Cannabis has been used as an effective method of pain relief for close to a millennium by an array of people, but up until the early 1960’s we were unsure how exactly Marijuana and cannabis worked. When research began to be conducted into cannabis, the main focus was on the psychoactive component, THC, not CBD.
This focus on just one element of cannabis meant that for many years, no research looked into the other compounds and how these interacted with our bodies. Thankfully, research is now extended well past THC and is uncovering amazing things about cannabis, its compounds, and its reactions when it enters the human body.
What is CBD
It might seem that the words Cannabidiol (also known as CBD) and cannabis are interchangeable and can be used in replacement of one another, a lot of people get this wrong and it is in fact not the case. CBD is just one component part of the cannabis stevia; there are 423 compounds in total. So, when someone is referring to CBD, they are referring to one component part of the plant. CBD is also found in hemp and another stevia in varying quantities, some are legal due to their lower level of other compounds such as THC.
How Does CBD Help Manage Pain
Studies are still relatively thin on the ground into CBD and its effects on the human body. However, there are some positive results beginning to trickle through. Preliminary results are showing that CBD (as an isolated compound) does have anti-inflammatory effects on damaged tissue; this is good news for anyone who deals with chronic pain from conditions such as arthritis. However, it seems that the results the testing is gathering so far is from full-spectrum oils rather than isolated compounds. What this means is that our body reacts better to the 423 compounds when they are together than just one that has been isolated from the rest. Still confused? Charas Scientific has written a guide – it’s extremely in-depth.
Spectrum VS Isolate
Scientists and research bodies are still conducting extensive research into how exactly CBD can help manage pain relief. Some of the results have demonstrated that the human body is better at processing a full spectrum specimen than it is an isolate. What this means is, our bodies can interact better with CBD that hasn’t been taken away from other compounds found in cannabis stevia. The human body has CB receptors, throughout the brain, nervous system and immune system. What research is beginning to uncover is that our end cannabinoid system (the CB receptors) are built to work with all compounds of cannabis and related plants, not just one.
With this in mind, it may be far better to use a full spectrum product. When cannabis or other stevia enter the human body, they operate in an entourage effect. Previously it was only thought that cannabis gets people high (from the THC component) but that’s the case at all. A full spectrum product can reduce pain, reduce inflammation, can limit nausea and help increase blood flow to our brains.
The jury is still out on how much benefit can be derived from taking cannabis and cannabis-related products, but what the research is showing is that we are built to metabolize it and it has some surprising effects. Up until last year, it was thought that if cannabis had any benefit, it was only in the way that it manages pain. In actual fact, scientists found CB receptors within our immune systems. This means that CBD and the other compounds may not only help manage pain, they may also help boost our immune systems. This is excellent news for anybody suffering from an autoimmune disease such as MS.
Final Thoughts
With the research still being so thin on the ground, it is very tough to be able to adequately comment or give a commentary on the current state of the research and the results for using CBD in the management of pain. What we can say at this point in time, is that not only is research ongoing, it is making ground-breaking steps on a weekly basis. There is little doubt that CBD can help manage pain, especially in people suffering from autoimmune disease, but we are still trying to establish how far this goes.
If you are considering using CBD for the first time, the results of testing suggest that full-spectrum oil may well be more effective at managing pain than an isolate on the basis that we, as human beings are better at metabolizing it. Research into this area isn’t going to slow down and soon we will have a clearer picture on how much benefit CBD and the other compounds of the cannabis stevia can have on our bodies, these results will take time but they will tell us what people have been saying for millennia, that cannabis is effective pain relief.
