Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you’re reminded that that statement is always going to be conquered by something even crazier. It is 2020 after all so I guess not a lot should be shocking us anymore. THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol found in Cannabis being a possible treatment for COVID-19 could just be some actual good news, if it really could help and isn’t just some hype.
THC is being tested on mice to see if it can attack one disease that COVID-19 advances: Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS. The THC was used to see if it could block ARDS from attacking the immune system and kill the mice. Once the toxin was introduced into the mice’s systems, the ones who received the THC survived, the ones who didn’t died. Seems like it could possibly work but researchers are stressing that more testing is needed and for people to not try to cure themselves of this on their own.
Researchers Are Cautiously Optimistic
Researchers had this say about their findings and how the testing went:
“It is of interest to note that a significant proportion of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients come down with sepsis and ARDS accompanied by cytokine storm. Because currently there is no effective treatment against ARDS, a significant percentage of such Covid-19 patients die from severe damage to the lungs and other organs, caused by cytokine storm (Mehta et al., 2020). SEB [the toxin given to the mice] being a superantigen, also triggers cytokine storm and lung injury as seen from the current study, however, clearly additional studies are needed to investigate if the mechanisms involved are similar and whether cannabinoids can be used to treat Covid-19 related ARDS.“
Scientists from the University of South Carolina
One of the scientists and co-authors of this study had this to say:
“The underlying mechanism is your immune system goes haywire and starts destroying your lungs and all your other organs. It’s like a car where you’re putting on a lot of accelerator, but the brakes aren’t working. Basically what’s going to happen is your car is going to crash because you can’t stop it. And that’s basically what’s happening with ARDS. I just want to make sure our research is not interpreted as marijuana is good for Covid-19. If you start using THC early on it might worsen the effect because it suppresses the immune system.“
Prakash Nagarkatti
If this could help or be an alternative treatment for those who don’t believe in or want a vaccine, then its better than nothing. At least the researchers are emphasizing that this is in the early stages of research and they don’t want people to try to self-medicate with THC to try to lessen their symptoms, real or not. We will get passed COVID-19 just like our grandparents or great-grandparents made it through the epidemic that is the flu. For now, though, keep wearing those masks, wash your hands often, and stay 6 feet apart. We will come out on the other side of this together if we keep fighting through this together.
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