CBD garners a lot of attention these days for better AND for worse. On one side, both consumers and researchers are finding that CBD benefits a variety of diseases or symptoms. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and even seizures appears on the list of disease targets. On the other side, many are sounding alarms at the risks of CBD or its chemical cousin THC (marijuana).
In the background, other researchers are studying the chemical class of cannibinoids to search for similar compounds with all the benefits but none of the risks. In this study, UC Davis and University of Reading (Britain) researchers report that a chemical analogue to CBD, H2CBD, has all the benefits, but then adds 2 additional positives. First, it can be synthetized in the lab, bypassing the need for hemp agriculture. Second, it does not appear possible for it to be chemically modified into THC with its reported abuse potential.
These researchers found that the chemical provided the same anti-seizure protection in rats as regular CBD. When the researchers gave a medication which caused seizures, both CBD and H2CBD treated rats had less seizures than rats which had received neither therapy.
I look forward to all research that may ethically benefit patients. I do pause however and note that the researchers have formed a company to continue research this synthetic chemical for use in humans. I do hope the best for their business success and for patient’s benefit if this product turns out to be a winner. However, I also hope that we can continue to allow CBD use as an alternative to “pharmaceutical CBD”. We need to keep open as many options for suffering patients who desire a healthier more abundant life.
Original Article
Mark Mascal, Nema Hafezi, Deping Wang, Yuhan Hu, Gessica Serra, Mark L. Dallas, Jeremy P. E. Spencer. Synthetic, non-intoxicating 8,9-dihydrocannabidiol for the mitigation of seizures. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44056-y
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.