CBD Research: What Are The Results?
10 November 2020Many people use CBD to their satisfaction, so the heap of positive experiences with this promising cannabinoid keep growing every day. But what can objective scientific CBD research tell us about the effects that cause all these personal experiences? Obviously, scientific proof is crucial in mapping the exact influences of CBD on the body and the mind. Fortunately, we’re learning more with every step we take. In recent years, we’ve seen quite a few studies take off. Here, you’ll find a brief summary of recent results.
Previous CBD Research
The endocannabinoid system in our body that allows us to benefit from CBD was not discovered until as recently as the mid-90s. Since then, more and more CBD research initiatives were launched. Initially, these studies were mostly technical and chemical in nature. Later on, the emphasis shifted to medically-oriented research intended to chart the various health effects associated with CBD. Now, 25 years later, we are facing medical studies that progress very slowly. This is simply because everything demands careful investigation: first in a lab; then on animals – it takes many years before human test subjects even come into view.
This explains why all the research is advancing more slowly than we would like to see. There is nothing to it but to wait for the day when we get to call CBD ‘medicine’. Until that time, we keep working with CBD supplements, with personal experiences as our best evidence. Nonetheless, more positive CBD experiences keep adding to the pile every single day, providing yet more reasons to launch new studies.
So as you can see, there’s actually a lot of research going on right now, focussing on the effects and the precise working of CBD inside our body. Below, we present a selection of recently concluded studies. It helps to see how we keep moving closer to the full picture one step at a time. This is in fact the very reason why CBD research is still useful, no matter how slow it proceeds.
CBD And Bowel Disease
At Nottingham University, the Medical Science Department and the Faculty of Natural Sciences joined forces in 2019, to study the effects of CBD on bowel inflammations. This was a controlled, double-blind, randomised study, making its results as reliable as scientific data can get. The study involved the influence of PEA (palmitoylethanolamide; a supplement), and CBD on the absorption of lactulose and mannitol, combined with aspirin.
Aspirin causes increased absorption of both substances. This effect was lessened by both PEA and CBD. The research team think that PEA and CBD are able to decrease large intestine permeability. That could prove very useful for treating conditions where bowel permeability is too great, such as enteritis, for instance.
Quality Of Life And Epilepsy
Scientists at the University of Alabama have studied what CBD can do for people dealing with epilepsy. They studied 53 patients suffering from various forms of therapy-resistant epilepsy. They were given a CBD extract, and when the study ended a year later, they reported significant improvements to their perceived quality of life. This was apparent in better moods, even though the severity of their epileptic seizures showed no such improvement.
CBD And Glioblastoma
Patients suffering from glioblastoma (an aggressive type of brain cancer) generally face a life expectancy of around 14 to 16 months. In Austria, the Anesthesiology And Intensive Care Medicine department of Klinikum Klagenfurt studied CBD when used to treat the disease. It turned out that CBD has a positive effect if administered simultaneously with regular treatments. It increased chances of survival. Upon publication of the article, 8 out of the 9 patients originally involved in the study were still alive. Considering that 22 months had passed since the start of the study, survival rates were much higher than expected by the researchers.
Corona And CBD Research
With the whole world in the grip of coronavirus, it’s unsurprising to find that people are looking into CBD as an answer to the pandemic. To be sure, there are some interesting connections to explore, such as the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD that were studied before. Although these studies have just been launched, there are some initial signs indicating that CBD may play a part in stopping a so-called cytokine storm, which sadly is often a fatal COVID-19 symptom.
Future CBD Research
In London, a large-scale study was planned for 2020 (which was sadly delayed due to corona). The idea was a collaboration between Parkinson’s UK and King’s College London. In the study, researchers investigate whether CBD is suitable for treating psychosis and hallucinations often seen in Parkinson’s disease. The study is scheduled to last for three and a half years.
This is a highly anticipated study. Nearly 60% of all Parkinson’s patients have had a psychotic episode at some point in their life. Quite something when you consider that no medication for this disease exists. The researches also found out that 26% of their participants were already using cannabis products to treat their symptoms. In a sense, this study is a way to address this specific interest. More importantly, the effectiveness of this treatment for such symptoms has never been proven conclusively. It would be quite a step to demonstrate that CBD is demonstrably effective here.
Many people are experiencing the positive effects of CBD already. It can have a relaxing effect, and it can be used to relieve anxiety. But there are many more areas where CBD might prove to be a natural solution. Athletes use it, for instance, to improve recovery after heavy work-outs. Even animals get treated with CBD for a whole range of conditions. As you can see, there’s plenty more to study for the near future when it comes to CBD!
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