Pot for Glaucoma!!!

I am sure most of you would have watched Due Date.

In the movie, Galifianakis (Ethan) and Robert Downey(Peter) team up for the most memorable trip of their lives and Galifianakis ends up spending most of his money on medical weed, which he uses for glaucoma. That’s’ why his eyes appear glassy all the time.

This use of marijuana would have definitely generated some curiosity.

Cannabis, aka marijuana/ marihuana, refers to preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug and as medicine.

Helper and Frank (1971), and Helper and Petrus (1976) were the ones to show that smoking marijuana lowered intraocular pressure. The active ingredient of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The 1976 study showed that marijuana cigarettes with 4% THC lowered the eye pressure by as much as 27% when compared to placebo.  Oral dosages of 20 mg THC lowered the eye pressure by 17% when compared to placebo.

How marijuana lowers the eye pressure, is not precisely known. In addition to lowering eye pressure, it also lowers the blood pressure. This in turn may compromise the blood supply to the already damaged optic nerve. Unfortunately, marijuana's eye pressure reduction effect lasts for only 3-4 hours, implying that for round the clock eye pressure reduction, it would have to be smoked 6-8 times a day. Additionally, marijuana's mood altering effects are detrimental for patients who are used to driving or operating heavy machinery.

Till date, there is no concrete evidence that shows that marijuana decreases eye pressure enough to reduce optic nerve damage. The adverse effects from smoked marijuana, coupled with the availability of several highly effective anti-glaucoma medications has obviated the need to look into this alternative therapy any further.