CBD Hemp Oils Can it Replace Opioids?

CBD Hemp Oils vs Opioids

 

There are many challenges associated with the use (CBD) hemp oils in pain management. Including variations in levels of CBD and THC and the amount of human clinical trials conducted.

According to an article published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

CBD hemp oils are a popular option to conventional pain relievers for pain control.

However, research examining the effects of CBD is still limited, as the majority of clinical studies focus on THC, which binds CB1 receptors, rather than on CBD itself.

There has been some research to examine the use of CBD oils in pain management.

The majority of the trails focused on THC drugs such as dronabinol and nabilone. The most exhaustive research on CBD oil examined its effects on epilepsy and indicated that CBD oil might lower the rate of seizures.

Trials have indicated that CBD and hemp oils may be useful for chronic pain. If such results in patients with chronic pain, were repeated CBD and hemp oils may represent a practical solution for lowering opioid use.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of rigorous safety studies on full-spectrum phytocannabinoid oils, as these products are still recent.

However, existing data seem to indicate that they are not associated with serious safety concerns.

Although legalized marijuana is popular in America, the number of physicians who prescribe it is relatively low. Many are unsure of the dosages that are needed and precisely what it can use for and in what manner, not to mention the legal issues that still need discussion.

There is a paradigm shift happening where physicians and patients alike are talking about it, especially when it doesn’t cause a “high” or addiction like some opioids drugs. 

Opioids drugs have been treating pain for so long; there is an epidemic of prescription opioids abuse. Considering this epidemic and the enormous number of people who suffer from chronic pain.

The responsibility for us to talk and understand the medicinal benefits of cannabis better and acknowledge what information is useful and what is wrong.

There are 900 different products in the market from one or both of the two variations of the cannabis plant: marijuana and hemp.

Besides, not all of the chemical compounds (called cannabinoids) found in the cannabis plants are created alike. Some make you “high,” and some don’t.

We need to accept this and research the benefits further.

 

The Endocannabinoid System

Cannabis has been used in therapeutic forms within cultures and for centuries. With the improvement of science and technology, scientists have now been able to ascertain that cannabis consists of over 113 different chemical compounds called cannabinoids. 

The two most prominent cannabinoids are THC trans-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and CBD cannabidiol.

They have also discovered that the bodies of all mammals have their cannabinoid system, called the endocannabinoid system (ECS).

It means the body produces a variety of chemicals that bind to millions of receptors.

The receptors are small protein molecules attached to your cells that receive chemical signals from different stimuli and help your cells respond — located in the brain, central nervous system, and throughout the body. 

These chemicals and their receptors act to regulate the body’s state of balance, influencing your mood, emotional state, learning, memory, sleep, appetite, digestion, pain, immune response, and hormones.

In other words: They’re essential for general well being. Within the endocannabinoid system, there are two primary receptors:

CB1 receptors, found in the central nervous system, and brain and CB2 receptors found in the immune system.

Cannabinoids ingested from plants influence our body’s ECS, which means they have the potential to affect your mood, memory, appetite, immune system, and so forth.

The reason marijuana causes a “high” or mood changing, because THC binds to CB1 receptors in the brain. Where and how different cannabinoids interact with receptors in the body is what makes them unique. 

The cannabinoid THC, for instance, binds to both CB1 and CB2 receptors. 

For this reason, THC can affect bodily systems and cause the “high.” CBD, on the other hand, rarely binds to these receptors at all. CBD seems to exert its effects on the ESC through different pathways ultimately. 

That science has found that at high concentrations, CBD exerts its effects through over 60 molecular pathways.

 

 

Cannabinoids in Hemp oil.

As CBD fails to bind to CB1 receptors in the brain, the “high” you get from THC doesn’t occur. It does link to other receptors involved in mood, cognition, and memory.

Therefore, CBD has influence over other aspects of the mind and mood, including emotions, feelings, and perceptions.

For instance, studies recently have found that CBD binds to the 5-HT1A (serotonin) receptor, which can affect anxiety, among other things, by reducing its levels.

Reducing anxiety is one of the therapeutic benefits of CBD, and continued studies on CBD oil use therapeutically are showing great promise.

Though more research is necessary, it has also shown that CBD has the potential to relieve pain and inflammation.

When you think about it, it makes sense that cannabinoids influence and help regulate inflammation since both CB1 and CB2 receptors located in the immune cells.

Although CBD only binds marginally to these receptors and THC is the primary compound that has shown to decrease inflammation. (Since it attaches to the CB2 receptor)

CBD found to exert its potent anti-inflammatory action. These act as an analgesic or pain reliever. For example, CBD can increase adenosine signaling, a molecule that reduces inflammation.

The reason both CBD and THC help treat pain, however, isn’t only due to their positive effect on inflammation.

Both compounds influence the brain and nerve pathways, meaning they affect how we experience and perceive pain.

You see, the experience of pain has many components, and it’s a phenomenon. 

Pain that results in the same injury in two individuals, for instance, can be experienced entirely differently by each person. The sensory system of the body when the body is damaged also increases the amount of inflammation that is the experience — the person’s mental attitude toward pain and injury is also affected.

