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The Many Ways That Cannabidiol Can Help People Live Better Lives
Cannabidiol is a natural chemical that has more than one interesting attribute and plenty of intriguing aspects to it. As an extract, it comes from the Cannabis Sativa plant along with several other substances. These extracted substances have an effect on the body and mind that some people can appreciate.
And at times, it’s easy to see why Cannabidiol (CBD) and other chemicals yielded from Cannabis Sativa have good public appeal with certain individuals. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of the more recognized and discussed chemicals found in Cannabis, because of its psychoactive properties. While at the same time, demand for CBD makes it the prevalent Cannabis extract produced.
A big part of this demand stems from the fact that CBD has no psychoactive properties. But, it does have other useful properties such as pain relief and mood control just to name a few. Largely, Cannabidiol can be purchased and used as a dietary supplement. However, data shows it has the potential to be used medicinally for the treatment of serious and deadly illnesses.
CBD has a way of acting like a catalyst in the body by triggering receptors in just the right way. These receptors work in the endocannabinoid system, which is found throughout the body and especially in the central and peripheral nervous systems. They assist in different functions of the body ranging from maintaining immune balance to neuroprotection.
When things aren’t running right, CBD helps to return systems to normal, and the end result is a sense of balance and wellbeing. Presumably, the molecular build of Cannabidiol is a big part of why it works so well. Cannabidiol fits right in with receptors because the chemical and cells have a complementary structure. This detail is especially interesting when you compare CBD to THC. As a matter of fact, both Cannabis extracts have the exact same amount of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen atoms. It is a Hydroxyl grouping in Cannabidiol that makes all the difference between the two.
Another difference between THC and CBD is the way Cannabidiol effects receptors. Unlike THC, Cannabidiol doesn’t bind with these cells. However, its presence in the endocannabinoid system does, in essence, alter the shape of receptors. That quality places Cannabidiol in a class of chemicals known as negative allosteric modulators. It also makes CBD perfect for counteracting or blocking the psychoactive effects of THC on the body. It is this exact property of CBD that makes it perfect for combating psychotic symptoms of mental illnesses like Schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
Whether blocking antagonist to cells or simply filling in the gaps, CBD has a way of making the mind and body feel better or stopping things from getting worse. It can be used in a daily regimen or as needed to counteract disabling physical conditions like Dystonia, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. But, it's helpful effects are not just for common maladies. CBD has a proven record for ending or lowering the number and severity of seizures for people living with rare types of epilepsy. In these instances, patients have conditions that do not respond to traditional forms of medication.
The effects of Cannabidiol are advantageous enough to provide relief from seizures for children who suffer from stubborn epileptic syndromes. Namely, Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut are two ailments where traditional medications have little to no avail for patients. Fortunately, CBD either drastically lowers or stops seizures altogether for most sufferers.
Although modern medical science doesn’t fully understand the details of why CBD works so well in the body, we know it likes to treat us nicely for the most part. A short look at the effect of Cannabidiol on schizophrenia is a good example to demonstrate this fact. CBD, while in the brain, stops the breakdown of a particular chemical associated with pain, mood, mental capacity. As a result, the increased levels of this chemical in the bloodstream lowers a person’s psychosis. Because CBD has no psychoactive properties of its own, the patient’s mental reaches a state of balance.
Certainly, there are some side effects associated with use, and anyone wanting to start a Cannabidiol regimen should definitely talk to a doctor first. However, there’s a good amount of research and authoritative evidence on record regarding this chemical. The evidence suggests that CBD could be doing more than just changing lives. It could be saving lives from different types of cancers. Evidence of CBD being a catalyst for good in cancer treatment deserves a closer look and explanation.
CBD for Cancer Patients: How it makes sense?
