Insomnia is a major health issue around the globe. Whether people suffer from insomnia as a primary condition, or it is a side effect caused by a different condition or medication, an inability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep can have a significantly negative impact on a patient’s overall health, both physically and mentally.
When a suffering patient is deprived of proper sleep, they can become more irritable, and completing routine activities can become more difficult. Insomnia impairs brain functions such as memory and decision-making, and it can also cause depression. Physically, insomnia can impair a person’s immune system, in addition to other concerns.
The cannabis plant has served as a sleep aid for many insomnia sufferers over many years, and that appears to be the case in Israel according to the results of a recent study. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:
Haifa, Israel: Cannabis use prior to bedtime is associated with improved sleep quality, according to data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.
Israeli investigators assessed the relationship between cannabis and self-reported sleep quality in a cohort of 347 subjects who reported suffering from anxiety. Subjects reported their quality of sleep each morning for 30 days.
Researchers reported: “Cannabis use [was] … linked to higher perceived sleep quality versus non-use. … These findings add to the emerging evidence of cannabis’s sleep-enhancing properties.”
The survey’s findings are consistent with those of others concluding that consumers frequently use cannabis to mitigate sleep disorders, including insomnia, and that moderate doses of cannabis improve sleep quality. Data published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine previously reported that the enactment of adult-use marijuana legalization laws is associated with a significant reduction in the sales of over-the-counter sleep aids among the general public.
Full text of the study, “Daily diary study of associations between alcohol, cannabis, co-use and sleep quality in individuals with intentions to use cannabis to cope with anxiety,” appears in Drug and Alcohol Review. Additional information on the use of cannabis for insomnia is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.