The rate of response is determined by this factor alone. 

The perception around their ability to function with pain becomes an issue that people need to deal with.

What damage means to be a whole and complete person, whether or not they will heal, are vexed questions.

When or if the pain becomes chronic, creates even more variables, and whether the pain is due to an ongoing disease or pathological issues with the nervous system and become neuropathic.

For example, if you cut your hand, the sensory and pain nerve fibers that are affected will relay a message to the brain that there is an injury. You will also visually witness it. You will be affected emotionally and physically by the injury.

The more upset you are, the higher the likelihood that you will incur more pain. Even more so, if the pain persists, the chances are that your level of discontent and distress will worsen.

Pain—especially chronic pain—is a genuine component. 

The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine concluded that the U.S. economy loses a trillion U.S. dollars every year with pain-related medical services. Plus, loss of productivity costs associated with patients in long-term care. 

Considering the current opioid epidemic, finding ways to address the complex problem that is chronic pain is of utmost importance — knowing that the body has an innate system to manage pain and regulate it through the endocannabinoid system.

It must open the door to using safe, nonpsychoactive formats of CBD from hemp oil, and marijuana is exciting news.

Research on CBD hemp oil.

Though more research and more evidence are needed, there are a significant number of developing studies pointing to the critical benefits CBD has for controlling and reducing pain.

A 2011 review of randomized trials that studied the effectiveness of cannabinoids in treating chronic non-cancer pain. The study found that of the 18 tests reviewed, 15 of them reached the necessary criteria and demonstrated a significant analgesic effect of cannabinoids versus the placebo.

It occurred without any reported severe side effects. Also, the cannabinoid is better than a placebo in improving sleep.

Concerning rheumatic pain, one study found that cannabinoid receptors located in the synovium, which is the lining of joints that secretes fluid so that the bone has mobility.

It is in these joint spaces that individuals suffer from rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.

Another study involving rats with arthritis found that the application of CBD gel for four days reduced inflammation and overall pain in the rats without side effects. 

Of course, more research is required; however, the science is up-and-coming, especially relating to CBD’s positive impact on neuropathic pain. This type of pain is linked with HIV, multiple sclerosis, and or other types of chronic nerve pain conditions.

 

How to buy CBD hemp oils for pain, legally?

Whatever CBD product you decide to try, you should know that it can be inhaled, ingested, or applied. It comes in the form of a tincture that can be sprayed under the tongue or dropped with a vial dropper. 

Both these formats do not use the digestive system, so the CBD is absorbed in the bloodstream quickly. CBD through the infusion into baking mixes or by eating edibles or supplement capsules.

Finally, CBD can be applied topically to the body in the form of salves, massage oils, and lotions.

A total of 29 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico, have enacted laws that allow for the medical use of marijuana. Each state has its specific requirements and conditions that must be followed for cannabinoids to be Legal.

Federally, however, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substance Act.

It means that the component considered being one that has the potential for dependency and has no accepted medical use.

It also means that the distribution of marijuana is a federal offense, a confusing predicament when it is legal in so many states.

The Department of Justice reserves the right to challenge the rules at any time they deem necessary, which makes many doctors apprehensive and gives reason to why so many doctors don’t prescribe it or know much about it.

They don’t want to know.

Technically, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) labels all cannabinoid products illegal. Yet, the agency is more concerned about marijuana-derived CBD than hemp-derived CBD because it lacks the THC component.

Marijuana-derived CBD can usually acquire in the states where medicinal marijuana is legal. States successful, in enabling stores practitioners to provide CBD, for those in need without being prosecuted by the DEA.

The truth is, though, the DEA cannot override the state medical marijuana laws. 

It means CBD is still legal in the states so long as it is medicinal, and if the product contains less than 1 percent THC as is the case with hemp-derived CBD, buying and using it is legal throughout the United States.

 

Where to buy your hemp oil products?

Trying to find the right hemp oil can be an ordeal, which is why I recommend you speak with a health care provider educated on the subject.

You may want to try hemp-derived CBD first, as it doesn’t have the mind-altering side effects.

Start with the smallest of doses and see how your mind and body respond, and make sure you have your doctor in the loop to track your response.

If you are suffering from a lot of musculoskeletal pain and spasms, you can try the massage oils or lotions safely and will note whether it is working reasonably quickly.

If you suffer from illnesses to your digestive tract or chronic inflammation, you may want to try CBD edibles.

If you find the hemp-derived CBD isn’t helping, you might then want to try the marijuana-derived products, and for this, you will need to work closely with the medical professional who is doing the prescribing to see what is best for you.

If you are one of the millions of people affected by chronic pain, CBD and hemp oils may be an option for you. If you are interested in knowing more, your first step should be discussing it with your doctor or knowledgeable health care providers.

And taking everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt—primarily when it’s written by a company that sells CBD products.

If your doctor doesn’t know or becomes uncomfortable talking about CBD, then find another doctor who is educated on the benefits of CBD oil.