Due to prohibitive laws regarding Cannabis Sativa as a controlled or illegal substance, there is not a long history of official use of extracted Cannabidiol. However, there are some studies and data collected on the effects of CBD in cancer treatment or patient care. And, the data that does exist continues to grow and collectively support claims of CBD being good for treatment. Cannabidiol benefits cancer patients in the same way as traditional medications. Moreover, it does this without many of the side effects that can make taking medication a troublesome task.
When it comes to cancer, managing pain often requires starting a cycle of medicine that comes with a few unwanted side effects of its own. These complications can include physically uncomfortable conditions like constipation, nausea, and adverse reaction to the medication itself. On top of these issues, patients have to worry about becoming addicted to an opioid in addition to beating their cancer. In some cases, the opioid may not even bring the patient any kind of relief at all.
For these people, CBD offers an alternative proven to be far less addictive than traditional methods. Studies, conducted with thousands of cancer patients as participants, contain data with reports of relief and improved mobility after using Cannabis extracts. For many of these people, the use of CBD and other substances is self-medication after everything else let them down. This comparison is true for other alternative methods for managing cancer treatment as well (THC). Some patients find that they actually get better results from CBD than they do with opioids or medical use of Cannabis Sativa.
Besides controlling the pain associated with cancer treatment, CBD helps patients deal with the effects of Chemotherapy. As a proven method for killing cancer cells, Chemotherapy takes an incredible toll on the human body. One of the stresses that Chemotherapy patients have to endure comes from nausea and vomiting. Frankly, this side effect of the treatment happens so frequently it has its own term and initials, Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV).
Fortunately, CBD lessens this side effect of cancer treatment. Dozens of clinical trials report findings of Cannabidiol cutting the levels of nausea in Chemotherapy patients in half. Data in these trials also support claims of CBD being more effective at blocking nausea than traditional medications.
Ridding the body of an illness as aggressive as cancer while managing the side effects of the medication involved can wear patients down. When this happens, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and depression can overwhelm an individual causing them to abandon hope and treatment. The properties of CBD counteract all of these side effects effectively. But, it works particularly well for anxiety and depression. CBD triggers receptors in the brain that initiate the production of serotonin, which results in a better state of mind.
On top of helping a person or patient feel better during their treatment, there’s evidence of CBD stopping cancer directly. Data from multiple studies show that Cannabidiol destroyed breast cancer cells in many cases. Even better than that, other reports show the chemical slowing the growth of metastatic breast cancer.
Even in situations where CBD doesn’t have any direct Influence on cancer in the body, it still aids in the treatment. For Leukemia patients, studies show that mixing CBD with medicine boosts the effects. This translates to using lower doses to treat patients with Leukemia, which means less negative repercussions from dealing with side effects.
CBD can even fight cancer on a preventative level due to its ability to combat inflammation. Cancer of the brain, prostate, and thyroid are loosely linked with inflammation. A regular dose of CBD prevents inflammation in the body and reasonably stops the cause and effect of these cancers beforehand.
CBD and Its Complex Mechanism that Helps Fight Off Cancer
No one can deny the clear and obvious benefits that CBD brings to the table when it comes to dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment. However, observation of these benefits only makes us wonder if there isn’t more than could be done with this particular Cannabis extract. Ultimately, we need to know everything about how Cannabidiol works in the body and why it seems to have such antitumor properties.
There’s a reason why measuring and tracking the correlation between CBD and the death of cancer cells presents optimism and challenges. The cause and effect between the two are not exactly direct, and phenomenon on the cellular level can vary from one person to the other. For one, CBD affects the body in more than one way through fairly complex mechanisms and its effectiveness depends on other factors as well. The basic quality of the receptors that the chemical comes in contact with and the metabolism between systems in the body are just two simple examples.
For CBD to have a detrimental effect on cancer cells, conditions within the body have to be right and one activity has to follow another in something of a sequence. We know that CBD aids the body because its molecular structure facilitates the needs of cannabinoid receptors. We also know that these receptors are present throughout the body with a density in the central nervous system.
