CBD (or cannabidiol) is truly one of the most remarkable compounds to be created with respect to its medical benefits. Extracted from marijuana, which has over 400 complex compounds, CBD is one of them which does not contain THC, which means it cannot get you high. But some people find it helpful at times to have some THC along with the CBD for a calming reaction.
Since CBD cannot get you high, it is legal in all the states of the US and about 40 countries all over the world. CBD does not affect drug tests either since these tests majorly test for THC, which is absent when you take a dose of CBD.
Because of the notable medical benefits of CBD, the compound has been used in a wide variety of clinical trials, cancer being one of the major feats in medical history.
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases to affect humans. Cancer is basically when the cells of the body start multiplying uncontrollably to form a tumor. These tumors can either be benign (harmless) or malignant (life-threatening). There are many different types of cancers, but it is known that Brain Cancer is the most dangerous of them all. At the moment, synthetic medicines have no chance of curing these cancers. This is where CBD steps in.
Shocking stats reveal that in the US, malignant and non-malignant brain tumors stood at about 368,117 incident out of 100,000 persons and that at birth, any US citizen has a 0.62% of developing brain cancer. These numbers are huge.
The brain is the center for the Central Nervous System, which controls features such as speech, thoughts, feelings, movements, and memories. When the cells of the brain start multiplying into malignant tumors, all these functions get affected.
There are 2 types of Brain Cancers
- Primary brain tumors which travel short distance within the brain but are limited to the brain itself.
- Secondary brain tumors where the cells multiply outside the brain but eventually make their way inside the brain.
The current treatment for brain cancer involves chemotherapy which is extremely painful and has a variety of side effects like fatigue, hair loss, anemia and nausea. Chemotherapy is also very expensive. But with the development of further studies of the marijuana plant, CBD is capable of helping patients with brain cancer to a great extent.
Firstly, one must lose the idea that marijuana is just a recreational drug. It does have psychoactive properties which give you a feeling of being high, but there are more than 80 strains in the plant which can be used for a variety of different purposes.
How does cannabis help brain cancer patients?
There is a complex reaction as to how the CBD and THC act in the body to cure the brain cancer. When one is on CBD, the THC along with the many cannabinoid compounds work together to cut the blood supply of a tumor off, resulting in the cells of a tumour to kill themselves.
- The CBD helps cancer affected genes to produce a compound called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor or the VEGF. This compound accelerates and encourages the growth of new blood vessels and deprive the blood vessels which supply blood to the tumorous cells, starving them and preventing further growth.
- Marijuana compounds also result in the cancerous cells to “commit suicide” or self-destruct. This occurs following the two processes called Apoptosis and Autophagy. These processes assist in the killing of old and damaged cells. These processes work in normal cells, but not in cancer infected cells. That’s where the THC helps, it runs these processes in cancer cells and causes them to kill themselves or in other words, go through autophagy.
Clinical trials
- Professor Guillermo Velasco and Manuel Guzman along with a bunch of Spanish researchers conducted an experiment where they determined that treatment with Cannabinoid compounds resulted in killing almost 80% of Gilioma Cancer cells.
- In another research led by Dr Velasco in 2000 led to the shocking discovery that when THC was introduced in a cancerous tumor, the tumor cells stopped growing and eventually self-destructed.
- In 2004, VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) which was produced by cannabis, resulted in stopping the growth of cancerous tumors.
- Dr Velsasco can the team also discovered an extraordinary mechanism which showed that cannabinoids encouraged autophagy in cancer cells. Autophagy basically means cells would self-digest themselves.
- In August 2011, Dr Courtney recorded an event known as the “miracle baby” where she studied an 8-month-old baby with brain cancer. When the baby was treated with cannabinoid oil, there was an incredible improvement in her health in just 8 months.
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