In America alone, 31% of adults have been shown to have hypertension (more commonly known as high blood pressure), and long-term sufferers have the risk of heavy damage to the blood vessels, organs such as the heart and kidneys, and also to the arterial walls. Common symptoms of patients with high blood pressure are heart attacks, strokes, torn and damaged blood vessels in the eyes (which can at times lead to permanent blindness), brain aneurysms, and constriction of the blood vessels in the kidneys. If the hypertension is allowed to manifest over a long period of time symptoms can extend to further brain damage and memory loss.
While only initial studies have been completed, cannabis appears a very strong contender as a viable treatment for hypertension, as scientists were able to determine that the use of cannabis opens the blood vessels in animals with high blood pressure. Studies on human subjects have also been promising, showing that upon smoking or vaporizing cannabis, the patients’ heart rate will initially accelerate, but then will begin to slow after about ten minutes.
Studies on the effects of hypertension have revealed that the most common causes of hypertension are obesity, insomnia, and anxiety. These are each some of the most common ailments for which marijuana has been prescribed as a viable medication. Through treatment of these symptoms cannabis can aid in reducing or even eliminating hypertension completely.