Furthermore, Cannabinoid (CB) receptors regulate all kind of reactions in the body to include immune responses. So, it appears that using CBD to stop cancer all comes down to getting the right cells to die by sending them the right signals. The trick and challenge are to get the CBD receptors to convert to the right state, so they can activate the most effective reactions in cells to fight cancer. And, there are many variables that can throw this process way off. For example, the presence of monoacylglycerol instead of diacylglycerol can delay or completely stop the activation process for receptors in the immune system.
The mechanism by which CBD kills or stops the spread of cancer is something of a series of maneuvers throughout the endocannabinoid system. And the truth of the matter is that the process can be different for each person depending on the kind of cancer in question. Even for those of us who have medical degrees or work as some kind of professional in a laboratory, the reactions that cells have to CBD gets a little complex.
Once it gets inside the body, CBD initiates anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, and pro-apoptotic activity. The chemical then proceeds to bypass some CB receptors to get to others while causing Endoplasmic Reticulum stress and stifle the activating of AKT/mTOR signals. In certain circumstances, the Cannabidiol has the power to protect cells from oxidation and damage and strengthen CB receptors due to a lack of antagonist.
At other times, cell proliferation has already reached an irreversible state, which leaves CBD very little to do to help to stop cancer cells from spreading. Because the human body is a matrix of signals, systems, cells, CBD doesn’t stop and kill cancer cells all on its own. Instead, it helps cells to produce certain enzymes. The presence of these enzymes in the body causes the needed autophagy and apoptosis. This is a process where cells go through a kind of predisposed cycle of death. And, it’s just one example of how the properties of CBD initiate processes and interactions in multicellular systems to kill cancer.
By its very presence, CBD translates to the creation of a molecule known as Reactive Oxygen Species, which brings about more apoptosis in cancer cells. With ROS in play, Cannabidiol enhances other molecules and inhibitors that are produced. Collectively, the chemical and enzymes combat cancer cells and stop their ability to metastasize. There’s even a slight chance that CBD uses receptors to signal cancer cells to increase the level of toxic agents. This results in a kind of self-destruction.
Safely Taking CBD: Different and Simple Ways
Even though CBD does good things in the body to help cancer patients, it comes with a few side effects of its own. You may feel a little tired or even a bit of nausea from having the chemical in your system. Some people experience dry mouth and a change in appetite from CBD.
A change in blood pressure or diarrhea is also possible side effects of having Cannabidiol in your body. For most people, there are no side effects of taking CBD. In the cases where side effects occur, the feelings are subtle and don’t last very long. Interaction with other medications is the most important thing to watch for when taking Cannabidiol for cancer treatment. If other medications interact with CBD, it can put serious stress on the liver. This stress could ultimately result in damage.
Inhalation is the fastest way to get CBD into the body, and some people feel the effects almost immediately. This quick feeling of relief happens due to the diffusion that happens in the lungs. There’s a trade-off for the fast action relief that comes from inhaling CBD. The effects of inhaling Cannabidiol don’t last as long when compared to other methods of taking it. In comparison, CBD stays in your body only about half as long from inhalation. On the upside, vape oils often have flavors added to them, which masks its natural taste.
For some people and cancer patients, inhalation of CBD is absolutely out of the question. Fortunately, other methods of placing the chemical under the tongue or between the cheek and gums work relatively fast as well. It takes about 20 minutes for CBD to make its way through all of your systems if you use either of these methods. Some people prefer to place the chemical under the tongue (sublingual) or between the cheek and gum (buccal) because it’s more precise.
Besides using the inhalation, sublingual, and buccal methods, cancer patients can simply orally ingest CBD to get it into their system. This method is easy and actually offers a few options when it comes to things like form and taste. There’s only one drawback from choosing to ingest CBD as opposed to the other methods. It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half for the chemicals to flow through the different systems in the body. Just like sublingual and buccal methods, ingestion allows for more precision in dosage than inhalation.
