What Do We Know about Cannabidiol (CBD)?

CBD has been featured in the media, you’ve probably seen it as an add-in booster to one of your daily products. What is CBD exactly? Why is it popular all of a sudden?

How is Cannabidiol Different from Marijuana? 

CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is the second most prevalent of the many ingredients of cannabis (marijuana). CBD is an important component of medical marijuana but is directly derived from the hemp plant which is a cousin to the marijuana plant (one of the hundreds) and by itself, does not cause a “high”. The World Health Organization posted a report that “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential…To date, there is no evidence of public health-related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.” 

Is Cannabidiol Legal?

CBD is easily obtainable in most states in the US, although its legal status is in flux. All 50 states have laws legalizing CBD, while the federal government considers CBD in the same class as marijuana. The government’s position on CBD is confusing, it depends on partly if the CBD comes from hemp or marijuana. 

What Evidence Exists of Health Benefits from CBD?

CBD is known for treating a wide variety of health issues, but the strongest scientific effectiveness is treating cruel childhood epilepsy syndromes, like Dravet syndrome and Lennon-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which typically doesn’t respond to traditional antiseizure, In many studies, CBD was able to reduce the number of seizures and in some cases, would stop them altogether. Videos of the effects of CBD on these children and seizures are easily found online, they are quite striking. Recently the FDA approved the first-ever cannabis-derived medicine for these conditions called, Epidiolex, which contains CBD. 

CBD is usually used to address anxiety, and for people who suffer from insomnia, the studies reveal that CBD can help with falling asleep and staying asleep.

CBD may be an option for seniors who want to treat different types of chronic pain and inflammation due to arthritis. 

Is Cannabidiol Safe? 

Some side effects of CBD are nausea, fatigue, and irritability. CBD can increase your natural blood thinner coumadin and can raise levels of medications in your blood by the same grapefruit juice does. 

A concern with CBD is that is frequently marketed as a supplement instead of a medicine

Because the FDA doesn’t regulate the safety and purity of dietary supplements you can’t know for sure what the product contains and what other elements it may contain. 

What Kinds of Pet Products Can You Find with CBD?

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You can find all kinds of products on the Internet and in stores, if you want to browse some products that Senior Affairs has reviewed you can visit this link to find all kind of products from edibles, cosmetic, concentrate, ingestible and pet tinctures, beef-flavored hemp oil drops, dog treats, hip and joint soft chews, horse treats, products

What is CBD Oil Used For?

CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil. 

Does CBD Oil Help Sexually?

In this article on the Myjane.com blog, they featured Tiffany Yelverton who was a guest on their MyJane Mystory Podcast, Tiffany is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Sexinista of Entice Me, and a professional sexual wellness coach. She mentions that she works with many menopausal women and cancer survivors who can experience pain during sex, these and all women can enjoy the benefits of CBD-infused lubricants and suppositories. This is especially helpful for women who feel pain during sex and have tight pelvic floor muscles, many women hold tension in their pelvic floor, and that makes it hard to insert anything, so having sex alone or with a partner is painful. MyJane offers a specially curated CBD-infused lubricant from Sunmi Beauty and Lola Labs, created by an Oncologist and an OBGyn. MyJane has curated a special Romance Box designed for couples with safe and tested products like a MyJane Ageless CBD skincare mini set, Sunmi Beauty & Lola Labs Sensualle Intimacy Oil, CocoCanna Skin Cure Candle Massage Oil, Equilibria daily drops full spectrum hemp flower oil, MyJane CBD Lip Balm, a MyJane vanilla-scented soy candle in a gold votive, A Kush Queen Love Bath bomb, and my personal favorite item – a 14k gold plated Catalina necklace that was hand-made by a woman survivor of International Sanctuary, a non-profit, helping women survivors on their road to recovery from human trafficking, MyJane is partnered with International Sanctuary and donates a portion of all proceeds to their organization to enhance the senses and body using CBD. 

Here are seven benefits and uses of CBD Oil and its side effects.

