Breaking News | THC Chemicals in Cannabis Can Help Prevent and Treat Fatal COVID-19 Complications

Increasing research suggests that cannabis may help treat potentially fatal complications with COVID-19.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have found that THC, a chemical that has a psychological effect on cannabis, can help prevent the harmful immune response that causes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in mice. I did three studies.

ARDS is one of the most common complications for severely ill patients. Coronavirus.. It can be fatal or lead to permanent lung scarring.

The goal of the USC study was to see if THC could block the immune response that leads to the development of ARDS by introducing a response-causing toxin into mice.

In dozens of experiments across all three studies, all mice fed THC after the toxin survived, but mice not fed the chemical died.

Researchers warned that their study was not yet definitive and emphasized that they did not encourage people to use marijuana for self-medication with COVID-19.

However, preliminary studies show the great potential of THC as a treatment for severe cases of the virus that have already killed more than 209,000 people in the United States and more than 1 million people worldwide, they said.

Prakash Nagarkatti, co-author of USC the studyI explained my research in an interview with Status In August.

“The underlying mechanism is that your immune system weakens and begins to destroy your lungs and all other organs,” Nagarkati said of ARDS.

“It’s like a car you have a lot of accelerators on, but the brakes aren’t working. Basically what happens is that your car crashes because you can’t stop it And that’s basically what’s happening at ARDS. “

ARDS is a type of lung failure that occurs when small blood vessels in the lungs begin to leak fluid and block air from the bloodstream.

Patients with COVID-19 are known to attack when the immune system is overdriven to fight the virus and begin to attack healthy cells.

A USC study found that THC, an abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol, helps suppress the body’s immune response while increasing healthy lung bacteria.

The findings were so promising that researchers are now launching human trials to further investigate the potential effectiveness of chemicals in the fight against coronavirus.

However, Nagarkatti emphasized that his team’s research never favored the use of marijuana when people thought they had the coronavirus.

“We just want to prevent our study from interpreting marijuana as good for COVID 19,” Nagarkatti said.

“If you start using THC early, it can be less effective because it suppresses your immune system.”

Meanwhile, other studies have found evidence of the potential efficacy of marijuana in treating the virus.

A Investigation Certain terpene compounds in cannabis can also be used to prevent cytokine storm syndrome, an inflammatory reaction that can lead to fever, malaise, and vomiting in COVID-19 patients, according to Israeli researchers. It was.

Early results from the study, published in August, found that terpenes were twice as effective in suppressing cytokine storms as dexamethasone, a common corticosteroid treatment for inflammation.

And another study, published by Canadian researchers in June, found that certain strains of cannabis could help stop the virus from entering the body first.

‘Like other respiratory pathogens, SARS-CoV2 can be transmitted via respiratory droplets and can spread aerosols and contacts. It uses receptor-mediated invasion of human hosts via angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) expressed in lung tissue, as well as in the oral and nasal mucosa, kidneys, testis, and gastrointestinal tract, “the study states. There is.

“Regulation of ACE2 levels in these gateway tissues may prove a plausible strategy for reducing disease susceptibility.”

Researchers said their cannabis strains target their ACE2 receptors, potentially blocking the virus from colonizing the body.

The studies mentioned above are still in their infancy, but together they draw a promising picture of marijuana’s role in the fight against the pandemic.