Chiropractor Laura Brayton of Hoboken Chiropractic + Wellness interviewed Laura Lagano about cannabis as part of a holistic treatment plan for women.
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Cannahacker, a cannabis lifestyle, entertainment and technology website, now has health content contributed by Laura Lagano. Laura penned Can’t Sleep? Cannabis Can Help showcasing how and why cannabis can be better than counting sheep.
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Guest Post by Honey Colony
Inflammation – that dark, disfigured malady at the core of asthma, arthritis, IBD, tuberculosis, and so many other diseases – has finally met its match with CBD, or cannabidiol. CBD is emerging as a definitive therapeutic strategy for lessening the impact of inflammation and relieving otherwise untreatable pain.
Cannabis contains over 60 compounds that belong to a class of molecules called cannabinoids. Of these compounds, there is usually a higher concentration of CBD and THC, which makes these compounds more active in the herb. THC is the psychoactive compound responsible for the marijuana “high.” CBD, however, is far less psychoactive and is an amazing anti-inflammatory. In recent years, CBD has been isolated and crafted into potent essential oils – cannabinoids oils .
And now, instead of having to get a medical marijuana card and go to a dispensary to get this product, CBD is 100 percent legal to buy from the comfort of your home.
Dustin Sulak, DO – speaker at the free, online Holistic Cannabis Summit – who heals patients with integrative modalities including cannabis says that CBD has numerous anti-inflammatory effects that can decrease pain, “mostly by preventing the release of inflammatory signals from B and T immune cells, and in animal studies have been shown to prevent the development of hyperalgesia, or abnormally increased pain signaling at the site of an injury.”
He adds that CBD has also recently been shown in animal studies to speed the healing of injured connective tissue, and also has numerous anti-anxiety mechanisms that can indirectly influence pain and pain behavior. He says endocannabinoids, which are found in the body, and phytocannabinoids, which are found in cannabis, allow communication and coordination between different cell types.
“At the site of an injury, for example, cannabinoids can be found decreasing the release of activators and sensitizers from the injured tissue, stabilizing the nerve cell to prevent excessive firing, and calming nearby immune cells to prevent the release of pro-inflammatory substances.” This also works to reduce inflammation.
Marc Feldman at Imperial College, London, conducted an experiment where CBD was given to mice who had a version of rheumatoid arthritis. He found that the right dosage of CBD reduced inflammation by 50%. In another study, researchers decided to test the effect of CBD on four cell-signaling, or mediating, molecules associated with intestinal inflammation and oxidative damage to the gut. Their findings showed the reduction of iNOS and reactive oxygen species by CBD, along with the reduction of lipid peroxidation, confirming the important therapeutic actions of CBD in reduction of colonic inflammation by indirect reduction of oxidative damage. In addition, the restoration of the normal behavior of interleukins IL-1B and IL-10, is another powerful way CBD reduces colonic inflammation.
One chiropractor we spoke to was stunned by the results. “I have two collapsed discs in my low back and two crushed vertebrates L4, and L. I use both a sublingual preparation of CBD oil and an inhaled version of CBD oil. I have no back pain,” says Dr. Martin F Kuhls, a chiropractor Lakewood Colorado. “This claim has puzzled three chiropractic colleagues, two neurosurgeons, one orthopedic surgeon, and the radiologists who read the MRIs.”
From the many other research studies on CBD and inflammation, it appears that CBD is the most powerful natural anti-inflammatories, surpassing commonly-used natural remedies like omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, anti-oxidants, proteolytic enzymes, and vitamin C. What’s more, CBD has very low levels of toxicity, which makes it impossible for anyone to overdose on. Unlike NSAIDs, CBD doesn’t adversely affect your gut lining, kidneys, or liver, and it has never been the cause of any deaths.
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Cannabis has been shown to support sleep and even improve the duration of deep, delta-wave sleep in the brain. Now, new research shows that the medicinal herb’s brain benefits extend beyond promoting rest. A recent study published in the journal Cerebrovascular Diseases shows that cannabis also minimizes the severity and speeds recovery time in those experiencing bleeding in the brain.
In the study, an international team evaluated demographic trends and patient outcomes of 725 people with intracerebral hemorrhaging. Those who ingested medicinal marijuana were linked to less severe symptoms and faster recovery. This research supports a previous UCLA study that showed increased survival rates for brain injury patients who previously consumed cannabis.
“Researchers reported that cannabis-positive subjects possessed “milder ICH presentation” upon hospitalization and presented “less disability” at discharge as compared to similarly matched patients who tested negative for cannabinoids.
Preclinical and observation trial data has previously indicated that cannabinoids may possess neuroprotective activity. Specifically, a 2014 UCLA study previously reported that Traumatic Brain Injury patients who tested positive for cannabis upon hospital admission possessed significantly increased survival rates as compared to patients who tested negative for marijuana.”
Read the full study, published in the journal Cerebrovascular Diseases, and titled “Prior Cannabis Use Is Associated with Outcome after Intracerebral Hemorrhage.”
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Since California legalized the sale of medicinal marijuana in 1996, 22 more states plus the District of Columbia have followed suit. In the coming years that number is likely to increase. Elsewhere in the world cannabis is increasingly gaining legal status and is now available medicinally in much of Europe, South America and soon Australia. As more places legalize, questions intensify around regulation and protection.
“Such rules should depend on which of legalization’s benefits a jurisdiction wants to prioritize and what harms it wants to minimize. The first consideration is how much protection users need. As far as anyone has been able to establish (and some have tried very hard indeed) it is as good as impossible to die of a marijuana overdose. But the drug has downsides. Being stoned can lead to other calamities: in the past two years Colorado has seen three deaths associated with cannabis use (one fall, one suicide and one alleged murder, in which the defendant claims the pot made him do it). There may have been more. Colorado has seen an increase in the proportion of drivers involved in accidents who test positive for the drug, though there has been no corresponding rise in traffic fatalities.”
Those in favor of looser regulations argue that easier access saves police money, raises tax revenue, thwarts criminals, and extends personal freedom to holistically medicate. Others believe, however, that laws should discourage consumption.
“Danger and harm are not in themselves a reason to make or keep things illegal. But the available evidence persuades many supporters of legalization that cannabis consumption should still be discouraged. The simplest way to do so is to keep the drug expensive; children and heavy users, both good candidates for deterrence, are particularly likely to be cost sensitive. And keeping prices up through taxes has political appeal that goes beyond public health.
Can patients easily access medicinal marijuana in your state? Read this report.
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A study conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain.
“The research, still at an early stage, indicates that memory loss, the first and primary symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, can be slowed down significantly in mice by cannabidiol. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects some 24.3 million people worldwide.”
In the study, mice were injected with a molecule to induce symptoms of Alzheimers and treated with cannabidiol. Following treatment, learning was assessed by measuring the length of time needed to complete a maze.
“Those mice injected with cannabidiol successfully performed the task within 25-30 seconds, compared to mice in the control group who had not been treated with cannabidiol, who took almost double the amount of time, 45-50 seconds, to complete the task.”
Did you know cannabinoids are known to act as neuroprotective agents in the brain? Read the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, and titled “Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology by Cannabinoids: Neuroprotection Mediated by Blockade of Microglial Activation”
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