WHAT IS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS?
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic disease involving myelin sheath damage that protects your brain and spinal cords nerve cells. Symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue. One million individuals suffer from MS.
Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
MS symptoms vary for everyone, depending on the region and magnitude of nerve damage, but may include issues with vision, numbness, tingling, muscle spasms, and spasticity, pain, weakness, exhaustion, and movement or walking trouble. Symptoms can be unpredictable–for some, symptoms deteriorate over time, for others, during periods of recurrence and remission.
CBD
There are many biologically active chemicals in the cannabis plant, including cannabinoids. Typically, cannabidiol (CBD) and ib9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the most focused chemical components of cannabis and are thought to drive therapeutic benefit mainly. There is proof of several useful pharmacological impacts of CBD.
CBD & MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
A “Summary of evidence-based guidelines: complementary and alternative medicine in various sclerosis” was released by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in 2014. The guideline was developed by a panel of medical specialists evaluating all published study studies. Among research of several types of marijuana and its derivatives assessed by the committee, evidence indicates that: oral cannabis extract and synthetic THC (tetrahydrocannabinol— a significant active component of marijuana) are likely efficient in decreasing patient-reported symptoms of spasticity and pain, but not MS-related tremor or spasticity measurable by physician-administered exams.
Sativex
Unlike CBD oil, Sativex has equal proportions of both CBD and THC, and studies have shown that it can lessen symptoms of spasticity and spasms. Other studies have explored various CBD and THC-containing medical cannabis preparations and discovered that it could help treat other symptoms of MS as well as spasticity, including decreased central pain and frequent urination.
What do researchers say?
A study released in 2018 in the journal Frontiers in Neurology addressed the possibility of CDB offering beneficial pharmacological impacts as it is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiemetic, antipsychotic, and neuroprotective. It also mentions the fact that CBD is secure because it does not affect heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, and there are no adverse effects on psychomotor and psychological functions.
However, only cannabis products containing both CBD and THC have been subjected to clinical studies when it comes to MS and only cannabis with a 1:1 proportion of CBD: THC (or higher) has been shown to decrease muscle spasticity and pain in individuals with MS.
Dr. Ben Thrower is a medical doctor at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA, a medical center specializing in research and rehabilitation for people with diseases like multiple sclerosis.
MS patients usually find full-spectrum CBD products to be most useful in treating both spasticity and pain, according to Dr. Thrower. “Many of our MS patients used 0.3 percent THC or less hemp-based CBD products,” Thrower said. “I discovered that most patients need higher THC levels to manage spasticity/spasms or burning pain (primary neuropathic pain).
Because THC is a renowned pain reliever, this may explain why high-THC products are common in MS symptoms treatment. Thrower said some patients are finding relief with “low-THC, topically applied CBD lotions.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
CBD may be an outstanding candidate for treating MS and other autoimmune illnesses as a novel non-psychoactive therapy. While CBD oil is showing tremendous promise to address several essential elements of symptomatology of multiple sclerosis, more study needs are being carried out using cannabidiol alone. Although cannabis and THC are also promising, many consider the psychoactive effects undesirable and benefit from a higher knowledge of how CBD oil can work.
