CBD science is maturing

Last year, I was hired as the Chief Science Officer for a CBD company. To prepare for this position, I read a lot of published scientific reports on CBD.

It turns out there is a huge body of literature on the subject. Much of this experimental work has been carried out in cell culture and animal models, like mice and rats. However, recently we are beginning to see CBD experiments carried out on humans. That is a step in the right direction. In general, I am never really convinced of anything unless I see large clinical trials performed with placebo controls.

We are still in the early days of CBD science and that’s okay. CBD research is following the normal journey of scientific exploration.

When we want to learn about the health benefits of any new chemical, we generally start experiments in the laboratory with cells in a dish. This is a cheap and easy way to get a biological answer. Then, if those results look promising, scientists will move on to animal research and hope that the exciting results are repeatable in a live mammal. Once the animal work looks convincing, scientists can put together funding to initiate a small trial on human patients. In general, this is about where CBD science is at today.

We have seen very encouraging results in animal research and small clinical trials with human patients. Now, larger groups with access to funding are beginning to put together larger clinical trials.

Epilepsy

On June 26, 2018 the FDA approved CBD for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of childhood epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients two years of age and older. GW Pharma is the name of the company to develop this CBD drug.

Epidiolex’s effectiveness was studied in three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials involving 516 patients with either Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome. Epidiolex was shown to be effective in reducing the frequency of seizures when compared with placebo.

GW Pharma carried out extensive safety studies on isolated CBD during their clinical work. GW Pharma determined that a dose of 10 mg/kg/day of pure CBD taken orally was generally safe and well tolerated.

The most common side effects that occurred in Epidiolex-treated patients in the clinical trials were: sleepiness, sedation and lethargy; elevated liver enzymes; decreased appetite; diarrhea; rash; fatigue, malaise and weakness; insomnia, sleep disorder and poor quality sleep; and infections.

GW Pharma grows their cannabis in greenhouses in England. CBD is extracted from the plant and purified into an isolated CBD solution. Epileptic children take this CBD orally.

It should be noted that people within the marijuana community had previously observed that smoking cannabis with large amounts of CBD could reduce seizures. Much of this knowledge came from anecdotal evidence. GW Pharma proved this effect was real by testing CBD in large clinical trials.

Anxiety/Stress

Stress and anxiety are our body’s reaction to a challenging situation. This reaction tends to be unpleasant. When we’re stressed or anxious we feel a tension or tightness throughout our body. A little bit of stress and anxiety can be helpful as it keeps us on our toes. However, health problems arise when we experience long term (chronic) stress or anxiety.

CBD is currently being studied for it’s potential to reduce chronic stress or chronic anxiety. If CBD can engage with neurons in a way that reduces their activity (firing rate) then it makes sense that CBD could also induce a sense of calm for a typically stressed or anxious person. We also know that CBD engages with serotonin receptors, therefore, CBD may engage our serotonin pathway in order to lower stress/anxiety.* These behaviors and cell activities are currently being explored in laboratory and small studies.

• One report demonstrates that CBD can reduce the stress associated with public speaking events. A small experiment was conducted on human subjects. CBD treatment reduced anxiety in people with social anxiety disorder. This CBD treatment was comparable in effectiveness to ipsapirone, a drug that activates serotonin receptors (Bergamaschi 2011).*
• Another report showed that CBD can decrease the heart rate and blood pressure in animals that are held in a stressful position. Scientists systemically administered CBD and this treatment reduced the heart rate and blood pressure normally experienced by mice that were held uncomfortably in physical restraints. CBD also delayed the anxious effect normally observed when mice partake in an elevated maze. The scientists also noted that these CBD effects seemed to be acting through the serotonin pathway (Resstel, 2009, Granjeirio, 2011).*

If you’re interested in finding a high quality brand of CBD, you will appreciate this guide I’ve recently put together.

The EthnoHerbalist Guide to finding a quality CBD brand

Chronic Pain

Pain is a unpleasant sensation in our nervous system. Chronic pain is defined as any pain lasting more than three months. Pain is often our body’s way to tell us something is wrong and needs to be fixed. For example, if a tooth is hurting, this could mean we need a root canal. However, sometimes nothing is wrong with our body but our pain pathways are still being activated. In these scenarios, it would be nice to be able to reduce this chronic pain.

CBD is currently being studied for its ability to decrease chronic pain.

The exact manner that CBD interacts with our pain sensing systems is not fully understood, however reports demonstrate that CBD interacts with various cell receptors (TRPVI, serotonin 1A, etc.) to confer a therapeutic effect.*

We know that COX-2 enzymes and prostaglandins are key components of our pain sensing system. Interestingly, one report demonstrates that CBD can decrease levels of COX-2 enzymes and prostaglandins (Costa, 2004).*

Personally, I use a CBD salve on my knees and joints after intense physical activity. I also use menthol salves and I find CBD delivers a similar but more moderate effect as compared to menthol. The advantage is my house doesn’t stink like menthol when I use the CBD salve. Try for yourself!

Insomnia

In my opinion, sleep is one of the best remedies for poor health. Without good sleep, my brain is worthless and my body can’t do much more than walk around in a half-zombie trance.

Therefore, I will try anything that can possibly improve sleep.

I want at least 7 hours of deep sleep and I don’t always get it…

Preliminary evidence suggests CBD can be beneficial for total sleep time.*

One group tested various doses of CBD on the sleep cycle of adult rats. The rats were randomly distributed into four groups that received injections of CBD 2.5 mg/kg, CBD 10 mg/kg, CBD 40 mg/kg or vehicle. Sleep recordings were made during light and dark periods for four days. The data demonstrate that systemic administration of CBD appears to increase total sleep time (Chagas, 2013).* These results need to be repeated with human subjects and a cbd randomized controlled trial.