cannabis is receiving more and more attentionfrom doctors, research groups, and the public as a possible treatment for lots of differentmedical conditions. but it’s also met with lots of hesitation,because marijuana has psychoactive properties and we still have a pretty limited understandingof its effects. lately, though, some scientists have beenstudying a compound in cannabis that might have medical benefits without causing a high. it’s called cannabidiol. the most famous ingredient in weed is theone that gets you high: thc, or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol. thc is a kind of cannabinoid – a molecule that binds to cannabinoid receptors on your cells.
normally, these receptors are activated bychemicals made by your body called endocannabinoids. there are two main kinds of cannabinoid receptors,and they’re expressed in different parts of your body. cb1 is mostly in your brain, and cb2 is inyour immune system and in your peripheral nervous system – basically, any nerves thataren’t in your brain or spinal cord. so cannabinoid signaling affects a lot ofdifferent systems in your brain and body, and, for a long time, research involving cannabishas only focused on thc. but marijuana has over 60 different kindsof cannabinoids, and we’re realizing some others are really interesting too – likecannabidiol, or cbd.
cbd is also a major component of pot. it’s kind of like thc’s responsible olderbrother. in fact, it’s got the same chemical formula, but the atoms are arranged in a slightly different way. the different structure means that cbd can’t bind to cannabinoid receptors the way that thc can, and scientists think that’s whycbd doesn’t have psychoactive properties. it even seems to be an antagonist, or blocker,of chemicals that bind to cannabinoid receptors. plus, cbd might bind to other kinds of receptors– like gpr55, which lets calcium into cells, and a bunch of trp receptors, that sensetemperature and pain. beyond these guesses, we’re still not really sure how cbd can affect your brain and body.
but there’s a lot of appeal in a cannabinoid-basedmedication that doesn’t get you high. so in the last decade or so, research on cbd has exploded. for example, cannabis has been used as a treatmentfor epilepsy seizures for a really long time. and we’re still not sure exactly how it works, because there hasn’t been much solid research. but cbd is an appealing treatment option,since the lack of a high means it could be used on a regular basis. a recent study looked at whether cbd mightbe a safe and effective medication for treatment-resistant epilepsy in people ages 1 to 30. of the 162 patients in the safety portionof the study, some had to drop out because
of adverse events like stomach issues or excessivesleepiness, but not all of these symptoms were necessarily because of the cbd. in total, 137 patients were examined for howeffective cbd was at treating seizures. it seemed to help reduce seizures by an averageof about 35%, and a few patients didn’t have any seizures during the trial. so it does seem to help with severe epilepsy. but, this was a pretty small study. and it’s what’s known as an open labelstudy, so there was no control group. so we definitely need to better understandthe side effects and risks before it becomes
a standard treatment. cbd also seems to have some anti-inflammatoryproperties. research on mice brains has found that cbdmight lower the levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines. these proteins play roles in all kinds ofconditions in humans, like alzheimer’s disease and migraines. and studies on isolated neurons also suggestthat cbd is an antioxidant, so it could help protect cells from degeneration caused byconditions like alzheimer’s. these properties haven’t been studied inliving humans yet, though, so it’s too soon
to say if the same is true in actual brains. marijuana has been prescribed for chronicpain treatment for a while, but it’s only recently been studied in any sort of depth. several different reviews of clinical trialshave found that patients prescribed treatments containing thc and cbd reported pain relief compared to a placebo, but it’s not a huge effect. it’s not totally clear how cannabis relievespain, but the link between cbd and the trp channels, which play a major role in painsensation, means that cbd could play a big part. lastly, cbd seems to have anti-nausea properties,too. some scientists have found evidence that givingrats cbd can suppress vomiting, by activating
serotonin receptors in areas of the brainassociated with nausea. because of this, it might be able to helpcancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. overall, though, there are a lot of unknownswhen it comes to cbd as a safe, effective medical treatment. we don’t fully understand a lot of things,like: what’s different about how it binds to cannabinoid receptors, why it doesn’tcause a high, and what kinds of effects it has on the body and brain during long-termtreatment. another strong medication that can treat seriousconditions – especially things like chronic pain – that doesn’t have psychoactive properties would be an amazing new tool in medicine.
that way, patients can have an option besides things that can be tremendously habit forming, like opioids. or, just mess you up for a little bit, like thc. but we still have a lot to learn before weknow for sure if cbd is a good alternative. thank you for watching this episode of scishow, which was brought to you by our patrons on patreon. if you want to help support this show, sothat we can talk about stuff like this without being responsible to advertisers, you cango to patreon.com/scishow. and don’t forget to go to youtube.com/scishowand subscribe!
