DOC20.SECHAT: Stories we told in 2020 (Part 1)

DOC.2020 is a series of special articles with Sechat's perspective on the most relevant facts of 2020 for Medicinal Cannabis in Brazil and worldwide

By Sechat Content

Throughout 2020, Sechat told several stories of overcoming. Even though it was a challenging year, many people and families saw their lives change with Medicinal Cannabis. Improvements in mobility, speech, pain reduction, and other symptoms of serious and rare diseases are among the effects that the plant brought to various patients who, in 2020, decided to start treatment with Medicinal Cannabis.

We have prepared a series with three articles to relive the main stories. Check out the first part below:

Medicinal Cannabis ends pain crises in jiu-jitsu practitioner from Espírito Santo

It was at the end of 2017 when Tales Loss, now 19 years old, suffered his first crisis. During a jiu-jitsu training, which he has been practicing since 2015, he was surprised by severe back pain that left him immobilized. “I didn't know what was happening, I thought it was a common injury from the fight, so I kept training until March 2018, and when I had the crises, I would be immobile for a week recovering and then I would return. In March was when I had my first crisis that never went away,” commented the young man.

Due to the ineffectiveness of the biological medication, Tales decided to seek support in alternative medicine, with Medicinal Cannabis. “In January of this year, I decided to talk to my brother about cannabis. I researched a lot and saw some cases similar to mine, where the plant was helping. The following month he obtained a non-prescriptive oil from an artisanal producer.” In March, Tales had a consultation with a prescribing doctor, who recommended the Full Spectrum 1:1 CBD:THC oil, which he has been using three times a day since then. READ MORE

Fogaça says he would grow marijuana to extract cannabidiol for daughter

Chef Henrique Fogaça stated that he would grow marijuana to extract the cannabidiol used in the treatment of his daughter Olívia if cultivation were legalized in Brazil. In an interview with Sechat, the Masterchef judge said that “extracting your own oil would be the best thing in the world”.

Fogaça entered the world of Cannabis when he saw his daughter Olívia, 13, wasting away in the face of so many allopathic medications. Olívia has a rare type of epilepsy and hypotonia (decreased muscle tone and strength, causing weakness and flaccidity). READ MORE

Cannabis restores the right to dream for a Parkinson's patient

This story is not about a cure. This story is about the reality of living with a disease that is currently incurable and debilitating, Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by muscle rigidity, involuntary tremors, and even dementia in more severe cases. It is living every day feeling your nerve cells being destroyed and, along with them, your dreams.

It was Cannabis that gave 65-year-old teacher Maria José Maia de Mirando, known as Zezé, the chance to dream again of hitting the road in a motorhome with her partner, also a teacher, Ana Maria de Almeida Santiago, 54. READ MORE

Retired woman with Alzheimer's leaves wheelchair after treatment with Cannabis

For 45 years, retiree Docel Ribeiro das Neves, 65, shared life with fellow retiree Sonia Maria da Silva Neves, 67. During this time, the couple honored all their marriage vows, but the promise to remain united in sickness and in health began to be fulfilled in 2016 when Sonia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and the family's life changed drastically.

A spark of hope ignited in the retiree's heart when his daughter-in-law sent him a video of Mr. Ivo. Tears were inevitable when he saw the same symptoms and behaviors of Sonia there, in the video, however, Ivo was reaping the benefits of Medicinal Cannabis. READ MORE

Check out other inspiring stories told by Sechat in 2020: