As CBD products continue to proliferate and generate more and more claims about the benefits they offer, one thing that keeps getting lost in the shuffle is cannabinoid science and how it plays into cannabinoid benefits.
The fact is that scientists are still learning new things about how CBD works when it comes to brain chemistry. As they learn more, ongoing research is showing that the mechanisms through which through which this remarkable compound operates may reveal the potential for dozens, if not hundreds, of beneficial drugs that can be developed from CBD oil. There are risks, too, though. When it comes to the potential for harm and danger from these products, most of the negative research has focused on THC, which is a fairly well-known drug. But the fact is that new cannabinoids are being discovered every day, and some of them may have real psychoactive power.
To understand this, let’s focus on how cannabinoid oil, aka CBD, works on the brain. Unlike THC, which binds successfully to specific brain receptors. Instead, CBD works by blocking the brain’s receptors from binding to the cannabinoids, and when this happens it may actually block some of the effects of THC. But there’s more. This affect on the brain has been labeled “retrograde inhibition,” which is a fancy way of saying that the brain’s signals can actually flow backward. Before this discovery, scientists believed that neurotransmission was essentially a one-way street, i.e., the brain receives information, processes it, then sends a signal triggering a corresponding reaction.
But this same research is showing that that may not be how the process works. Instead, when cannabinoids like CBD bind to the brain, the signal can travel from the section of the brain that normally receives these transmissions to the neurons that typically function as the sending mechanism. In other words, the whole signaling system works backwards.
This effects of this mechanism are still being studied, and scientists think it may be responsible for the “relaxed but not stoned” feeling that many CBD users have reported.
In addition, though, CBD has also been effective in dealing with conditions like migraine, epilepsy, ADHD and chronic pain. One of the recent developments stemming from this research is that the FDA approved a medication called Epidiolex that is being used to treat seizure.
But the compound in that drug is easy to process and use as an isolate, and it may be the reason for all the reports that CBD oil has produced near-miraculous effects on anxiety, inflammation, chronic pain and so on.
So what does it all mean? The simplest conclusion to draw is that more research is necessary to nail down exactly what’s happening in the signal system of the brain, even though all available evidence says that CBD products are harmless.
For CBD users, though, it also means they should stay on top of the research. New cannabinoids like cannabigerol, or CBG, are still being broken down and analyzed by scientists to get an idea of what the specific benefits are.
CBD users may eventually be able to get specific products for certain conditions and issues, but until that happens it’s important to track the research and follow what’s being studied and learned.
All CBD Products Sold Contain .3% or less of THC