Innholdsfortegnelse for Beginner's Guide to CBD i Beginner's Guide to CBD

For many people, it might seem as though CBD is a fairly recent innovation, but that is far from true. Cannabis has been used for therapeutic and medicinal reasons for over 4,000 years. However, it was only in 1940 that cannabidiol (CBD), one of the two major components of cannabis, was successfully extracted and isolated from the plant. Cannabis was somewhat demonised by Western governments, and it took more than 20 years for CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the other major compound of cannabis, to be synthesised and tested. THC was quickly identified as the psychoactive compound and was therefore the one that became the focus for users, scientists and lawmakers. With cannabis being illegal in many countries around the world due to its hallucinogenic properties and potentially harmful side effects,…

One of the great things about CBD is that it can play various different roles in a person’s life. You can use it as an occasional pick-me-up, a daily supplement, or an ‘as-and-when’ remedy for acute issues ranging from anxiety to difficulty with sleep. However you choose to use CBD, you’ll need to find the dosage that delivers the best effects for you. Identifying the highest possible dosage you could take is easy, as the maximum dosage of any CBD product should be stated clearly on the packaging – whether you’re using a CBD oil, capsules, gummies, or something else. No matter how well your body tolerates CBD, you should never exceed the maximum dosage stated for the products you use. It’s natural to hope for a big, immediate, therapeutic…

Cancer. It’s the diagnosis none of us want to hear from our doctors. But, sadly, many people do learn that they have cancer at some point in their lives. However, cancer treatments have improved hugely over the last 50 years and many cancers that were incurable a few decades ago can now be successfully treated, particularly if caught early. The improvement in cancer survival rates is down to the increased effectiveness of the whole suite of cancer treatments, from radiotherapy through to surgery, but in particular there have been huge advances in chemotherapy. However, a well-known and quite common side effect of various chemotherapies is what is known medically as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). While patients are often willing to endure these side effects in order to treat their…

We all feel anxious sometimes. It’s wired into our brains and bodies, with evolutionary origins stretching back to Africa when our distant ancestors had to watch out for all manner of predators. Anxiety is our response to the prospect of danger; it’s the body getting ready to run or to fight (or sometimes to freeze). As such, the body switches off the rest/digest systems and switches to flight/fight. Blood pumps to muscles, senses move to high alert, the brain goes into overdrive. That rustle in the grass over there, that might be a stalking lion. But while these systems worked well when dangers were resolved quickly, today we respond in the same manner to much longer-lasting stresses. Our bodies and minds can then get stuck in a permanent state of…

Arthritis, whether osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or one of the rarer forms, is a disease of the joints. It’s one of the most common causes of debilitating pain, particularly among older people. In osteoarthritis the cartilage that lines bone joints roughens and wears thin, producing swelling and bony spurs. In severe cases, bone can end up rubbing on bone. Osteoarthritis usually starts in the mid-40s, is more common among women and in those with a genetic predisposition to the disease. This is the most common form of arthritis in the UK. Rheumatoid arthritis results from the immune system attacking the joints, producing inflammation and swelling. As with osteoarthritis, it is more common among women. The normal age of onset is between 30 and 50. As the joint covering and lining swells,…

Having discovered receptors for the endocannabinoid system throughout the body, it shouldn’t have been a huge surprise when they were also discovered in the skin. After all, the skin is the largest organ in the body. But nevertheless, to find cannabinoid receptors in all of the cells that make up the skin came as something of a shock to the researchers. On reflection, its presence in the skin is logical. The endocannabinoid system is intimately involved with the body’s regulatory systems and the skin is the organ whose primary function is regulation, keeping the inside in and the outside out – apart from those substances we need to absorb and those we need to get rid of. Within the skin, the endocannabinoid system appears to be involved in regulating its…

CBD is one of those fashionable acronyms that is now popping up all over the place. You’ll see it mentioned in magazine features, talked about on wellness channels and used by online influencers. It’s become a must-have food supplement and the skin oil that the most fashionable YouTubers apply. People are vaping it and using it as a patch. You can buy drinks containing CBD and chew CBD gum. There are even ranges of CBD-infused clothing. But what is CBD, where does it come from and how does it work? In this feature, we will try to answer these questions and more. As far as the acronym is concerned, it stands for cannabidiol. CBD’s full name gives a strong clue as to its origin. Yes, CBD is one of the…

