaking, it is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. And what does it have to do with cannabis?. Well, during the 1970´s, it was observed that regular cannabis users had low intraocular pressure figures. This finding was associated with the theory that medical cannabis could have an especially important beneficial effect for glaucoma patients. Fifty years have passed since this observation, and the issue is still debated today.

Vision is one of the most important senses for the daily life of a human being, it is a complex neurological process, susceptible to damage through various mechanisms.

For its part, glaucoma is a disease whose medical treatment has not been fully established, and for which various alternative therapies have been proposed, none of which has scientifically proven their effectiveness. The influence of cannabis on intraocular pressure has been a topic of medical interest for decades, so the available scientific information is abundant, although the conclusions are not entirely consistent. Therefore, its usefulness in management has not been officially established with glaucoma.

Despite this, there are observations and findings that describe an interesting role for cannabinoids on the pathological mechanism of glaucoma. In this sense, through this audiobook, a comprehensive tour is offered through some relevant aspects of glaucoma and its presumed relationship with medicinal cannabis. We begin with a recollection of the wonders implicit in the anatomical structure of the eye and in the physiological bases of its normal functioning, to then address the pathological aspects of glaucoma, knowing along the way the processes through which this disease causes an irreversible loss of vision.

Having known this, the next thing you will find are the characteristics and functions of the endocannabinoid system in the eye. Did you know of its existence? It is a set of cell receptors susceptible to stimulation by cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, whose effects on the eye are extremely interesting.