I have practised traditional old-school medicine since I graduated from medical school. In fact, I was a medical officer in the Department of Psychiatry and then the Department of Surgery at Potchefstroom Government Hospital. And somehow, just like you, I wandered off that paved hardcoded path in search of something so unfamiliar that it had been outlawed and forbidden for all to look at; The Endocannabinoid System of the Brain and Body.
But the times have changed, and now you’re also wandering off the path from those side-effect-ridden pharmaceutical tablets and manufactured solutions. These things imperfectly attempt to fix an organic and complex biological system, but let’s be honest — for chronic conditions, it just delays the inevitable and creates more problems.
When nothing else seems to work, my patients usually come for a consult to explore what Mother Nature has to offer.
Wellness is trending now that most of us have recovered from the Pandemic. The sense of wellness is a very personal thing. Your ideal health is a memory of a state your body was in a few weeks, months or years ago. And that is difficult to quantify or explain even to yourself. Something just doesn’t feel right.
The Cannabis Plant has an uncanny ability, over and above its actual therapeutic properties, to alleviate the “feeling of being unwell.” It gets rid of symptoms almost as if they distract you from discomfort and redirect resources towards more essential, higher mental functions in the Cerebrum. So now you can focus on what’s really important, finishing that assignment or going for an afternoon walk on the beach. It’s difficult to finish your assignment if crippling Anxiety is in the way or Arthritis pain is stabbing away at your knee joints with every step on the beach.
So how does it do both? How can cannabis relieve Mental as well as Physical conditions? In medical school, they said there is “probably” no link between the body cells and the brain. Maybe the link is through the Gut... the Gut-Brain-Axis. I’m here to tell you! a system already exists in your body linked to both. They just haven’t taught it to your doctor in Medical school because it was declared illegal by men who sought to protect us but ended up simply delaying this Medical Revolution.
The Endocannabinoid System is found within your Nervous System. It’s a signal processing unit that regulates the flow of neurotransmitters, endorphins, dopamine, and the immune system for the benefit of cellular function and cognitive/emotional organisation. It’s a Traffic Cop directing traffic appropriately between the brain and the Cells. And we all produce our own components of this Endocannabinoid system naturally.
Yes. You already have Cannabinoids in your body. They are manufactured within the body (So they get the prefix -Endo) Endocannabinoids. One for the brain component, Anandamide. The equivalent of THC. One for the body component, 2-Arachidonoylglycerol. The equivalent of CBD. And probably a hundred others, too, but we don’t have the technology or medical understanding to identify them yet.
When you have a balanced and well-functioning Endocannabinoid system, the body runs like a well-oiled machine as long as you don’t have any vitamin or nutritional deficiencies (since these things can’t be produced by your body and can only be topped up with a good dietary and water intake.)
However, chronic diseases imbalance the Endocannabinoid system. This is because the body is fighting hard to attain balance again but constantly depleting its stores of Endocannabinoids.
And every day, the disease continues to deplete the Endocannabinoids — so it progresses and worsens despite the number of Ibuprofens or Paracetamol’s you take per day. Like I said, there are so many things we don’t yet understand. We can reduce inflammation with tablets, but how do we get the Signal Processing Unit back to correctly regulate what the body needs to heal itself?
We’ve all heard of the Placebo effect. How would you explain it? When patients change their stressful environments, start eating healthy again and doing Yoga in the mountains to tune in with the Human Spirit. They come back home in remission?! Noone can explain that. It’s a miracle of life. And today, in South Africa, you can reach out to a Medical Doctor and get a 6-month prescription for a Proudly South African-grown, highly regulated and GMP-laboratory grown (Previously intended for Export-only) high-quality replacement for your Endocannabinoid deficiency.
Our bodily systems will always operate harmoniously if they are in balance and not imbalanced in one direction.
Enjoy your journey of re-calibrating towards wellness. Do your own research. Don’t worry about what people say. And good luck. We are all here together, fighting from all sides for the Freedom of the Cannabis Plant.
Written exclusively for Rolling Stoner Magazine.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only. Rolling Stoner Magazine encourages readers to seek professional medical advice before using cannabis. We advocate for the safe and responsible use of cannabis in accordance with local laws.