The scientific community is just beginning to uncover how to treat HIV/AIDS symptoms and side effects with cannabis. So far, we know that marijuana can alleviate symptoms specific to the virus and the side-effects of HIV/AIDs medications. But there is also promising research showing that cannabis can slow the virus’ progression.
Here is an overview of cannabis’ manifold benefits for managing the symptoms of HIV/AIDS, diminishing drug side effects, and inhibiting this deadly virus.
What is HIV/AIDS?
HIV, the acronym for human immunodeficiency virus, affects the immune system. One typically contracts HIV sexually, often from blood, semen or vaginal fluid. A mother can also transmit HIV/AIDS to her child during pregnancy.
After infection, the virus spreads throughout the immune system’s CD4 cells, also known as T cells. These cells then produce more infected cells. Over time, the body becomes more susceptible to disease as the number of infected, and therefore less efficient at disease prevention, T cells increases.
AIDS is the final stage (of three) in HIV infection. A person with AIDs is extremely vulnerable to illness because HIV has severely impaired their immune system. It typically takes ten years for someone with untreated HIV to progress to the second stage of infection, Chronic HIV infection. At the third stage of untreated HIV, AIDs, the life expectancy is three years.
How Many People Have HIV/AIDS?
According to UNAIDS, 36.7 million people were affected with HIV/AIDS in 2016. In the US, 74 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are men.
Today, more people than ever live with HIV/AIDS due to the inaccessibility of treatment.
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS – and coping with HIV/AIDS medication side effects, make the question of how to