Though today the idea of using anything derived from cannabis in a medical setting is a charged issue, this was not always the case. For thousands of years, people have understood that this plant, when used responsibly, can be an incredible source of medicine that no other natural source can emulate. A moral panic in the early 20th century lead to many nations banning this plant, but it has recently seen a resurgence in the medical field as a potential treatment for a huge variety of conditions. Leading the charge in this resurgence today is a product called CBD oil.
Before discussing CBD oil in particular, it is at first important to understand what active ingredients exist in marijuana, and how they interact with the human body. These active ingredients are called cannabinoids. The most famous and infamous cannabinoid is tetrahydrocannabinol, which usually goes by the name of THC. This is the element of cannabis that affects the brain and produces the high that makes marijuana prized as a recreational drug. However, there is a lot more to cannabis and cannabinoids than THC!
Cannabinoids are a broad category of chemical that encompass many compounds that affect the body and brain in various ways. Cannabis, depending on the strain, can contain over 60 different cannabinoids, though most of them only in trace amounts. A cannabinoid is any chemical that can bond to proteins in the body called cannabinoid receptors, which can produce a wide variety of effects.
Besides THC, the main cannabinoid present in cannabis is called cannabidiol, or CBD. You may have heard of CBD oil before, because it is getting a lot of press lately. Because the stigma surrounding cannabis research has only recently begun to lift in many of the most scientifically developed countries, CBD is a relatively new field of study. However, researchers are already finding surprising benefits to CBD that lend a lot of credence to communities that argue that cannabis has a place in medicine.
While recreational cannabis is developed with the goal of a high THC content, this does not have to be the case. Medical-grade CBD oil is a concentrated oil that contains mostly CBD, and only trace elements of other cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, including THC. Unlike THC, CBD does not bond to receptors found in the brain, which means it has no effect on brain function. CBD oil is not a recreational drug and will not get a patient high. Doctors are quickly finding that this oil is something of a miracle cure for many conditions. This is especially promising because, unlike most medical drugs developed today, CBD oil and cannabis in general are not shown to be toxic or harmful to humans even in large doses over prolonged periods. It is also not chemically addictive, which is again a big advantage over many medicinal drugs.
One of the main benefits people are finding from CBD oil is pain relief. Pain management through medication is a messy subject; all of the top painkillers are highly addictive, come with severe side-effects, or both. This leaves a void in the arsenal of doctors who want to provide patients with safe and effective pain relief. Many believe that CBD oil could be the solution. Unlike opioids and other extreme painkillers, CBD is entirely natural and has no chemically addictive qualities. Preliminary studies also show that, unlike many other painkillers, the body does not build up a natural tolerance to CBD oil, which means that long-term patients will not start to require a higher dosage to achieve the same effect. Despite all of these advantages, research has shown CBD oil to be as effective or even more effective against certain types of pain than other top painkiller options.
Studies also suggest that CBD oil could be a big boon to the mental health field. Anxiety disorders, including obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, general anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, are on the rise in the first world in recent years. For many patients, existing medications to treat these conditions are either not effective or come with side effects that affect quality of life. However, CBD oil could again provide a solution. Studies have shown that anxiety patients treated with CBD oil before being exposed to a triggering episode are on average much calmer and more composed than those given a placebo. While research is still ongoing, many mental health professionals expect to see CBD oil as a common prescription in the near future.
Preliminary studies show that CBD oil may also be effective in cancer treatment. Under a microscope, cancerous breast tissue exposed to CBD oil was shown to have significantly slower replication, and even a higher instance of death of cancerous cells than non-cancerous cells. In laymen’s terms, this means that CBD oil may not only stop cancer from spreading, but also aid the body in clearing it out. While not a miracle cure, this could be a big breakthrough in cancer treatment, which largely involves highly toxic chemicals and radiation that take a huge toll on the healthy tissue of cancer patients. Since CBD oil is non-toxic, a high dose over the period of months or years would be safe for cancer patients and could be used in addition to conventional treatments like chemotherapy.
While cannabis-based medicine has spent the last century or so getting a bad rap, CBD research has brought it right back into the limelight. While most people who think of medicinal marijuana think of patients getting high on pot, this is far from the case! In the case of CBD-based treatments, doctors are excited about a form of medicine that has fantastic health benefits with few drawbacks. CBD oil does not impair the user, is completely non-addictive, and the body will not build up a tolerance to it. This makes CBD an unusually safe drug with a myriad of potential uses. Look out, because in the future, CBD oil is likely to be prescribed for a wide range of conditions. You can check out the top cbd oil merchant account for any issues with payments for cannabis products.