Does CBD Really Do Anything?
On Sunday, December 30, 2018 at 5:18:54 AM UTC-5, Ophelia wrote:
> "GM" wrote in message
> ...
>
> https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...pYVpXTQVFac2Fk
>
>
> "Does CBD Really Do Anything?
>
> As marijuana is legalized in more and more states, the wellness world has
> whipped itself into a frenzy over a non-intoxicating cannabis derivative
> called cannabidiol. CBD products can be found on the internet and in
> health-food stores, wellness catalogs and even bookstores. (A bookstore in
> downtown Boulder, Colorado, displays a case of CBD products between the cash
> register and the stacks of new releases.) Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow,
> disgraced cyclist1 Floyd Landis and former Denver Broncos quarterback Jake
> Plummer are all touting CBD products, and according to Bon Appétit,
> CBD-infused lattes have become the wellness worlds new favorite drink.
>
> But, uh, what is it that CBD is supposed to do? I visited a cannabis
> dispensary in Boulder to find out what the hype was all about. After passing
> an ID check, I was introduced to a budtender who pointed me to an
> impressive array of CBD products tinctures, skin patches, drink powders,
> candies, salves, massage oil, lotions, sexy time personal intimacy oil and
> even vaginal suppositories to treat menstrual cramps.
>
> Most of these products promised to relieve pain or otherwise enhance
> well-being, and none of it was cheap. (Prices started at about $30.) But I
> wanted to know: Does any of this stuff really work? After a deep dive into
> the scientific research, I learned that the answer was a big fat maybe.
>
> Although theres enticing evidence that good ol cannabis can ease chronic
> pain and possibly treat some medical conditions, whether CBD alone can
> deliver the same benefits remains an open question. What is clear, at this
> point, is that the marketing has gotten way ahead of the science.
>
> Cannabinoids are a class of compounds that interact with receptors
> throughout your body. CBD is just one of dozens of cannabinoids found in
> cannabis, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the one responsible
> for marijuanas famous high. Medical cannabis is technically any cannabis
> product used for medicinal purposes, and these can contain THC or CBD or
> both, said Nick Jikomes, a neuroscientist at Leafly, a website that provides
> information about legal cannabis. A common mistake people make is to think
> that CBD is "the medical cannabinoid and THC is "the recreational
> cannabinoid. Thats inaccurate, he said, because THC is a potent
> anti-inflammatory and can be helpful for pain.
>
> What makes CBD so appealing is that its non-intoxicating, so it wont get
> you high, though it is technically psychoactive, because it can influence
> things like anxiety, Jikomes said. Although much of the marketing blitz
> around CBD centers on the fact that you can take it without getting stoned,
> there isnt much research looking at the effects of CBD when used in
> isolation, with a couple of exceptions. One is the use of CBD to treat
> seizures: CBD is the active ingredient in the only cannabis product that the
> Food and Drug Administration has signed off on a drug called Epidiolex,
> which is approved for treating two rare forms of epilepsy. Animal models and
> a few human studies suggest that CBD can help with anxiety, but those are
> the only conditions with much research on CBD in isolation.
>
> Last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
> released a nearly 500-page report on the health effects of cannabis and
> cannabinoids. A committee of 16 experts from a variety of scientific and
> medical fields analyzed the available evidence more than 10,000 scientific
> abstracts in all. Because so few studies examine the effects of CBD on its
> own, the panel did not issue any findings about CBD specifically, but it did
> reach some conclusions about cannabis and cannabinoids more generally. The
> researchers determined that there is conclusive or substantial evidence
> supporting the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for chronic pain in adults,
> multiple sclerosis-related spasticity (a kind of stiffness and muscle
> spasms), and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. The committee also
> found moderate evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids can reduce sleep
> disturbances in people with obstructive sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, chronic
> pain and multiple sclerosis, as well as limited evidence that these
> substances can improve symptoms of Tourettes syndrome, increase appetite
> and stem weight loss in people with HIV/AIDs, and improve symptoms of PTSD
> and anxiety.
