Anorexia Nervosa

Indications – Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia as a term refers to lack of appetite. Medically speaking, it is a mental disorder manifested by extreme fear of becoming obese with an aversion to food, usually observed in young women and regularly resulting in life-threatening weight loss, accompanied by a disturbance in body image, amenorrhea, and hyperactivity.

Causes and Cannabis Treatment

The disorder can be triggered by psychological problems (e.g. lack of self esteem), as a result of taking certain medications (e.g. chemotherapy and antiviral medicines), or it may be one of the symptoms of many chronic conditions. It can lead to malnutrition and other nutritional deficiency problem.

Cannabinoids found in cannabis seem to regulate eating behavior at several levels in the brain and the gastrointestinal system. Appetite stimulation by cannabinoids has been studied for several decades, particularly in relation to cachexia and malnutrition associated with cancer, and many studies on animals and humans have confirmed that anorectic patients may benefit from using herbal cannabis or synthetic THC.

Additionally, a study on mice published in the journal Nature Neuroscience in 2014 looked into the idea that sensory perception increases in the face of hunger, causing increased food intake. The researchers then found that THC “pressed the reset button on the sense of smell”, making mice feel hungrier and eat more.