THCA vs THC: Cannabinoid Profiling

Everybody who smoked weed knows what THC is. It’s the psychoactive compound within weed that gets you high. The full scientific name for THC is Tetrahydracannabinol. However, before THC becomes psychoactive, its original state is THCa or Tetrahydrocannabinolic-acid, which is non-psychoactive.

It’s important to understand the difference between these two compounds especially if you’re into the medical applications of cannabis. In the following article I will be divulging as much information I can about this compound and what the benefits of each are.

So let’s jump into what THC and THCa is all about.

The Benefits Of THCA

One of the major benefits that marijuana patients found with THCa is that it’s not psychoactive. This means that people can consume a greater amount of the compound without getting ‘high’. This is important because for certain medical conditions, obtaining high amounts of THC is necessary.

For instance, in the case of LUPUS, an autoimmune disease that damages the connective tissues of several organs raw cannabis juice, which is high in phytocannabinoids including THCa, there is one case that has made rounds in the medical community.

Dr. William Courtney’s wife, Kristen Peskuski suffered from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus for a long time. While the majority of her doctors were sold on the idea that this disease would claim her life, Dr. Courtney started giving her a regimen of juiced raw cannabis.

Her condition improved greatly and even though her doctors claimed she would never be able to give birth, she now has a healthy daughter and seems to be doing exceptionally well.

The reason for this improvement is due to the high amounts of phytocannabinoids that can be obtained from the raw plant. When you smoke marijuana, you’re not getting all of the beneficial cannabinoids you can obtain from the plant. In fact, you burn most of the medical properties and essentially maximizes the psychoactive properties. When you juice, you get 100% of the medical benefits and in higher doses.

THCa Thus Far, Can Help With The Following:

• Reduction of Inflammation

This is especially good news for patients with Lupus and Arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

• Neuroprotective properties

For people suffering with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease can definitely find benefit with THCa

• Anti-emetic

For people who suffer from nausea or appetite suppression syndromes, this element will help them keep the food down and increase appetite.

• Anti-proliferative

This is significant for people suffering from cancer. Studies have shown that it has apoptotic properties, or in other words, it helps destroy cancer cells.

There is still a lot of medical research required on this particular cannabinoid and understanding that the US has a long standing position in blocking cannabis research, we’ll have to wait to uncover the full medical benefits of this cannabinoid.

Nonetheless, what we do know already is providing us a promising insight in the world of THCa and raw cannabis as a whole

THC Can Help With The Following

When you apply heat to THCa you convert is to its psychoactive form THC. Now while THC has been demonized by the government, there are also many therapeutic applications for the cannabinoid.

People like Rick Simpson has been experimenting with THC oils for a long time now and has helped thousands of patients rid themselves of cancer. However, THC goes well beyond the scope of cancer treatment. Here’s a short list of the medical benefits of taking the psychoactive part of the plant.

Pain Relief

One of the most recognized benefits of THC is pain relief. In fact, the vast majority of medical marijuana patients take cannabis for pain relief. THC is one of the compounds that makes pain more tolerable and can reduce pain quite quickly when inhaled through vapor. We don’t recommend smoking cannabis for medical reasons, rather get yourself a vaporizer as it is healthier in the grand scope of things.

PTSD

PTSD is like having a bad memory loop in your brain, keeping you in a constant state of fear and anxiety. THC has helped many people suffering from PTSD break this negative feedback loop and helped reduce stress and anxiety associated with the condition.

Nausea

Another benefit of THC inhaled is that it can significantly reduce nausea. In fact, this was one of the first reasons why cannabis was used for medicine; to assist patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Appetite Stimulation

In this case, the “munchies” is exactly the medical benefit that THC provides. People who suffer from medical conditions often do not have a big appetite. THC helps stimulate appetite and allows patients to eat, which helps them in the recovery process.

Asthma

We’ve been led to believe that cannabis increases lung problems, well the opposite is true. Since the 1970s, doctors have known that cannabis helps calm asthma attacks.

There are many other medical benefits of using THC in its psychoactive forms, and while I won’t dive into the whole medical history of the cannabinoid, this should give you enough insight to understand that cannabis is not the “demon plant” it was made out to be by the government.

It’s time we force the Federal government to back off from this highly medical plant and to reclaim it for the benefit of society as a whole.