Multiple Sclerosis issues concerning Vitamin D and Medical Marijuana

	from Julie Stachowiak, Ph.D. of msguide@about.com Both vitamin D and medical marijuana have been in the news recently. You have to kind of laugh at the difference in the "images" of these two substances: Vitamin D brings to mind visions of gap-tooth kids with milk mustaches and sunlight, whereas marijuana... Well, let's just say it has an image problem to many people in the US - including our lawmakers. I'll be covering this more in-depth in the near future, but there are some benefits to medical marijuana for controlling symptoms of people with MS. There are also some places where it just doesn't perform as well. Stay tuned and take care of yourselves, my friends.
In the Spotlight

NJ Considers Medical Marijuana, with Granny Spokeswoman Regardless of your feelings about medical marijuana, you have to think that this woman is pretty darn cool... Nancy Fedder, who has multiple sclerosis, has become something of a spokeswoman for the cause of medical marijuana in New Jersey. She uses her coffee grinder to grind up marijuana for the pipe she smokes on her back porch to manage her multiple sclerosis symptoms. Read more... The Vitamin D and MS Link - A Cure for MS (Not) You may have heard in the news about a link between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. This is not really news. We've known for a long time that people in parts of the world that get less sunlight (and therefore have less vitamin D) are more likely than others to get multiple sclerosis. What is new is that researchers are beginning to understand how this works on the molecular and genetic level. Read more... What Vitamin D CAN Do for People with MS Since most people reading this probably already have MS (and are no longer infants or fetuses when it looks like preventive supplementation is most beneficial), using vitamin D as a means to prevent MS is not really an option for us. Studies on slowing down MS disease progression with vitamin D are pretty inconclusive. However, people with MS do tend to be deficient in vitamin D and this puts us at high risk for osteoporosis, as vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption. Moderate supplementation is easy, cheap and safe. A couple of minutes of sunlight exposure (when it is not too hot, of course) is also a nice thing to do for your bones (and your mood). Read the full article: Vitamin D and MS: Our Friend in the Battle Against Osteoporosis

.
Posting comments can be beneficial to others and it allows you to express yourself.
If you have a statement or question pertaining to this article, this is the place to leave it.
Click the link below the article that reads: Post Comments. - Thank You
============================================