1. Pain Relief – Marijuana has been known to treat pain since 2900 B.C.  more recently scientists have discovered that some components of marijuana, including the CBD, are responsible for its pain-relieving effects. The human body has an internal system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS) which regulates sleep appetite, pain, and our immune system response. Your body naturally produces endocannabinoids, a fancy name for neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors in your body. After an experiment on rats, they found that injections of CBD reduced the pain response in surgery while another rat study discovered that oral CBD treatment greatly reduced sciatic nerve pain and inflammation. Human studies found that combining CBD and THC is effective in treating pain from multiple sclerosis and arthritis. The Myjane Broad Spectrum CBD oil is 500mg of Pure CBD, The new formula is THC free, can be used orally or topically, and is very high-quality that’s been lab-tested.  
2. Anxiety and Depression Reduction – According to the World Health Organization, depression is the single largest contributor to disability worldwide, while anxiety disorders are ranked six. Both are common mental health disorders that are commonly treated with pharmaceutical drugs which cause several side effects like headache, sexual dysfunction, agitation, insomnia, and drowsiness. More importantly, drugs like benzodiazepines can be addictive and can lead to substance abuse. In this study CBD oil showed positive results after 57 men were given oral CBD or a placebo 90 minutes before they had to speak in public in a test, researchers saw that a 300-mg dose of CBD was effective at reducing anxiety during the test. Interesting enough the placebo was a 150-mg dose of CBD, and a 600-mg dose had little to no effect on anxiety. Here they give CBD oil to children with PTSD to treat insomnia. Some antidepressant studies have been performed on animals using CBD and there is proof of CBD’s ability to act on the brain’s receptors for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates your mood and social behavior. 
3. CBD has been known to Reduce Symptoms related to Cancer and the side effects that are related to traditional treatment like nausea, vomiting, and pain. They conducted a study on 177 people with cancer who experienced cancer-related pain and didn’t get relief from their medications, after giving them either an extract containing a full spectrum extract with both THC and CBD was more effective than pure THC extract. The most common chemo-related side effect for those with cancer is nausea and vomiting, CBD could help with those issues. This study of 16 people going through chemo was given a one-to-one (1:1) combination of CBD and THC sprayed orally or under the tongue, reduced nausea and vomiting better than treatment alone. In test tubes and animal studies have shown that CBD may have anti-cancer properties, this study illustrates that concentrated CBD can kill human breast cancer cells.  This study was performed on mice and proved that CBD inhibited the spread of aggressive breast cancer. Keep in mind since they are animal studies and test-tube experiments and can only suggest a correlation. More studies in humans are needed before we make any conclusions.
4. Could Reduce Acne – Acne is a fairly common condition that affects 9.4% of the population. It’s thought that it’s caused by different factors including genetics, bacteria, inflammation of, and the overproduction of sebum – an oily secretion made by the sebaceous glands in your skin. The science studies of recent reports that CBD could help treat acne due to its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to reduce sebum production. This test-tube study discovered that CBD oil exerted anti-inflammatory properties by preventing the activation of acne-forming agents like inflammatory cytokines and prevented the sebaceous gland cells from secreting excessive sebum. This is another study on acne, with the finding that CBD could be an efficient and safe way to treat acne, partly to its amazing ability to fight inflammation. 
5. Benefits for those with Neurological Disorders – Researchers believe that due to the endocannabinoid system and CBD’s ability to affect it, it could provide benefits for people with neurological disorders like epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. This study of 214 people found that giving severe epilepsy patients 0.9-2.3 grams of CBD oil reduced seizures by 36.5%. The childhood epilepsy disorder, Dravet syndrome was tested to be found that CBD oil reduced seizure activity dramatically. It’s important to note that some people in these studies had adverse effects from the CBD treatment like convulsions, fever, and fatigue. In related studies, CBD improved quality of life and sleep conditions for Parkinson’s patients and in test-tube studies, they found that CBD could decrease inflammation and help prevent the neurodegeneration that happens when you get Alzheimer’s disease. By using mice that were predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease in a long-term study, they found that by giving them CBD they could prevent cognitive decline. 
6. Could Provide Healthy Heart Benefits – Recent studies have shown that CBD can help the heart and circulatory system by lowering high blood pressure. High blood pressure is linked to a host of serious problems including stroke, heart attack, and metabolic syndrome. In this study, they gave nine men a single 600 mg dose of CBD oil, it no only reduced resting blood pressure, but in that same study, they gave those men a stress test to raise their blood pressure, they discovered that the CBD caused the men to have a decreased blood pressure response. They’ve conducted many studies with animals to observe the stress and anxiety-reducing properties of CBD, in this study on mice with heart disease shows CBD could reduce inflammation and cell death due to heart disease, mainly because of its powerful antioxidant and stress-relieving properties. 
7. They are Still Discovering Benefits – In a study of people with schizophrenia and other mental disorders they used CBD to treat psychotic symptoms. CBD was given to rats to see if CBD could be used to reduce morphine and heroin addiction and dependence by modifying circuits in the brain related to drug addiction. CBD has been discovered to prevent the spread of breast, prostate, brain, colon, and lung cancer in animal and test-tube studies you can read here.  In diabetic mice, this study was conducted to show that CBD reduced diabetes by 56% by dramatically reducing inflammation.

What Are Some Side Effects of CBD?

Generally, CBD is well tolerated and considered safe, it still could cause some adverse reactions in some people. Some side effects they found in studies were diarrhea, changes in appetite and weight, and fatigue. CBD is also known to interact with several prescriptions. Before you use CBD oil, consult your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. This is especially important if you take medications or supplements that come with a “grapefruit warning” since both CBD and grapefruit interfere with cytochrome P450 (CYPs), a group of enzymes needed for drug metabolism.  

The Conclusion on Cannabidiol

Some CBD manufacturers have gotten themselves in hot water for making wild claims that aren’t provable like saying that CBD is a cure-all for cancer, which it is not. More research is needed but CBD has proven to be a good option for managing anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain. 

CBD is currently available as an unregulated supplement, it’s difficult to know what you’re getting. If you decided to try CBD, consult with your doctor and try products that have been tested. 

Any legitimate product has testing info available, MyJane sources their products from reputable sources, then testing these products for purity, efficacy, etc. 

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Dr. Dung Trinh M.D.

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