Author: Derek Beres / Source: Big Think
- For decades, marijuana has been touted as providing glaucoma relief.
- A study out of Indiana University shows that while THC reduces eye pressure, CBD does the opposite.
- Of the 18 mice tested, females were less responsive to marijuana than males.
While glaucoma has been the butt of many well-intentioned, wink-wink weed jokes for decades, the disease is quit serious.
In fact, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in people above sixty. Glaucoma is insidious as well. Abnormally high pressure in your eyes gradually damage the optic nerve.Vision loss is subtle until it reaches advanced stages, by which point there is little chance of slowing damage. By this point prevention is impossible.
It begins with patchy spots in your vision, mostly in the periphery or central vision. By the time glaucoma is in latter stages, tunnel vision results. Deterioration of the optic nerve is irreversible. Some treatments mitigate damage by lowering eye pressure, such as laser treatment and eye drops.
And, of course, there is marijuana, which does, in fact, lower eye pressure — specifically, THC lowers it. But there are trade-offs. Unlike other treatments, marijuana’s effects last 3–4 hours, meaning you need to smoke continuously throughout the day. While pressure is reduced, the constant smoke creates other problems.
However, a new study out of Indiana University reveals that marijuana, specifically CBD, can make glaucoma worse.
The study, published in Investigative Ophthalmology…
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