As 2018 comes to a close, I think it’s a good idea to look at how CBD fared in 2018. It’s been a busy year for cannabis, and a good one at that. How good? Well, let’s take a peek at the studies that stand out, some even making headlines.
CBD and research
We’ve all heard about Epidiolex, the CBD drug the FDA approved in June for rare and severe forms of epilepsy. Now, anecdotal evidence has shown for quite some time that symptoms of epilepsy can be relieved with CBD, but FDA approval seems to have set the stage to kick-start more research.
The other thing that has gotten research rolling: Canada. In October, Canada legalized marijuana, in essence giving the nod to more research by removing long-held restrictions. Now, the government is eager to give grants for research. ‘Bout time.
Plus, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is willing to grow more cannabis to be used for research. But there have been other significant finds related to CBD
Seniors and CBD
Our aging population is ripe for CBD for pain—think joint and muscle pain, arthritis, nerve and neuropathy pain, and pain and nausea associated with cancer treatment. A March 2018 study, Epidemiological characteristics, safety and efficacy of medical cannabis in the elderly, shows results in a nutshell:
· The most common indications for cannabis in the elderly were pain and cancer.
· At six months of cannabis treatment, 93.7% reported improvement in their condition.
· At six months of treatment, the number of reported falls was significantly reduced.
· Medical cannabis decreased the use of prescription medicines, including opioids.
CBD and opioids
Speaking of opioids, as noted above, CBD has also been shown to help relieve pain when combined with opioids. In effect, pain patients who use cannabis in addition to CBD use smaller doses of opioids, thus reducing the possibility of addiction. It was also shown during 2018, in areas where dispensaries are legal, there were fewer incidents of opioid overdoses than in other areas where they are not legal.
On top of that, an Australian study in September showed that CBD may be helpful in treating meth addiction. The first-of-its-kind study performed on rats showed these results: “CBD reduced the motivation to self-administer methamphetamine and attenuated methamphetamine-primed relapse to methamphetamine-seeking behavior after abstinence.”
CBD and depression
Along with other benefits of CBD, researchers in Brazil hoped to find an antidepressant that kicks in faster than the current products. To learn more they studied the effects of CBD on rodents. The findings indicated that one dose of CBD had immediate effect that lasted a full week. Now, obviously rats are smaller than humans and who knows if the same will happen. But these studies are a great step in the right direction for finding ways to relieve depression in humans.
These are just a smattering of studies in 2018. We can hope that in 2019, as CBD becomes more mainstream and less stigmatized, more research will be done.
Oh, I don’t want to forget, Happy New Year from Lost Remedy.