CBD
CBD or Cannabidiol is a chemical compound derived from cannabis; it is one of 113 compounds identified in the cannabis plant. CBD has been promoted as a cure for everything from anxiety to cancer. Salons, health stores, and even gas stations carry CBD products with fantastical claims. It has risen to prominence as marijuana has gradually been legalized across the United States. However, CBD was formally legalized across the nation with the passing and signing of the 2018 Farm bill, which legalized the cultivation of hemp.
Does CBD cure cancer?
Short answer: No. There is no evidence that CBD cures cancer.
(slightly) Longer answer: There are limited studies with low quality evidence that show CBD can alleviate some of the symptoms of chemotherapy, but they haven’t been done on scale or with proper clinical procedures.
Does CBD help with anxiety?
Short answer: There’s not enough evidence to make a definitive statement, but preliminary studies indicate that CBD could be beneficial to people with generalized anxiety and PTSD.
Longer answer: There have been several animal studies that have shown CBD as effective at reducing stress levels in rats. There have also been several small scale studies that showed CBD could be effective for treating social anxiety. One such study used public speaking as a way to test whether CBD helped in highly stressful circumstances.
Does CBD cream work for pain relief?
Short answer: Still unclear. Similar to its effects on anxiety, CBD cream has shown promising results for treating joint pain in small-scale and animal studies; however, these results have not been replicated in large-scale clinical studies.
Longer answer: Researchers at Zynerba Pharmaceuticals conducted a 12 week study with 320 patients to determine whether cbd cream would reduce pain in patients with osteoporosis. The study produced encouraging results that suggested that CBD cream is capable of of soothing pain resulting from osteoporosis.
Does CBD help treat Epilepsy?
Short answer: Yes. The CBD-derived drug, Epidiolex, has been shown to be effective at treating certain childhood epileptic syndromes
Longer answer: CBD has been shown in numerous animal studies that it can reduce or even eliminate seizures, but the scientific community cautions that anecdotal evidence and animal studies don’t ensure its effectiveness. However, the FDA has approved Epidiolex, a drug used to treat epilepsy, which contains CBD. This suggests that CBD does have powerful anti-epileptic properties.