The buzz around cannabidiol or CBD is on the increase, and 2017 will reveal some new therapeutic facts. Several studies have been done to investigate the medicinal effects of CBD.
Facts on cannabidiol or CBD and how it affects our health
Medical daily looks into how CBD works and how it can affect the health of people in the future as the so-called “miracle compound”.
Amongst all the hype, controversy and outright legal confusion on medical marijuana, there is also cannabidiol or CBD, one of 80 active compounds found in the cannabis plant. CBD interacts with certain receptors in the brain and throughout the body. The CB1 receptor is found on nerve and glial cells in the brain and CB2 receptors are found throughout the immune system of the human body.
Increasing evidence shows cannabidiol or CBD acts on brain signalling systems, and this is where its therapeutic actions have effect. Medical marijuana strains such as Charlotte’s Web are high in CBD.
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The 5 areas where the therapeutic action of cannabidiol CBD has been proved:
Anxiety
CBD has been found effective in reducing stress and anxiety. In 2011 a study published in Neuropsychopharmacology, showed the effect of CBD on anxiety-induced fear in subjects afraid of public speaking. One dose of CBD reduced anxiety significantly, treated cognitive impairment and difficulty in speaking.
Addiction
Compulsive and uncontrolled use and desire for a drug is how addiction is defined. A study in 2013 showed CBD inhibits the rewarding effect of morphine in a study on rats. The addictive effect of morphine was blocked by CBD reducing the pleasure offered by the drug.
Anti- cancer
CBD or cannabidiol is known for its use in conjunction with cancer treatment to reduce pain and nausea and to increase appetite. Reports show CBD has an anti-tumor effect, with cancer cells dying and CBD reducing cancer cell viability, resulting in tumor growth reduction and metastasis inhibition.
These effects are attributed to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory attributes of CBD. However, Medical Daily warns that these findings have not yet been proved in humans, only in laboratory animals.
Nerve and cancer pain, and Rheumatoid Arthritis
A cannabinoid extract containing CBD, the drug Nabiximol has analgesic effects on central and peripheral nerve pain, cancer pain and rheumatoid arthritis, and it has shown its efficacy in numerous studies. CBD is approved in Canada to treat MS and cancer pain which does not respond to opioid painkillers. It is not yet clinically clear if THC mediates the analgesic effect or if CBD alone has the therapeutic effect. Nabiximols has been approved as a botanical drug in the United Kingdom since 2010.
Diminish seizures in children
Most recently, clinical trials on cannabis based medicines for children with severe uncontrolled epilepsy had very positive results. Anecdotal evidence on CBD reducing seizures abounds, and researchers are discovering that CBD really does work.
Areas for further research?
The world of science is only just beginning to understand the potential of cannabidiol or CBD. It might turn out to be the opposite of the “banned” THC, or modern medicine might discover the two cannabis compounds together hold the answer to many unsolved medical problems.
Medical Daily expects that these research directions and uses for CBD will continue to be explored in the coming year.
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