During the pandemic, cannabis consumers fared better than others
COVID-19 and cannabis could have a much closer relationship than many believe. Specifically, a study conducted by researchers was able to highlight the antiviral effect achieved by combining terpenes, natural compounds extracted from plants, and cannabidiol (CBD). Now, another new study comes to be intertwined, indicating that consistent cannabis users suffer from much milder symptoms when they contract the coronavirus.
After analyzing hospital patient records of marijuana users with COVID, it was found that their clinical outcomes were much better than those without a link to the plant. Los Angeles: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center were the two hospitals from which the data were collected.
A retrospective analysis subsequently made it clear that there were less severe symptoms and better clinical outcomes for those patients with COVID-19 who used marijuana. “Given the magnitude of COVID-19 and the prevalence of cannabis use in the USA, it is important to evaluate how active cannabis usage may affect clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients,” the writers wrote to explain why such a study should not be overlooked.
More than 1,800 patients were analyzed. After adjusting for conditions such as age, comorbid conditions, demographics, and others, it was determined that cannabis users still had less severe disease progression compared to non-users.
The results make sense as it was previously indicated that CBD is able to fight the virus when pre-incubated with host cells before the infection appeared. Cannabis continues to demonstrate why its popularity has grown even more in recent years.