Before using any method of CBD dosing, it is highly recommended that you do as much research as possible. This fact-checking is thorough enough to answer all of your questions regarding issues of purity and quality. Initially, this might present a bit of a challenge as the standards for regulation concerning Cannabis Sativa are not as precise as other products. To guide you through this fact-finding task, be sure to follow two rules of thumb. For one, never use a synthetic CBD product, because it may contain impurities and other substances that can interact with treatment medications. And secondly, only use products from manufacturers who use a third party to test for impurities.
Additional Research: Effects of Cancer in Different Systems of the Body
Of course, it’s good to know about the ways that CBD can help with cancer treatment. Moreover, the details and data collected in the trials and studies are just all around uplifting. There’s a lot being learned about the effects of CBD on cancer. But for cancer patients, the specifics of what researchers find when they use this chemical matters the most.
When it comes to Leukemia, CBD has worked in the past to bring about apoptosis from caspase-3 activation. In such cases, death happens in the HL-60 cell line, but it doesn’t happen in people with normal monocytes. And, that is not the only time CBD has stilted Leukemia.
In the murine EL-4 lymphoma cell line and Molt-4 Leukemia cell line, CBD has been able to cause CB2 receptors to lower the number of cells as well as induce apoptosis. Researchers found similar results when they expose Jurkat cells to Cannabidiol which results in the activating of caspases (8,9,3). As a complex biological phenomenon goes, these events add up to a type of communication between cells that we didn’t know was possible.
Increases inactivation and protein production are not the only kinds of results that researchers see from exposing cancer to CBD. The inhibition of tissues and a decrease of invasion also come from exposing cancer cells to Cannabidiol. In one particular line of treatment, the exposure yielded an upregulated inhibition for the matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) enzyme.
At the same time, CBD mechanisms initiated p38 and ERK phosphorylation for TIMP-1. The cause and effect seen in Lung cancer cells show us some promising data. For A549 cells, CBD activates CB receptors 1 and 2 along with TRPV1 receptors, which lowers invasion. This case shows that CBD can work nicely with other biological phenomena such as the plasminogen activator inhibitor PAI-1. The connection between the two suggests that CBD concentration aids in the secretion of PAI-1, which lowers the invasiveness of A549 lung cancer in the process.
A Simple Explanation of CBD for Cancer From a Reliable Source
For anyone who has trouble putting all the pieces of the CBD-versus-cancer puzzle together, a picture can be worth one thousand words. By that logic, a video containing an interview with an educated professional working in the field should prove absolutely priceless. With a career spanning over the course of a decade and the accolades for spearheading a major breakthrough in medical science, Dr. Maria Sanchez has a few insights on the subject. In this video, she explains the key details of why every cancer patient should know about and CBD and endocannabinoid receptors. As a molecular biologist, it’s more than just her job to pay attention to the chemical reactions of cells. It’s a specific ambition that requires laser focus and incredible vision. Picking up on scientific discoveries from professional predecessors, her research moves modern medical science in progressive and practical directions. Dr. Sanchez uses logic and intuition as guidelines to unlock the secrets Cannabidiol holds for the human body.
Conclusion
The effects of the Cannabidiol in the human body have long been proven to be of benefit whether a person has cancer cells spreading or not. If you have serious pain in your body and traditional medications make you want to throw up, CBD could be the solution. For those of us who have to achieve mental health through balancing chemicals in the brain, Cannabidiol offers an acceptable life free from psychosis. For anyone fighting for their lives against one of the many types of cancer, CBD can help in more ways than one. It can either take the edge off going through chemotherapy or take on some of the heavy lifting itself. Common sense says that if this chemical were any danger to people some kind of evidence would point to that fact. But, all the data collected so far only makes Cannabidiol look better and better all the time. In any event, modern medical science needs to keep making progress towards finding a way to extract and refine CBD for the sake of us all.
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