As a supplement for cancer patients, CBD oil has proven itself to very beneficial, and as a result, very popular. Some doctors are even recommending it to patients and some have prescribed it in states where that was necessary at one point.
CBD, known also as cannabidiol, is a cannabinoid compound from cannabis plants. Many cannabinoids can be found in plants all over the world; however, CBD is only found in cannabis.
One of the first things that should be understood about CBD is that it is not the same as THC. THC is a cannabinoid that has psychoactive traits. THC is the cannabinoid responsible for making you high. Some experience a euphoria and even hallucinations from THC and it depends largely on the strain of cannabis that is used.
CBD oil has a very tiny trace of THC in it. While it may have therapeutic effects, it does not impact the body in a psychoactive way. It’s simply not enough. Therefore, no matter what you’ve heard before, people do not purchase CBD oil to get high.
Does CBD Impact Cancer?
The majority of evidence from research shows us that CBD can help has a therapy when combined with traditional cancer treatments. For example, chemotherapy treatment often makes patient very sick, causing a lack of appetite and weakness that makes it challenging for the body to fight the cancer. This weakness is, in fact, often the issue that causes many people to lose their battle in the end.
CBD helps to stimulate the appetite and fights the nausea and vomiting that cause so many to be unable to eat and keep medications down. This is a big step in helping patients stay hydrated and full of food as energy to give the body a fighting chance.
Cancer and the treatments for it are very painful to endure. CBD works to block pain and inflammation caused by cancer and the treatments for it. Tumors can cause pressure on internal organs that CBD can help relieve by acting as a nerve block, stopping the pinched nerves from sending repetitive messages to the brain.
While CBD does impact the nausea to some degree, it is believed that THC in marijuana actually helps more with this. If you are in a state with medical marijuana and experiencing extreme nausea, this may be a better route for you to go.
More research is needed but when gerbils and mice were given cancer in a lab setting, and then given CBD, their cancer cells stopped or slowed growth. In some cases, the cancer cells were killed off. There have been many more studies that have had similar results, also on specific terpenes and other cannabinoids as well.
Far more research is needed to be conclusive, but CBD may help prevent cancer from spreading and might prevent people from getting it in the first place.
The cancer that it seemed to have the most dramatic effect on was breast cancer, so researchers are excited to do more studies on this and see if there is more to be linked to CBD as a potential treatment or to work in conjunction with other treatments.
Research is still in the early stages and while it is progressing very rapidly now, the studies are small in comparison because marijuana was so regulated for so many years that scientists could not easily study it or the cannabinoids within it. The last thirty years, science has been playing a game of ‘catch up’ and they are making a lot of progress. Several medications have already been developed from cannabis and surely more will follow.
Privately funded research is happening all around the globe as cannabis is picked apart and studied – from terpenes, terpenoids, cannabinoids and more. Every tiny piece of what makes cannabis unique and helpful to mankind is being studied. CBD has received some of the most extensive research so far and that is barely scraping the iceberg, as they say.
Side Effects of CBD
There are only a few side effects that may come from CBD and they are rare but should be noted.
- Fast heartbeat (tachycardia)
- Low blood pressure (hypotension)
- Red eyes
- Muscle relaxation (might be considered a positive thing for some)
- Slowed digestion in some people
There isn’t really much of a risk of addiction with CBD oil but you may find that when you don’t take it after being on it a while that you find it harder to fall asleep, you may feel a bit more irritable, and some will encounter hot flashes. These won’t continue for a very long time and tend to be very mild, if they happen at all. Symptoms of addiction with CBD oil are generally just a small aggravation, not any real craving or problem that causes drug seeking.
CBD does seem to have a lot of benefits for those with cancer and who are going through treatment. There isn’t much research to make hard conclusions as of yet, but we do have the reviews of some studies and from the lips of the people who have been positively impacted by the use of CBD while they were going through treatment.
Science is very hopeful because of the things that they’ve seen so far and when a cure for cancer is found one day, it is very possible that it will be research happening with CBD and marijuana that brings us to it. The world will be a better place when we no longer lose our loved ones to cancer.