Research highlights CBD’s ability to alleviate symptoms of psychosis
While marijuana legislation continues to grab the major headlines, its nonpsychoactive cousin CBD continues to operate in the relative shadows as cannabis legislation continues to break ground.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is another compound found in cannabis that displays a wide variety of uses for people suffering from health problems such as chronic pain and insomnia, while even having efficacy in helping people wean off and overcome an opioid addiction. Like marijuana, CBD helps many patients who turn to cannabis as an important source of relief.
CBD research that focused on its ability to treat rare cases of epilepsy led to the development of Epidiolex, the very first FDA approved cannabis medicine by GW Pharmaceuticals. It was shown to have a strong correlation with a reduction in severe seizures that patients of the Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome suffered from.
Subject of research
Studies continue to be conducted on the medicinal properties of CBD, with the latest testing its ability to treat people suffering from psychosis. Psychosis is often associated with schizophrenia, characterized by delusions and bouts of paranoia that can serve to drastically impair a person’s livelihood and wellbeing.
Psychosis is often mistaken as a disease, but it is actually a symptom of underlying causes. Hallucinations and loss of coherence are other signs of psychosis, and it can place a patient in serious danger as well as others who come into contact with them. One of the potential causes of psychosis is believed to be a reduction in grey matter, which has a correlation to an individual’s ability to properly control their muscles as well as their sense of perception.
Genetics are also believed to be involved as it can be spread directly through genes, while family can also be another factor that can play a potential role in causing psychosis through an unstable living situation. It can also stem from an injury or trauma that was experienced during an individual’s life.
CBD to the rescue
In a study done by JAMA Psychiatry, a double-blind study was conducted on 33 individuals with a clinical high risk of psychosis and a control group including 19 individuals of sound health. This clinical trial was performed to gain a better understanding of how CBD orchestrated its anti-psychosis effects, particularly in the regions of the striatum, which supports voluntary movement, the medial temporal cortex, which promotes long-term memory, and the midbrain, which helps process sound and sight.
The two groups were split into three, with 16 of the high-risk group forming the experimental group, the other 17 comprising a placebo group, while the 19 healthy individuals remained as the control group.
Over the span of 3 months, the experimental group received a one-time 600mg oral dosage of CBD, while the other group of 17 high-risk individuals received a placebo, and the control group didn’t receive anything. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers studied the participants while they were engaged in a learning task to monitor progression or regression.
While the placebos saw some reductions and the control group remained steady, the experimental group dosed with 600mg of CBD saw their brain regions stimulated more than the placebo but less than the control. With results placing them right in the middle of the pack, this gave researchers another look at how CBD induces anti-psychosis by increasing the brain’s activity level and improving reduced functions.
Corroborating results
A previous study in 2017 by King’s College London that was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry also revealed similar results in CBD’s ability to battle psychosis-related disorders, in this case, schizophrenia.
An inability to regulate dopamine can result in mental disorders, as excess amounts only serve to heighten the pleasure-seeking drives of individuals, causing them to make rash decisions and foolish attempts to satiate their drives which can easily transform into addictions. Due to this, many anti-psychosis drugs relay on blocking dopamine in order to help treat those suffering from bouts of psychosis.
According to King’s College London’s Professor Philip McGuire, the lead author of the study, “However, dopamine is not the only neurotransmitter whose function is altered in psychosis, and in some patients, dopamine function may be relatively normal,”
With this idea in mind and testing CBD’s potential to battle psychosis, the study rounded up 83 patients and by using a randomized 1:1 ratio, some were administered a 1000mg dose of CBD, with the remaining individuals receiving a placebo. During the testing, the subjects continued to take their regular anti-psychosis medication.
After the six-week trial had come to a close, the results showed that CBD has managed to lower the psychosis symptoms characterized by those in the experiment group. This was verified by their therapists who agreed that their symptoms and conditions had improved considerably following the trial.
Most importantly, the fact that subjects continued to take their regularly scheduled medicine showed the researchers that CBD could indeed go above and beyond the scope of conventional treatment.
The CBD industry has become firmly entrenched as an influential market, with many choosing to opt for the oil in order to bypass the psychoactive effects of THC. CBD consumers can turn to many options like PotNetwork Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:POTN) to provide therapeutic effects to ease their ailments.
POTN edibles like easy to consume gummies have become a popular go-to for CBD enthusiasts, while also catering to the needs of other demographics with vapes, on the go drinks, and tinctures for convenience.
Not only that, but they also promote wellbeing products through their Meds Biotech brand, supplying pharmacist-formulated capsules that have also been reinforced with a new turmeric infused line. Pets can also indulge in the benefits of CBD safely through Medipets, which offers a variety of pet foods and products.
CBD is a versatile compound in cannabis, capable of improving mental conditions like psychosis and schizophrenia, while also alleviating the everyday pains and suffering of an increasingly growing consumer base who values its non-psychoactive properties. Research continues to support its medicinal efficacy, and it seems as though testing has only scratched the surface of what it has to offer.
