All posts tagged: Hemp

14 Diseases That Can Be Improved By Hemp

by Vishal Vivek

Although cannabis was used medically decades ago for its proven therapeutic abilities, concerns of abuse led to restrictions of its use in the 1930s and 1940s in the US. But, hemp in the form of medical cannabis, popularly known as cannabidiol or CBD, has again been a subject of research and clinical trials in the medical sciences ever since the groundbreaking research of Dr. Rafael Mechoulam. 

Dr. Mechoulam discovered the Endo-Cannabinoid System in human physiognomy, which showed that human beings have CBD receptors present in the body, which creates a cascade of homeostasis (stability of health) throughout the entire central nervous system and the immune System. 

Hemp has more than one hundred active chemical components, and the two most crucial ones are THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, and CBD. While THC is psychoactive and gives a high, CBD works as a nutritional supplement, which is very healthy for humans and is not psychoactive. The CBD dominant strains of marijuana have very little or nil THC, thereby being non-addictive for patients. 

In this article, we will discuss how medical cannabis helps improve several diseases that are often crippling and can be potentially fatal. 

Diseases and Conditions That Can Be Improved With Hemp

Right from the time medical cannabis got legalized in several states in the US and has been administered in patients clinically, it is a miracle drug in treating several acute symptoms of some major diseases plaguing millions of people. Some of them are-

1. Insomnia: Research shows that CBD helps improve sleep, mainly when induced by anxiety

2. Nausea: Nausea primarily caused as a side-effect of chemotherapy and cancer-related treatments. 

3. Anxiety and depression: CBD oil has shown miraculous effects on the treatment of depression, anxiety, panic attacks.  CBD has an excellent ability to act on the receptors of our brain to release the serotonin neurotransmitter, which becomes severely low in patients suffering from mental illnesses, which makes them feel “low” and enervated. (1)

4. PTSD: One of the most promising areas of research on medical marijuana is in the treatment of war veterans who have PTSD showing miraculous and drastic improvements after the administration of hemp.(2)

Whereas pharmaceutical drugs like benzodiazepines are highly addictive and can even lead to substance abuse, CBD doesn’t lead to addiction. 

5. Glaucoma: It has also been reported to help treat Glaucoma, eye conditions that can lead to blindness, but the results are disputed.

6. Epilepsy: One particular type of epilepsy in kids, known as the Dravet Syndrome, is practically impossible to manage but responds to CBD miraculously. This CBD-dominant strain is also popularly known as Charlotte’s Web. (3)Epilepsy also comes with muscle spasms, stiffness, and chronic pain, all of which are significantly reduced with the use of cannabidiol. 

7. Muscle Spasticity: Spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis, or arthritis, and some neurological disorders, which also causes chronic pain, and tremors work miraculously on CBD. The most common drug, Sativex, an oral spray consisting of both CBD and THC, has been proven to be effective and safe in reducing these symptoms. 

Marijuana is excellent in dulling nerve pain and multiple sclerosis. While there are several medical drugs present to treat these conditions- such as Lyrica and Neurontin, they have highly sedating effects on the patients. While patients using CBD report getting back to their daily activities feel much more relaxed.

8. Parkinson’s disease: CBD also acts as an excellent muscle relaxant and is unique in treating tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease. (4)

9. Chronic pain: CBD impacts the Endocannabinoid receptors to interact with and release neurotransmitters naturally present in the human body to reduce acute pain and inflammation.

10. Alzheimer’s disease: Inflammation, one of the biggest causes of Alzheimer’s symptoms, can be effectively reduced by CBD oil administration. Clinical trials have also shown CBD’s ability in reversing, delaying, and often preventing the negative impacts of Alzheimer’s disease.

11. ALS: ALS can be managed with CBD oil very efficiently as it delays the progression of its symptoms such as spasticity and prolongs the survival of patients, owing to its neuroprotective abilities.

12. Appetite loss, and severe anorexia: Anorexia Nervosa is a critical eating and psychiatric disorder. While many anorexics are given anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication, they come with enormous side effects rendering patients drowsy, while research shows that CBD possesses orexigenic (an appetite stimulant/hormone) which can regulate and enhances the appetite. 

13. AIDS and Cancer symptoms: While many people are plagued by the agony of weight gain or obesity, gaining weight becomes extremely difficult for many people, especially those with AIDS or cancer. (5) Dronabinol, a synthetic THC commonly known as Marinol, is medically approved to be used for treatment in patients, and the effect of it has always been on the positive with the consistent improvement of appetite, lessens nausea, and vomiting in cancer and patients of AIDS.

Wasting Syndrome, a condition associated with AIDS, a slow, painful process involving loss of muscle mass and a gradual decrease in health, has also shown excellent results in reducing the symptoms. 

14. Endometriosis, Fibromyalgia, Migraine, Interstitial cystitis (all these conditions cause chronic pain and inflammation), are also certain critical illnesses whose symptoms are also found to be expertly moderated by the use of hemp seed oil.

Medical marijuana is most commonly used to manage chronic pain. It is very safe as there are no chances of an overdose and is non-addictive. It can replace the NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug(s)), which patients with kidney problems, GERD, or ulcers cannot consume. While pharmaceutical drugs work at the level of the symptoms, they do not work at the level of the system, thereby not providing a “cure,” and that causes enormous strain on the human physiognomy. 