>
> Donald Abrams was a member of the committee that reviewed the evidence that
> went into producing the report, and he said that the studies they reviewed
> overwhelmingly used pharmaceutically available preparations that contain
> THC, including dronabinol, nabilone and the whole-plant extract spray
> nabiximols, which contains equal parts CBD and THC. Its impossible to know
> whether the benefits of cannabis can also be obtained from CBD alone, Abrams
> said, because CBD is just one of 400 chemicals present in the plant. So far,
> CBD in isolation has been studied in only a handful of randomized,
> placebo-controlled trials (considered the gold standard of evidence in
> medical research), and the evidence remains sparse.
>
> Still, as the saying goes, absence of evidence isnt necessarily evidence of
> absence, and theres a reason we dont have a ton of solid research on CBDs
> yet to study it, we need a good source, said Ziva Cooper, who is an
> associate professor at Columbia University and was on the National Academies
> committee. CBD is hard to get because its still technically a Schedule I
> drug, which limits its availability, Cooper said.
>
> Cooper recently got funding from the National Institutes of Health for a
> study looking at cannabinoids including CBD in isolation as a substitute
> for opioids, and numerous other clinical trials of CBD are underway. It will
> be several years before results are available, but these studies should help
> clarify both what benefits the substance may provide and any side effects it
> may come with. Most of the adverse effects so far associated with cannabis,
> such as impairments in short-term memory, coordination and judgment,2 come
> from products that contain THC as well as CBD, Cooper said, but we need to
> do more studies to find out for sure whether CBD has fewer risks. Studies
> are also needed to identify the best way to administer and dose CBD. I get
> emails from people asking me what dose of CBD to use, and the truth is, we
> really dont know, Cooper said.
>
> In the meantime, some physicians are forging ahead and cashing in. Joe
> Cohen is a doctor at Holos Health, a medical marijuana clinic in Boulder. I
> asked him what CBD is good for, and he read me a long list of conditions:
> pain, inflammation, nausea, vomiting, intestinal cramping, anxiety,
> psychosis, muscle spasms, hyperactive immune systems, nervous system
> degeneration, elevated blood sugar and more. He also claimed that CBD has
> anti-cancer properties and can regenerate brain cells and reduce the brains
> levels of amyloid beta a kind of protein thats been linked to Alzheimers
> disease. I asked for references, noting that most of these werent listed in
> the Academies report or a similar review published in the Journal of the
> American Medical Association. I think you just have to Google search it,
> he said. Its true that a preliminary study found hints that cannabinoids
> might reduce beta amyloid proteins in human brain cells, but the study was
> done in cells grown in a lab, not in people. As for cancer, the FDA sent
> warning letters last year to four companies that were selling products that
> claimed to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure cancer.
>
> Those warning letters aside, theres not a lot of federal oversight right
> now over the claims being made or the products that are being sold. Cohen
> warned against buying CBD products online, because theres a lot of scams
> out there. Yet his clinic sells CBD, and he admits, I say "Dont buy
> online, but ours is worth doing, because we know what were doing. We ship
> all over.
>
> Right now, theres a good chance that you dont really know what youre
> getting from any source. Testing and labeling rules vary by state, but many
> states that allow legal cannabis also require some kind of testing to verify
> that the THC and CBD levels listed on the label are accurate. However, this
> testing is controversial, and results can vary widely between labs, Jikomes
> said. A study published in March found measurable variations in test
> results, with some labs consistently reporting higher or lower levels of
> cannabinoids than others. There are no guarantees that the label accurately
> reflects whats in the product. For a 2015 study published in JAMA,
> researchers tested 75 products purchased in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
> Seattle and found that only 17 percent were accurately labeled. More than
> half of the products contained significantly lower levels of cannabinoids
> than the label promised, and some of them contained only negligible amounts
> of the compounds. We need to come up with ways to confidently verify the
> composition of cannabis products and make this information available to
> consumers, Jikomes said.
>
> All these people are making claims, Abrams said, but right now, theres
> little verification. Its the Wild West..."
>
> </>
>
> ==
>
> Thanks for posting that, Greg. I have seen CBD oil in my local health food
> shop and I was wondering what it was for!
One thing it does appear to do is interfere with metabolism of various
drugs, including antidepressants, resulting in higher-than-expected levels
of those drugs in the blood stream.
I've been researching medical marijuana. In the U.S., CBD oil is in
kind of a regulatory grey area, and a lot of its potency depends on
the manufacturer. You can get various levels of alleged potency; with or
without THC (which is the stuff that gets you high).
Cindy Hamilton
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