Neurodegeneration and inflammation in HIV infection

Neurodegeneration. Slow but progressive nervous system failure from HIV infection: New data suggests that marijuana may slow down or even prevent HIV from damaging the brain.
HIV can irreversibly damage the nervous system. The latest research reports that this process may slow down. Marijuana has the potential to stop the deteriorating condition of the human brain.
A study recently published in the Journal of Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome found that HIV patients who consumed cannabis showed significantly less cognitive impairment compared with HIV patients who did not.
Researchers collected data from 679 people living with HIV and 273 people who did not have HIV. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 79 years. The researchers then assessed each participant to see how well their brain was working, their overall health, and what medications they were currently taking. At the end of the study, researchers found that regular cannabis consumers living with HIV are 53% less likely to develop cognitive impairment compared with people living with HIV who have not used cannabis.
Researchers in a recent study concluded that "A possible mechanism for this result is the anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis, which may be particularly important" for people living with HIV. They noted that "more research is needed" to better understand how cannabis may act as a neuroprotective drug for HIV.
HIV can cause nervous degeneration even when the virus only attacks human immune cells, not our nerves or brain cells. The presence of HIV in the brain causes inflammation due to the toxins released by both the virus and the immune cells it destroys. Our neurons are extremely fragile, and continuous encephalitis will cause them to degenerate and die. HIV-related neurocognitive disorders can permanently damage memory, motor coordination, natural reflexes, speech, and emotional regulation.
A study from the University of California in San Diego, which is available in full in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, shows that daily use of cannabis may result in less inflammation of the nervous system compared to non-marijuana patients. In addition, the effects of chronic inflammation in HIV-infected people were milder. These findings are in line with the theory that cannabinoids are able to modulate inflammatory processes and influence their effects.
In industrialized countries such as the US, readily available antiretroviral drugs can stop HIV from spreading to AIDS - assuming the person can afford the drugs because of their cost. Seeing that cannabis controls several other symptoms of HIV / AIDS, it should qualify cannabis as an essential part of the standard HIV / AIDS pharmaceutical regimen.
"Daily Cannabis Use is Associated With Lower CNS Inflammation in People With HIV" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34261550/
"Cannabis Exposure is Associated With a Lower Likelihood of Neurocognitive Impairment in People Living With HIV." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31809361