From retirement back to working life 15 years ago, Christian Hirschfeld was suddenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Unsettled and with many unanswered questions, he was discharged from hospital into his new life. What it really means for those affected to be chronically ill, unable to work and dependent on help is difficult for many […]
Crohn’s disease (MC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect the entire digestive tract. The disease brings severe, cramping abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Sufferers often lose their appetite, which leads to reduced performance and quality of life. The suffering caused by Crohn’s disease is usually enormous. Many patients with IBD already use […]
Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), also known as butterfly disease, is a rare genetic skin disorder. Affected people have such sensitive skin that even the smallest injuries, such as those caused when putting on a jumper, lead to poorly healing wounds. The symptoms are accompanied by severe pain and itching and permanently restrict the quality of life. […]
Diabetes patients often suffer from peripheral diabetic neuropathy (DNP). This disease causes painful nerve damage to the hands and feet, which can often be controlled insufficiently with medication or only in combination with severe side effects. An American research team found in a double-blind study that non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD) is an effective drug with few […]
Many diseases such as depression, pain or epilepsy are treated with established prescription drugs. However the complaints are often insufficiently alleviated or side effects occur. A Danish survey shows that cannabis can replace other medicines with better efficacy and tolerability: many of the participants were able to discontinue other medicines or reduce the dose. Painkillers, […]
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a group of congenital, hereditary diseases based on a disorder of the synthesis of connective tissue. This rare disease leads, among other things, to excessive elasticity of the skin and joints as well as malformations of the cardiovascular system. As a result, those affected suffer from pain and frequent dislocations, among […]
The neurodegenerative disease Chorea Huntington is relatively rare, with five to ten cases per 100,000 people in Europe. Although medical cannabis cannot cure the disease, it can alleviate various symptoms such as movement disorders. Chorea Huntington is a hereditary disease. The gene responsible for the disease is located on the arm of chromosome 4, which […]
The rare skin disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is characterized by unusual blistering of the skin. Children with EB are called “butterfly children” because the skin is as delicate and fragile as a butterfly wing. Only about two to three out of 100,000 people are affected by the disease. The cause is hereditary, the genes that […]
The disease hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a damage to the brain due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow. It occurs as a result of a lack of oxygen (asphyxia) and the resulting reduced blood flow to the nervous tissue during birth. In industrialized countries the incidence is estimated at 0.5 to 6 percent […]
If the hepatitis C virus (HCV) attacks liver cells, acute and chronic inflammation of the liver can develop. Normally the disease can be cured in about three months. Only in a few cases a chronic HCV infection develops. The infection can lead to liver failure or liver cancer without appropriate treatment. More than 70 million […]
