Bad? Marijuana could provide instant relief

It’s that time of year full of vacations, boating, gardening and all sorts of fun – but some have summer tummies and suffer from nausea and more. Nothing beats being sick during the warm “outdoor” months and missing out on all the excitement.

Triggers of summer nausea include dehydration, fatty and spicy foods, late night eating, eating fast or street food which can lead to food poisoning, and sun exposure.

While the scientific evidence supporting the therapeutic benefits of cannabis continues, one area where marijuana is known to be effective is nausea. Research has shown that an active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is effective in reducing nausea and vomiting, including in people undergoing chemotherapy.

RELATED: Do You Suffer From Motion Sickness? Maybe cannabis or CBD can help

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Nausea is a relatively common condition. Still, treating it with traditional methods such as herbal remedies and prescription drugs is often difficult.

Most conventional antiemetic products have fairly mild side effects but also tend to provide limited relief when treating nausea and are not effective in all patients. Alternative therapies such as acupuncture and acupressure show little evidence of dangerous side effects, but offer limited effectiveness.

A study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of New Mexico found that cannabis flowers and concentrates were effective in reducing nausea symptoms. The study reviewed the data collected via the Releaf app and found that more than 96% of people in the study reported symptom relief. In fact, subjects showed a nearly 4 point decrease in nausea severity on the 0 to 10 visual analog scale within an hour of consumption. Interestingly, symptom relief became statistically significant after just 5 minutes and continued to increase over time.

“Our results show that cannabis is used with high efficacy to treat nausea,” said Sarah See Stith, assistant professor of economics at UNM and co-leader of the study with Jacob Vigil, associate professor of psychology at UNM.

However, she warned, “There are concerns that its effectiveness could tempt high-risk groups, such as pregnant women and children, to use cannabis compared to traditional options.”

RELATED: Why Is Cannabis So Good for Nausea?

Prior to this study, the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) had already included cannabinoids in their list of the most potent drugs available for chemotherapy-induced nausea. The UNM study confirmed that cannabis is an effective and fast-acting treatment for nausea.

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The results suggest that the vast majority of patients using cannabis to treat nausea are likely to experience relief within a relatively short period of time.

However, it should be noted that the degree of effectiveness varies depending on the properties of the products consumed. The most effective products for instant relief appear to be cannabis flower and concentrates, referred to as C. sativa or hybrid. Smoking is associated with greater symptom relief compared to pipes or vaporizers, although this difference diminishes over time. You can also do an oil/sublingual treatment. High THC/low CBD ratios were generally associated with greater symptom relief in a short time, say 5 minutes.

The FDA considers the scientific link between cannabis and nausea relief sufficient to have approved two synthetic cannabinoid-based drugs for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea. Natural cannabis, with its full composition of active ingredients, may be more effective with fewer side effects and complications.