The list is not all-inclusive but rather a survey of several types of conditions that medical marijuana can be administered on, and has already proven its effectiveness. 

In the larger picture, no one living in the urban society today is exempted from an inflamed immune and central nervous system, due to environmental toxins and our inflammatory diet (containing way too much sugar), reasons that lead to an inflamed immune system and symptoms of brain inflammation. 

The ability of CBD to control and to provide relief to these symptoms is undeniable, and hence, more use and awareness of cannabinoids are necessary. 

Author Bio: Vishal Vivek, Co-founded Hemp Foundation to increase awareness about hemp which is the most misunderstood plant on the planet. He believes that we can fight climate change, water crisis and plastic pollution with Hemp. Times Group recognized him as a legendary entrepreneur and published his biography in “I Did IT- Vol 2” at the age of 30

Author Email contact: [email protected]

Benjamin Caplan, MD14 Diseases That Can Be Improved By Hemp
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USDA RELEASES DRAFT RULES FOR HEMP FARMING AND PRODUCTION, SETS 60- DAY WINDOW FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

By Shuki Greer, Esq.

Starting with the 2014 Farm Bill, and continuing with the 2018 Farm Bill, we have seen a dramatic shift in the landscape governing hemp. Prior to 5 years ago, hemp production was entirely illegal, as the Federal government handled industrial hemp the same as it handled high-THC marijuana. It was an established Schedule 1 controlled substance, entirely illegal to grow, harvest, or possess.

As awareness has grown, and the true benefits of the hemp plant have become more widely understood, the federal government has passed legislation to decriminalize hemp. However, although it is no longer considered a controlled substance, the questions about the process and regulatory requirements abound. This is because all plants grown in the United States are highly regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture, or the USDA, which has a complex framework of licensing, reporting, and general requirements for every specific product grown in the country.

Last week, the USDA published the draft of its regulations for the hemp industry. Since the 2018 farm bill, we have been living in the “wild west” for hemp. As promised, the USDA released its rules in time for farmers to get legal and licensed for the 2020 season. However, this long-awaited release has been met with mixed results.

Many lawmakers and industry leaders are happy that the federal government has finally put out regulations for hemp. First, they see this as a dramatic shift from the era of prohibition, alone a cause for celebration. Others see the certainty that we are going to have regulations put in place means that the industry will start to grow and develop at a much faster pace.  It is certainly true that the future is extremely bright for hemp. But other farmers and individuals have expressed concerns with some of the regulation’s details.

The “0.3% THC” limit, which delineates the difference between legal “hemp” and illegal “marijuana”, may be too stringent for some growers. They report that a mature hemp plant will have a THC content that will vary from day to day, including some spikes over the 0.3% limit. The new regulations require strict testing to be done prior to harvest, and if the resulting THC content is too high, the entire crop must be destroyed. This may cause farmers to harvest before true maturity, leading to a decrease in the potency or effectiveness of the CBD derived from such a harvest.

The regulations also allow the states to develop their own plans and submit them for approval. Some are concerned that some states may try to infringe on the interstate commerce occurring there, which could cause all kinds of problems and complications for the industry. Still others are worried that the method for disposing of “hot crops” requires just a little too much DEA involvement, which could also cause disruption or have a chilling effect on growth.

It is clear that these regulations are a good step in the right direction. It’s also clear that this is just the beginning, and there is still plenty of room for improvement. The USDA announced a 60-day window for submitting public comments, and then they will consider any suggestions, and then publish a final rule in the future. I encourage you to read the regulations or a summary of them. I encourage you to think about how you would be affected by these rules, and what suggestions you may have. Speak to an expert about how you can do your part to improve the landscape of the industry for the future.

Submit public comments here:

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=AMS_FRDOC_0001-1919

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Benjamin Caplan, MDUSDA RELEASES DRAFT RULES FOR HEMP FARMING AND PRODUCTION, SETS 60- DAY WINDOW FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
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New Developments of Cannabinoid-Based Drugs

Title: Novel approaches in clinical development of cannabinoid drugs

A pamphlet has recently been published that highlights new approaches in the clinical development of cannabinoid-based therapies. The pamphlet begins with a look into how current cannabinoids affect patients based on gender, stress, physiological variations, and also delves into how cannabis works on the body in general.

A novel therapy that features an oral version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and a synthetic activator of cannabinoid-receptor-1 (CB1) is explored in this piece and frames it to be a promising future therapy. The pharmacological properties of these two novel therapies were optimized during development after various analysis techniques, forming medications that the authors hope to see in future clinical trials. 

Although the authors remain hopeful that their cannabis-based therapies will reach clinical trials soon, trials featuring cannabinoids are difficult to test in a formal setting because of a dire lack of funding. The federal government still lists cannabis as a Schedule I substance, under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that the federal government does not support the idea that cannabis has any medical use. Considering the legal status of cannabis, only privately-funded studies are able to take place, and unfortunately, that leaves cannabis research in an area of complete bias and prohibitively underfunded. Considering the massive literature supporting a myriad of novel therapeutic benefits, this is a costly reality to the health and well-being of millions.


View this review (yellow link) or download:

This paper is also stored here:    http://bit.ly/2K7bbVX     inside the CED Foundation Archive

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Benjamin Caplan, MDNew Developments of Cannabinoid-Based Drugs
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