Huntington’s Disease

Treating Huntington’s Disease with Medical Marijuana in Ohio

What is Huntington’s Disease and How Does It Affect You?

Huntington illness is a degenerative brain disease that produces uncontrollable movements, emotional issues, and cognitive impairment (cognition).

Adult-onset The most common form of this ailment, Huntington disease, strikes people in their thirties or forties. Irritability, depression, tiny involuntary movements, poor coordination, and difficulty learning new information or making judgments are all early signs and symptoms. Chorea is described as an involuntary jerking or twitching action that occurs in many persons with Huntington disease. These movements grow more apparent as the condition advances. Individuals who are affected may have difficulty walking, speaking, and swallowing. Changes in personality and a loss in thinking and reasoning ability are also common in people with this condition. Adult-onset Huntington disease patients typically live 15 to 20 years after the first indications and symptoms appear.

The juvenile type of Huntington Disease, which is far less common, occurs in childhood or adolescence. It also includes issues with movement as well as mental and emotional disturbances. Slow movements, clumsiness, frequent falls, rigidity, slurred speech, and drooling are further indications of the juvenile type. As one’s thinking and reasoning abilities deteriorate, so does one’s academic performance. In 30 to 50 percent of children with this disease, seizures occur. Huntington illness in children progresses more swiftly than in adults, and affected people usually live for 10 to 15 years after the first signs and symptoms show.

Fortunately, patients are finding tremendous relief to their Huntington’s Disease symptoms through the use of medical marijuana in Ohio. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Huntington’s, contact an experienced cannabis doctor today to schedule your consultation appointment and find out if medical cannabis is right for you!

Huntington’s Disease Symptoms

Movement Symptoms

• Jerking movements (chorea)
• Rigidity or muscle contractions (dystonia)
• Slow Eye Motions
• Impaired gait and balance
• Speech or swallowing difficulties

Cognitive Symptoms

• Difficulty organizing, prioritizing, or concentrating on responsibilities
• Mentally fixated on a single thought, behavior, or action (perseveration)
• Outbursts, acting without thinking, and sexual promiscuity can all be symptoms of a lack of impulse control.
• Lack of self-awareness of one’s own abilities and behaviors
• Difficulty learning new knowledge due to slow processing of thoughts or “finding” words

Psychiatric/Mental Symptoms

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Irritability, despair, or apathy are all symptoms of apathy.
• Anti-Social behavior
• Insomnia
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Frequent Thoughts of death, suicide, and self-harm

Symptoms of Juvenile Huntington’s Disease

• Trouble paying attention
• Poor performance in school
• Behavioral issues
• Muscle contractions affecting gait and posture
• Tremors
• Falls on a regular basis or clumsiness
• Seizures

Huntington’s Disease and Medical Marijuana

All vertebrates have an endocannabinoid system (ECS), which helps control important activities like sleep, pain, and appetite. The human body creates its own cannabinoids, which modulate and activate its many functions, but cannabinoids contained in the cannabis plant can also modulate and activate the endocannabinoid system, as its name suggests. Scientists still have a lot to learn about the numerous ways cannabis impacts the human body because the entire system was only identified in the last 30 years.

When it comes to Huntington’s Disease, scientists have established that the ECS is crucial to the disease’s progression. Some have even hypothesized that Huntington’s Disease is caused by an imbalance or shortage of the endocannabinoid system.

As it turns out, endocannabinoid system dysfunction has been related to Huntington’s Disease in a variety of ways.

For one reason, persons with Huntington’s Disease have variations in crucial brain areas compared to the general population. One significant location with these variations is the basal ganglia, a portion of the brain involved in movement. Endocannabinoids are plentiful in this area of the brain. However, most people with Huntington’s Disease exhibit a substantial loss of CB1 receptors (one of the key receptors for the endocannabinoid system) in the basal ganglia, according to post-mortem research.

Various research on both animals and humans has found that this receptor is lost in other parts of the brain linked to Huntington’s Disease. Some even claim that a decrease in this receptor’s mRNA (a genetic information-carrying molecule) is the earliest indicator of Huntington’s disease and a defining feature of its early phases. Loss of CB1 receptors has been linked to decreasing motor function and the physiological progression of Huntington’s Disease.

Increased levels of CB2 — another essential endocannabinoid system receptor — are also seen in late stages of the disease.

Furthermore, animal studies show significant changes in the amount of key endocannabinoids like anandamide and 2-AG in Huntington’s Disease patients’ brains, with decreased levels in numerous parts of the brain as the disease advances, and then an increase in anandamide in the cortex during the later stages of the disease.

In general, these findings imply that in Huntington’s Disease, the endocannabinoid system is impaired in specific regions and stages. Researchers believe that medications that either stimulate or inhibit CB1 or CB2 could be useful in treating this disease.

Possible Side-Effects of Medical Marijuana

Side effects of marijuana can include impacts in:

• Fatigue
• Sleep
• Appetite
• Reaction Time
• Memory
• Mood
• Paranoia

Nearby Medical Marijuana Doctors in Ohio

In Ohio, any patient with a qualifying condition can get an Ohio medical marijuana card from a licensed physician. TruReleaf MD can determine if you are eligible to utilize medical marijuana in your treatment plan if you have Huntington’s Disease. Contact TruReleaf MD today to discover if you are eligible for a medicinal marijuana registration card. Take our online eligibility survey as a starting step.