The benefits of Cannabidiol (CBD) have been documented in the days before the Christian era, particularly in India. The historical documents reveal vast benefits of this plant, translated from Sanskrit literature, dating from around 1400 - 2000 BC, although its therapeutic use was described in greater depth in Indian Ayurvedic medicine.
There are even records of such properties in ancient Greece, made by Claudius Galen (131 - 201 AD) and Pedanius Dioscorides (40-90 AD).
Currently, the plasticity of the cannabis genome, as well as the low efficacy of synthetic drugs to adequately treat diseases with higher morbidity, have led to the CBD oil gaining considerable attention again.
However, it is of vital importance that therapies using CBD oil be justified and based on empirical, measurable, and reproducible evidence.
Potential Therapeutic Value of CBD
Among the numerous literature on medicinal marijuana properties, both in cell lines, studies in laboratories and clinical trials with human patients, different benefits are reported:
Apoptosis of tumor cells
Anti convulsant
Neuroprotector and Antioxidant
Muscle relaxant
Stimulates the appetite
Anti tumor
Studies on CBD oil
The following lines will mention some of the most studied benefits to date, both in laboratory research and in clinical trials.
Anti Epilepsy
Studies suggest that CBD has properties to reduce the severity and frequency of epileptic seizures in children resistant to drugs created for this purpose. The number of clinical trials carried out to elucidate the effectiveness of CBD is increasing, but a more robust methodology and a greater number of patients are needed in order to know the real potential of this compound.
Neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects
These properties have been studied within models of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, glutamate toxicity, and neurodegeneration caused by alcohol.
In double-blind clinical trials in patients with Parkinson's disease, they report improvement in the parameters known as the Quality-of-life scale.
Antitumor effect
There are multiple and varied reports of the anti-tumor effects of CBD oil in breast cancer cell cultures.
These studies reveal cell viability, increase in apoptosis of cancer cells, reduction of tumor growth, and inhibition of metastasis.
Possibly due to the anti oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of CBD oil.
Anti-anxiolytic effect
In laboratory protocols designed to simulate post-traumatic stress disorder, it is found that CBD oil improves "consolidation of extinction", in other words, forgetting traumatic experiences/memories.
Not for nothing CBD oil was praised in the Ancient times, when people from American Indians, Arabs, to Indians and Chinese use cannabis to treat various health problems of the times.
However, most of the recent studies on cannabis have been conducted on mice in lab conditions, and only a few on humans. To clearly depict CBD oil real benefits for health, further research is mandatory.
Read more about other CBD products: