Article Topics
MRSA
In the United States, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) kills about 18,000 of the 94,000 people it infects each year—a rate that has doubled in the last five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MRSA is a bacterium that causes skin infections, starting with red bumps that erupt into boils filled with pus. In bad cases, MRSA can infect the lungs, urinary tract, and bloodstream. While many people can come into contact with MRSA without any problems—between 5 percent and 10 percent of people are carriers—immuno-compromised people have difficulty fighting it off.
MRSA presents a major health threat because the many strains of the bacteria don’t respond to most common antibiotics. MRSA is growing stronger, increasingly showing up in healthy people, particularly among athletes engaged in contact sports. In a two-year study, college football and soccer athletes were found to be twice as likely (about 31 percent) to be carrying the superbug, compared to 0–23 percent of athletes in non-contact sports.
Cannabinoids are gaining momentum among patients and doctors as an effective way to kill bacteria. Recently researchers in Italy and the United Kingdom proved that cannabinoids can be effectively used to treat MRSA.
Two of the five types of cannabis shown effective against are non-psychoactive, so those treated would not get “high.” Together with other constituent molecules, THC, the compound that gives the user a euphoric feeling, could prevent or reduce the painful lesions caused by MRSA infections.
Research is underway to create effective cannabis-based anti-bacterial topicals to treat skin infections.
Cannabis and Tuberculosis
Cannabis is a well-documented antibiotic. In the 1950s a study suggested that cannabis was an excellent treatment for tuberculosis (TB) and similar diseases. But research into using cannabis as an antibiotic agent was derailed due to ignorance and fear. Scientists had too little knowledge of the plant’s active ingredients and were afraid to work with it out of legal concerns and its stigma as a recreational drug.
Today, marijuana’s antimicrobial effects on TB and similar microbes make it a hopeful contender in the fight against new drug-resistant strains of TB that no longer respond to conventional antibiotic therapies.
Cannabis and Prion Diseases
Researchers have learned cannabinoids might be effective in fighting a class of proteins called “prions” known to trigger mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases. Prion diseases, or Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. TSEs are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response. Prion proteins can cause neurodegenerative diseases that progress rapidly and are invariably fatal. Once prions get into a brain, they replicate rapidly and shred brain tissue.
Specific medicinal compounds found in cannabis may hold the key to treating these neurodegenerative scourges. The marijuana molecule cannabidiol (CBD) “prevents prion accumulation and protects neurons against prion toxicity,” according to research study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The study concluded that CBD “likely represents a new class of anti-prion drugs” by inhibiting prion formation and accumulation in diseased cell cultures of mice and sheep.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, there is no FDA-approved treatment that can cure or even control prion disease. This is a unique opportunity to unlock the healing power of cannabis medicine and make a major worldwide impact in winning the battle against superbugs and associated diseases.
Why Cannabis?
Cannabis is a hardy and ancient plant that survived and evolved in harsh environments
for over a million years by producing compounds that strengthen and protect the plant from harsh environmental conditions and hazards, like ultraviolet radiation, insect infestations, diseases, and infections.
Scientists report that marijuana’s antimicrobial properties are beneficial to humans, too, shielding the body’s immune system against the frightening epidemic of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
As bacteria become stronger, the antibiotics we’ve relied on for eighty years are proving ineffective. We need to look for superior treatments to fight these superbugs, and cannabis could well be the answer.
This blog is very well written and I appreciate your efforts.
Why hasn’t anyone used cannabis against ebola? ! When a plant cures so many diseases and ailments in the human body, it is not because it is a drug, it is because it is an essential nutrient, of which mankind has been artificially and criminally deprived, through government terrorism for 70 years. Give us back our food!
Besides, birds love it, and by eliminating the pesticides and herbicides which
does not need to grow, we will also save our bees!
This happened 7yrs ago in Europe and this article was just released in the U.S. Last year??
Basically, what I’m being told is that someone could have treated my nephew when he got MRSA and they didn’t, because they have there heads in the sand.
No really look it up, this article may say 2014, but I found an article tonight from 2008 about this same research and researchers. Why aren’t we using this natural cure already?
Ps. Thank you for sharing the article.
Genocide!
I have a severe case of MRSA infection in my left foot Its about to be amputated because it’s just had another flare up and can’t be controlled by antibiotics I’ve had this bug since 2008 and had 10 operations to try and rid the foot of MRSA .On top of that I now need spinal surgery which they refuse to do while I have the bug hence the amputation As you can imagine its all very painful We try to control the pain with copious amounts of opioids (they dont work ) BUT 3 months ago I was told about This oil that may help me well I’m not in pain any more Im still having my foot amputated but at least it won’t hurt me ever again and Thanks to cannabis oil I can live a life free of pain No it didn’t stop the MRSA in my case
Iv got a staph infection in my leg at the moment and im on anti biotics, using tee tree oil on the area and taking nutritional supplements mid day 6 hrs away from anti biotics and getting pro biotics tomorrow to take mid day between doses on meds.. lots of water, elevation and rest plus a clean diet (I am an athelete and a health coach) I am trying to get my hands on some cbd… my question is, will it be ok to take the Cbd along side as anti biotics internally and topically?
Andrew,
I am attaching our drug interaction page here. If you do not find your answer here,we can direct you to a physician or nurse that can answer that question for you!
Best
Brent
Every single link says exactly the same thing: “may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, and difficulty concentrating. Some people, especially the elderly, may also experience impairment in thinking, judgment, and motor coordination….”
Manuka Honey K factor 16 is proven to cure MRSA staph, I used it on myself and it cured me.. You can put it on topically or take orally if you have staph infection in bloodstream or lungs.