Depression and Mood Disorders
Clinical depression is a severe disorder that specifically affects the mood. This kind of health condition is characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest, which in turn leads to a state of decreased appetite and energy and the eventual suicidal thought. Pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of depressions are often aimed at targeting serotonin, a chemical messenger that specifically functions as a mood stabilizer.
Interestingly, the neural network of the endocannabinoid system also works similarly as serotonin, dopamine, and other chemical messengers. And some research studies have established a link between cannabinoids and serotonin. While a lower dose of THC helps to raise the body’s serotonin levels, high doses could cause a decrease in the serotonin levels, which eventually worsen the condition.
As contained in a 2009 research report, it could be deduced that researchers found a piece of substantial evidence supporting the fact that the endocannabinoid signals as a target for the pharmacotherapy of depression. CBD might be specifically useful for the treatment and management of depression related to chronic stress, which has been proven to decrease the endocannabinoid levels.
How to Take the Medicine: Dosage and Delivery
Typically, CBD products with a ratio of 20:1 or a higher concentration are recommended and administered as edibles, capsules, or drops. Undoubtedly, products that contain Valentine X or Electra 4 are found to be more energizing and help in relieving depression.
Whenever the issues only lie in low energy, sativa and other stimulating strains could be helpful for the improvement of energy and focus whenever THC can be tolerated. Varieties that have high concentrations of terpenes like limonene are also recommended as they help in mood elevation.
It is, however, suggested that you always begin with microdose in order to test the sensitivity. Then, you go up as required within the dosage range before going to the next and watch closely as the symptoms subside. The micro to standard dose is one of the most recommended doses for the treatment of depression.
Vaporized or smoked cannabis are also effective in relieving of immediate symptoms, or a boost in dosage, and it could also help in resolving sleep issues. Often, sublingual sprays or tinctures take quick effects, and they also last longer than inhaled CBD products because they are liquids.
Effectiveness of Cannabis for the Treatment of Depression: The Current Science
A research conducted in 2005 recommended further clinical trials in order to establish the efficacy of cannabinoids in the treatment of bipolar disorders. Similarly, in 2010, a study also suggested that CBD doesn’t have a precise use for manic episodes that are associated with bipolar disorders. However, there is a more significant potential for the effectiveness of CBD for depressive episodes.
Authors of a 2014 review on animal studies concluded that CBD had proven antianxiety and antidepressant effects in several models. More so, they suggested that the compound worked effectively by establishing an interactive link between 5-HT1A neuroreceptors.
Dr. Michael Moskowitz writes, “It is important to remember that CBD benefits and improves the activity in the endocannabinoid system by increasing the time anandamide works on the CB1 and CB2 receptors.”
Furthermore, he said, “Anandamide works on the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine systems. It also works on the GABA-glutamate system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Its main role is restoring balance through inhibition when levels are too high and enhancement when they are too low. This is the most likely reason phytocannabinoids in general and CBD specifically are able to regulate depression and anxiety.”
Pain
According to Sir John Russell Reynolds, a neurologist, epilepsy research pioneer and physician to Queen Victoria back in 1859, “for the relief of certain kinds of pain, there is no more useful medicine than Cannabis within our reach.”
In fact, cannabis has remained the first set of treatment options for the management and treatment of pain relief in many of the ancient civilizations through Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the world. The inquiry of scientists and researchers into cannabis has confirmed the effectiveness of this analgesic for numerous kinds of pain.
Of all the reasons why many people love cannabis today, body pain remains the most common. In the United States, statistics revealed that about seventy million people suffer from chronic pain, and this is defined by experiencing more than one hundred days of pain in a year. However, physicians have made a clear difference between neuropathic and nociceptive pains.
Cannabis has been proven to work on most neuropathic and many other nociceptive pains. A number of research-based studies have established that the endocannabinoid system can be centrally and peripherally linked with pain processing signals in the body. Most of these discussions supporting the use of cannabis in pain reliefs, however, suggested that it is essential to know the right dosage.
How to Take the Medicine: Dosage and Delivery
It is highly essential that patients suffering pains and want to adopt the use of CBD should work with competent health care practitioners in order to develop and fine-tune various effective methods of CBD dosage and delivery.
Oral CBD products with a high ratio of 20:1 and higher can be administered in various forms, which includes edibles, capsules, and drops. And these dosage is sufficient enough for the alleviation of pain, specifically the inflammatory type. Most of the earlier discussion on the treatment of pain with cannabis have recommended that patients should use the right kind of dosage in order to establish its effectiveness.
Usually, it would help if you consider starting with the micro dose since the use of these compounds for pain treatment is sensitive. The micro to standard dose is usually recommended for pain reliefs. However, patients are advised to monitor their conditions carefully and evaluate the appropriate formula; 10–40 mg of CBD or CBD+THC together is usually enough.
Other cannabinoids that are also effective in the treatment of pains include CBC, THCV, CBG, and THCA. Chemotypes that have a relatively high content of beta-caryophyllene, myrcene, and linalool also provide the body with additional pain relief while also increasing the effectiveness of other cannabinoids for analgesia.
Effectiveness of CBD in Pain Reliefs: The Current Science
Several research studies have attested to the fact that CBD and cannabis boast of a rating of a highly probable efficacy in the treatment of pains. In fact, the use of cannabis for the alleviation of pain remains the best and most substantiated medicinal use of cannabinoids all across the world today.
Sativex is an oromucosal spray derived from the cannabis plant, and it contains equal proportions of both CBD and THC. This compound has been confirmed and approved in several countries of the world as a result of its effectiveness in the treatment of specific types of pains.
Numerous randomized clinical studies have also demonstrated the possibility, safety, and efficacy of Sativex for the treatment of illnesses that emanates from both the central and peripheral neuropathic pain. Apart from that, it also works for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, cancer pain, and many more.
Cannabinoids influence the transmission of pain signals from the affected region to the brain and back to the affected region.
According to a study conducted in 2011, CBD and CBC are responsible for stimulating the pain-blocking pathways of the nervous system. Aside from that, it also causes analgesia by establishing a close interaction with several other target proteins that are essential parts of the nociceptive controls. The authors of this research, however, concluded that cannabinoids are responsible for therapeutic agents with multiple mechanisms of action.