The CBD industry is thriving, with a conservative estimate of $16 billion by 2025 in the United States. Already, CBD extract is being used in cheeseburgers, toothpicks, and breath sprays. According to a Brightfield Group survey of 5,000 people, more than 60% of CBD users use it for anxiety. The next are chronic pain, insomnia, and depression. Kim Kardashian West was one of the first to turn to the product after she became “freaking out” over her fourth child’s birth. Bubba Watson, a professional golfer, goes to sleep with the product. What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is the lesser-known child of the cannabis sativa plant; its more famous sibling, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active ingredient in pot that catapults users’ “high.” With roots in Central Asia, the plant is believed to have been first used medicinally — or for rituals — around 750 B.C., though there are other estimates too.
THC and cannabidiol are two of more than 100 plant-derived cannabinoids. THC and CBD are psychoactive. This is still a matter of debate. THC can cause anxiety. CBD may have a different effect, if any. CBD is being researched to aid those who are suffering from addiction or cravings.
Hemp is cannabis containing less than 0.3 percent THC. The Farm Bill, which legalized hemp last year under federal law was also preserved the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of cannabis products.
What claims are made?
CBD is touted as a treatment for anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. CBD is also promoted to improve sleep quality. CBD is popular because it claims to not be psychoactive and that users can get health benefits without getting high.
Marketing is just as important as the growing hemp seedlings in the United States. CBD is found in many places, including oils and nasal sprays, lollipops, and suppositories. Dr. Brad Ingram is an associate professor of pediatrics at University of Mississippi Medical Center. He spoke about the many wild uses of CBD. A clinical trial is being conducted to administer CBD to teenagers and children with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Does CBD work?
James MacKillop, codirector of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, Hamilton, Ontario, said that “it’s promising in a number of different therapeutic avenues because its relatively safe.”
The F.D.A. approved Epidiolex last year. After three double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that involved 516 patients, Epidiolex was approved by the F.D.A. to treat rare seizures in patients aged 2 and older. The trial showed that CBD oil, when taken with other medications, reduced seizures. These studies are considered the best in medicine. Participants are randomly divided and neither the investigator nor the subject know which group is receiving the medication or the placebo.
Epidiolex is the only CBD-derived drug that has been approved by the F.D.A. Cannabidiol’s popularity has outpaced science, as most of its research has been done in animals. Ryan Vandrey, an associate Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stated that “we don’t have a 101 course on CBD yet.”
Can CBD be used to treat anxiety and PTSD
A four-minute speech can be very stressful for students suffering from generalized social anxiety. Yet a small experiment in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology found that CBD seemed to reduce nervousness and cognitive impairment in patients with social anxiety in a simulated public speaking task.
A double-blind study showed that CBD was not effective in reducing the emotional reactions of healthy volunteers to unpleasant words and images. Harriet de Wit (co-author of the study) said that CBD should alter their reactions to stimuli if it is a calming drug. She is also a professor at the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychiatry. It didn’t.
Many soldiers who return from war or PTSD are often unable to function in certain places, avoid certain people and avoid situations that may be associated with those traumatic experiences. The Department of Veterans Affairs funds its first CBD study, which combines it with psychotherapy.
Mallory Loflin is an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego and principal investigator of the study. “Our top therapies try to break the association between reminding of the traumat and the fear reaction.” “We believe that CBD, at the least in animal models can help this process happen a lot quicker.” Although large clinical trials are ongoing, psychologists still don’t think there is enough evidence to support CBD as a treatment.
Can CBD help with depression and sleep?
Do you ever stay up until the early hours of the morning, watching videos of your puppy? CBD could be promising as a sleep aid. According to Mr. MacKillop (co-author of a review about cannabinoids, sleep), one side effect of Epidiolex trials was drowsiness. He said that CBD could be a promising treatment for insomnia if you’re looking for new ways to get it.
He cautions that side effects may have occurred due to interactions with other medications used by the children to manage their seizures. There has not been a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial (the gold standard) of CBD and sleep disorders.
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Recent chart reviews of 72 patients with psychiatric disorders found that CBD treatment did not improve their sleep quality. “Overall, we didn’t find it to be a useful treatment of sleep,” stated Dr. Scott Shannon (assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver) and lead author of The Permanente Journal.
There are many reasons why sleep can be disturbed, including depression. According to a Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy review, CBD helped rodents adapt to stress better and displayed less depressive behavior. In an email interview, Samia Joca (a fellow at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Study in Denmark and associate professor at University of Sao Paulo, Brazil) stated that CBD seemed to work faster than traditional antidepressants. Although it is difficult to diagnose depression in animals, Ms. Joca’s colleagues reviewed studies showing that CBD treatment made mice and rats more resilient to chronic stress exposure.
However, without the completion of clinical trials in humans CBD’s effects on depression are still only a hypothesis and not a treatment.
Is CBD harmful?
Marcel Bonn Miller, adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman College of Medicine, stated that CBD is safe if taken in pure form. Side effects of Epidiolex included fatigue, insomnia, weakness, nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, elevated liver enzymes, and sleepiness. It is not yet known what the safe daily intake of Epidiolex is, or if it should be consumed at all during pregnancy.
Recenty, the F.D.A. Curaleaf Inc. received a warning from the F.D.A. regarding its “unsubstantiated claims” that the plant extract can treat a range of conditions, including anxiety and depression in pets and cancer. The company stated that certain of the products were discontinued and was cooperating with the F.D.A.
Dr. Smita das, the chair of American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry’s cannabis work group, doesn’t recommend CBD for anxiety, PTSD or depression. Patients turning to these unproven products for mental health reasons is worrying. “I’m also concerned about how someone can continue to use CBD products,” she said.
Unexpected surprises may be found in some CBD products. Virginia Commonwealth University toxicologists examined nine CBD e-liquids that claimed to be 100 percent natural. One contained dextromethorphan (or DXM), which is an over-the-counter cough medication and can be addictive if abused. Four were infused with Spice, a synthetic cannabisnoid that can cause anxiety and psychosis and even death according to Forensic Science international.
An earlier study found that less than one third of the 84 products tested contained CBD. CBD users have failed drug tests when CBD contained higher levels of THC than the label indicated.
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, 1,090 people contacted poison control centers regarding CBD in this year. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, more than a third received medical attention and 46 were admitted to a critical care unit. This could be due to exposure to other products or drug interactions. Concern over 318 animals were also reported to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals’ Animal Poison Control Center.