Does CBD works?

 CBD - life-changing miracle compound?Or over-hyped save your money type of product?I’ll explain.

What is CBD?Does it get you high?Are there real health benefits to CBD?Does it treat cancer?Chronic pain?Will it show up on a drug test?Or is it all just a marketing  gimmick and a waste of money?Not to worry, today we’re  going to go over all of that.

I’ve created this blog to  help answer some of your medical questions and the questions that are get  asked from patients each and every day.

1:WHAT IS CBD?CBD, first thing's first.What the heck is it?Shorthand for cannabidiol, CBD is a naturally occurring chemical compound  derived from the cannabis plant.A safe, non-addictive substance.

CBD is one of more than a  hundred phytocannabinoids,Unlike its cousin,  delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),  which is a major active ingredient in the  cannabis plant, CBD is not psychoactive.Meaning it won’t get you high.That’s because CBD and THC act in different ways  and on different receptors  in the brain and in our body.Nowadays CBD is being heavily studied by researchers and scientists for its  significant therapeutic attributes.So are there health benefits to using CBD?

2:HISTORY OF CBD:It seems so.Contrary to what most people think  that CBD is a recent discovery,  CBD, has been around for a while.First extracted in 1942 by a  Harvard-trained chemist roger Adams,  later in 1963 Dr. Raphael Mechoulam,  known as the godfather of cannabis research,  first described the chemical structure of CBD.In the 1980s Dr. Mechoulam and other  researchers found that after a lot of  preclinical work in rats and mice, CBD  in fact had anti-epileptic properties.And around the same time, a small clinical trial  by Brazilian researchers, gave four epileptic patients a daily dose of 200 milligrams  of CBD, while five were given a placebo.Two of the patients taking CBD showed a remarkable improvement with no convulsions over the  three months they received treatment.One showed a partial improvement,  and one showed no improvement.Whereas none of the placebo patients  demonstrated any improvement.And that was back in the 70s and 80s.

3:RECENT RESEARCH:In recent years there have been a ton more studies and anecdotal experiences with  the use of CBD and epilepsy.So much that recently the FDA approved  the first-ever cannabis-derived medicine for these conditions.

Epidiolex, which does contain CBD.Beyond epilepsy, CBD is also  commonly used to address anxiety  and for patients who suffer  with insomnia, or not sleeping.One study found that a single  dose of 600 milligrams of CBD  decreased anxiety in people  about to give a public speeches.In addition, people who took  25 milligrams daily of CBD  for a month reduced their anxiety and had  a better quality of sleep, and the effect lasted for several months, according to a study  published by The Permanente Journal in 2019.CBD may also offer an option for  treating different types of chronic pain.A study from the European Journal of  Pain showed, using an animal model, CBD applied on the skin could help lower  pain and inflammation due to arthritis.

Another study demonstrated the  mechanism by which CBD inhibits  inflammatory and neuropathic pain, two of the  most difficult types of chronic pain to treat.Researchers are also looking at  a receptor located in the brain  to learn about the ways that CBD could help  people with neurodegenerative disorders,  which are diseases that cause the brain  and nerves to deteriorate over time.Researchers are studying the  use of CBD oil for treating  disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, multiple  sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke.CBD oil may also reduce the inflammation that  can make neurodegenerative symptoms worse.

4:ROLE OF CBD IN PREVENTING CANCER:More research is needed to fully  understand the effects of CBD oil for neurodegenerative diseases but this is a  major area that scientists are currently studying.Lastly cancer, some studies have  investigated the role of CBD in preventing cancer cell growth, but research  is still in its early stages.The National Cancer Institute says that CBD may help alleviate cancer symptoms  and cancer treatment side effects.However, The National Cancer  Institute doesn’t fully endorse  any form of cannabis as a cancer treatment.

The action of CBD that’s promising  for cancer treatment however is its ability to moderate inflammation  and change how our cells reproduce.

There are ton of anecdotal stories out  there from patients who swear by CBD and other phytocannabinoids helping  with combatting their cancers.

Okay, so another question got a lot is will it get you high?And will it show up on a drug test?Not at all.As I said before, CBD is  the non-psychoactive portion  of the plant, so what that means is you  won't have any THC-like effects in any way.CBD will not show up in a drug test because  drug tests are not screening for it usually.However CBD products sometimes may very  well contain THC, so if you’re not sure  what you’re taking you can fail a drug test  after taking CBD products if they contain THC.

5:Is CBD safe?

Some side effects that people report  are nausea, fatigue, and irritability.CBD can also increase the level in your  blood of the blood thinner coumadin, and it can even raise levels of  certain other medications in your blood by the exact same mechanism  that grapefruit juice does.So please talk to your doctor about this.

Another significant safety concern with  CBD is that it is primarily marketed and sold as a supplement, or  nutraceutical, not a medication.Meaning currently the FDA does not regulate  the safety and purity of dietary supplements.So keep in mind, you cannot know for sure that the product you buy has active  ingredients at the dose listed on the label.In addition, the product may  contain other unknown elements.

We also don’t know with certainty yet the  most effective therapeutic dose of CBD for any particular medical condition.Here’s a little bonus fun fact for you,Did you know that CBD can actually lessen or  neutralize the psychoactive effects of THC?Depending on how much of  each compound is consumed?Many people want the health benefits of cannabis  without the high – or with less of a high.

Yes if you have too much THC, CBD can actually  cancel out some level of the high effects of THC.

6: Final thoughts.

If you decide to try CBD, please ensure that  the product has reliable laboratory testing.And as always talk to your doctor, for no  other reason than to make sure it won’t affect  other medications you are taking or other  health conditions you might be treating.Be smart and don’t fall victim to  some of the marketing gimmicks.Know what you are buying.

Have a good experience with CBD.