In a recent study out of the University of California, San Diego, researchers found that HIV-Positive participants who consumed cannabis had lower levels of neuroinflammation than non-cannabis consuming HIV-Positive patients.
“The study included 263 participants, including HIV-negative non-cannabis users and cannabis users; and HIV-positive cannabis, and non-cannabis users.”
Researchers compared the rates of chronic inflammation in HIV-Positive patients that used cannabis regularly to HIV-Positive patients that did not use cannabis at all. They also examined the rates of chronic inflammation in study participants that were HIV-Negative and found that those participants that were HIV-Positive and used cannabis had similar inflammation rates to those that were HIV-Negative and did not use cannabis.
Concluding that using cannabis while HIV-Positive helps to reduce chronic inflammation similar to that seen in participants that were HIV-Negative.
This study had similar results to a previous study from 2020, also from UC, San Diego, “published last year in the Neurology, Neuroimmunology, and Neuroinflammation journal which found recent cannabis use by people with HIV was associated with reduced inflammatory markers cerebrospinal fluid and blood.”
While we still have a long way to go to truly understand all of the benefits to the cannabis plant these studies show increased medicinal uses. I believe that we should continue to study cannabis and implement it into medical treatment plans more often.
