CBD - life-changing miracle compound?
Or over-hyped save your money type of product?
I’ll explain.
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What is CBD?
Does it get you high?
Are there real health benefits to CBD?
Does it treat cancer?
Chronic pain?
Will it show up on a drug test?
Or is it all just a marketing gimmick and a waste of money?
Not to worry, today we’re going to go over all of that.
Hey everyone, I’m Dr. Jordan Wagner.
I’m an emergency room doctor who treats everything from COVID to gunshot wounds, burns, you name it.
I’ve created this video series to help answer some of your medical
questions and the questions that I get asked from patients each and every day.
If you find this video helpful, please do me a favor and subscribe.
CBD, first thing's first.
What the heck is it?
Shorthand for cannabidiol, CBD is a naturally
occurring chemical compound derived from the cannabis plant.
A safe, non-addictive substance.
CBD is one of more than a hundred phytocannabinoids,
Unlike its cousin, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
which is a major active ingredient in the cannabis plant, CBD is not psychoactive.
Meaning it won’t get you high.
That’s because CBD and THC act in different ways
and on different receptors in the brain and in our body.
Nowadays CBD is being heavily studied by
researchers and scientists for its significant therapeutic attributes.
So are there health benefits to using CBD?
It seems so.
Contrary to what most people think
that CBD is a recent discovery, CBD, has been around for a while.
First extracted in 1942 by a Harvard-trained chemist roger Adams,
later in 1963 Dr. Raphael Mechoulam,
known as the godfather of cannabis research, first described the chemical structure of CBD.
In the 1980s Dr. Mechoulam and other researchers found that after a lot of
preclinical work in rats and mice, CBD in fact had anti-epileptic properties.
And around the same time, a small clinical trial by Brazilian researchers, gave four epileptic
patients a daily dose of 200 milligrams of CBD, while five were given a placebo.
Two of the patients taking CBD showed a remarkable
improvement with no convulsions over the three months they received treatment.
One showed a partial improvement, and one showed no improvement.
Whereas none of the placebo patients demonstrated any improvement.
And that was back in the 70s and 80s.
In recent years there have been a ton more studies
and anecdotal experiences with the use of CBD and epilepsy.
So much that recently the FDA approved the first-ever cannabis-derived
medicine for these conditions.
Epidiolex, which does contain CBD.
Beyond epilepsy, CBD is also commonly used to address anxiety
and for patients who suffer with insomnia, or not sleeping.
One study found that a single dose of 600 milligrams of CBD
decreased anxiety in people about to give a public speeches.
In addition, people who took 25 milligrams daily of CBD
for a month reduced their anxiety and had a better quality of sleep, and the effect
lasted for several months, according to a study published by The Permanente Journal in 2019.
CBD may also offer an option for treating different types of chronic pain.
A study from the European Journal of Pain showed, using an animal model,
CBD applied on the skin could help lower pain and inflammation due to arthritis.
Another study demonstrated the mechanism by which CBD inhibits
inflammatory and neuropathic pain, two of the most difficult types of chronic pain to treat.
Researchers are also looking at a receptor located in the brain
to learn about the ways that CBD could help people with neurodegenerative disorders,
which are diseases that cause the brain and nerves to deteriorate over time.
Researchers are studying the use of CBD oil for treating
disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke.
CBD oil may also reduce the inflammation that can make neurodegenerative symptoms worse.
More research is needed to fully understand the effects of CBD oil
for neurodegenerative diseases but this is a major area that scientists are currently studying.
Lastly cancer, some studies have investigated the role of CBD in preventing
cancer cell growth, but research is still in its early stages.
The National Cancer Institute says that CBD
may help alleviate cancer symptoms and cancer treatment side effects.
However, The National Cancer Institute doesn’t fully endorse
any form of cannabis as a cancer treatment.
The action of CBD that’s promising for cancer treatment however
is its ability to moderate inflammation and change how our cells reproduce.
There are ton of anecdotal stories out there from patients who swear by CBD and
other phytocannabinoids helping with combatting their cancers.
If you’d like me to do a follow-up video just talking about cannabinoids
and cancer please let me know in the comments.
Okay, so another question I get a lot is will it get you high?
And will it show up on a drug test?
Not at all.
As I said before, CBD is the non-psychoactive portion
of the plant, so what that means is you won't have any THC-like effects in any way.
CBD will not show up in a drug test because drug tests are not screening for it usually.
However CBD products sometimes may very well contain THC, so if you’re not sure
what you’re taking you can fail a drug test after taking CBD products if they contain THC.
Is CBD safe?
Some side effects that people report are nausea, fatigue, and irritability.
CBD can also increase the level in your blood of the blood thinner coumadin,
and it can even raise levels of certain other medications in your blood
by the exact same mechanism that grapefruit juice does.
So please talk to your doctor about this.
Another significant safety concern with CBD is that it is primarily marketed
and sold as a supplement, or nutraceutical, not a medication.
Meaning currently the FDA does not regulate the safety and purity of dietary supplements.
So keep in mind, you cannot know for sure
that the product you buy has active ingredients at the dose listed on the label.
In addition, the product may contain other unknown elements.
We also don’t know with certainty yet the most effective therapeutic dose of CBD
for any particular medical condition.
Here’s a little bonus fun fact for you,
Did you know that CBD can actually lessen or neutralize the psychoactive effects of THC?
Depending on how much of each compound is consumed?
Many people want the health benefits of cannabis without the high – or with less of a high.
Yes if you have too much THC, CBD can actually cancel out some level of the high effects of THC.
Alright, a few final thoughts.
If you decide to try CBD, please ensure that the product has reliable laboratory testing.
And as always talk to your doctor, for no other reason than to make sure it won’t affect
other medications you are taking or other health conditions you might be treating.
Be smart and don’t fall victim to some of the marketing gimmicks.
Know what you are buying.
Alright, that’s been a CBD breakdown, with me Dr. Wagner.
Do you use CBD in your everyday life?
What’s your experience been like?
Do you want me to make a full video on the endocannabinoid system?
I’d love to hear from you.
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Thank you so much for watching and stay healthy, my friends.
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