CBD and its benefits – Part 1

In our three-part mini-series, we dive into nine medical conditions where CBD may be, or has already proven to be, beneficial.
In this first edition we look into its effect in treating epilepsy, general pain and arthritis.

Epilepsy

Back in June 2018, the United States’ Food and Drug Aadministration (FDA) federal agency approved a plant-based formulation of CBD, namely Epidiolex, to treat people, aged 2 or older, that were suffering from seizures as a result of two rare forms of epilepsy – Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).
Research has also been undertaken to see CBD used in other forms of treatment-resistant epilepsy that would see it taken conventional epilepsy medications.
Results in regards to this research were varied, however, several trials showed that the use of CBD significantly reduced seizure frequency by almost 44% in most people.
With this being said, although it was found that CBD could interact with other medications used for epilepsy, some serious side effects were reported, such as a decrease in liver function when given to people already taking Valproate.
As such, it has so far been concluded that CBD is beneficial for treating CERTAIN types of epilepsy.

Pain

Studies have shown that CBD has anti-inflammatory effects, working on both the endocannabinoid and pain-sensing systems to relieve pain.
Unfortunately, the majority of testing has been done on animals, with very few human trials investigating the use of CBD as a single source of pain existing to date.
Most trials so far use a combination of CBD and THC to relieve pain, with Health Canada notably a combination medication that contains both THC and CBD in a 1:1 ratio which is to be used for the relief of central nerve-related pain in multiple sclerosis as well as cancer pain that is unresponsive to optimised opioid therapy.
Regarding the studies undertaken on animals, these have shown that CBD has a positive effect on serotonin which is thought to play a key role in mood as well as pain.
Other research undertaken both on animals as well as humans has shown that CBD has anti-inflammatory effects, and as a result relieve pain due to this property.

Arthritis

As with studies relating to CBD as a form of pain relief, there is a lack of human studies associated with its usefulness in treating arthritis.
With this being said, animal studies have shown that specific applications of CBD can provide both pain and inflammation relief associated with arthritis with few side effects noted so far.
This specific application of CBD has so far proven to be beneficial due to CBD’s poor rate of absorption when taken by mouth, which has also been found to lead to possible gastrointestinal side effects.

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