1 MYTH CBD is addictive REALITY There is no addictive element found in CBD. Of the two main compounds in the cannabis plant, THC is the one that attaches itself to receptors in the endocannabinoid system. This means that the more someone uses marijuana, the less their brain produces the neurotransmitters that send and stop information. This is because it is expecting the THC to do its job for it. Therefore, the user experiences withdrawal symptoms due to a lack of neurotransmitters that can only be sated by using more marijuana and THC. However, since CBD doesn’t attach itself to receptors, it doesn’t have the same effect – the brain continues to act as normal and users don’t build up a dependence on it. The pain relief that CBD provides…

Cannabis sativa is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. Spreading from its botanical origin on the Tibetan plateau, it has been grown through much of Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and made its arrival in Africa sometime around 1000 CE. Not being native to the Americas, the plant was introduced there by European explorers – either Spanish or Christopher Columbus – in 1492. The plant’s spread was down to its utility: people grew it because they could use it. Its usefulness rests upon two planks: the fibres of the hemp varieties that produced perhaps the first cloth, and the chemicals of the medicinal varieties, that have been used for medical and religious purposes for just as long. Many of the great ancient civilisations employed cannabis as…

According to the gold-standard of medical research, the randomised double-blind study, CBD works to reduce the seizure frequency in adults and children with two rare – but severe – forms of epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In these cases, the epileptics were often suffering multiple seizures every day while the standard anti-epilepsy drugs they were being prescribed, such as steroids, were being given in such huge doses in an effort to control the seizures that they were producing hideous side effects. With there being anecdotal reports of cannabis-derived drugs proving helpful for the control of epilepsy, a proper clinical trial was authorised to test the effect of CBD oil on the prevention of seizures. The results were unequivocal, at least in the case of people suffering from Dravet and…

According to the Office of National Statistics, one in six UK adults (17 percent) endured symptoms of depression during the summer of 2021. This was actually an improvement on earlier in the same year, when one in five adults (21 percent) were suffering from depression. These were markedly higher levels of depression than a few years before, when about ten percent of the adult population reported some form of depression. This increase was attributed to the lockdowns during the coronavirus epidemic but unfortunately, even though the epidemic has ended, the levels of depressive illness are showing little sign of returning to their pre-pandemic levels. According to the World Health Organisation, around four percent of the world’s population suffer from depression – that’s 280 million people. It’s a huge problem and…

Lying awake, staring at the ceiling at three in the morning is an incredibly lonely and frustrating experience. The problem is that more and more of us endure this on a regular basis. According to the NHS, insomnia affects a third of the population, with its incidence increasing as people get older. Not only does insomnia leave us tired the next day, an increasing number of studies are showing that, over the long term, insomnia can lead to or exacerbate a wide range of conditions, including anxiety and depression, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and strokes. While some people might boast about being able to get by on four or five hours sleep a night, it is becoming increasingly clear from sleep research that the body uses the time when we…

From being the poor relation of physiological research, sleep investigators have moved into the mainstream. Scientists investigating the mysteries of what happens during our night visits to Morpheus’s realm have conclusively shown that sleep is vital for our health and wellbeing. Of course, this is exactly what all ancient cultures believed and practiced, but it had become lost in the neon frenzy of the 20th century. Macbeth, lamenting the guilt that prevented his own rest, summed up the ancient view of sleep in these memorable lines: Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast. Macbeth was right. Sleep restores the body and the mind. It fixes and…

Although CBD products have proliferated around the world over the last decade, their exact status under the law is often not very clear. The main reason for this is that the law regarding CBD products is itself somewhat opaque, inhabiting a grey area between foods, medicines and drugs. This is mainly an issue for producers and retailers of CBD products – as a customer you are extremely unlikely to face any consequences beyond confiscation from buying a CBD product that falls foul of the laws in this area. However, it is still best to know if what you are buying is legal in your country. But before we try to untangle the knots of CBD legislation around the world, let’s look at the history of how we got here and…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is cruel. It affects the brain and nervous system, causing a wide range of symptoms that, because of their sheer range, can often be mistaken for something else. In the early stages, symptoms can include fatigue, problems with balance, pins and needles and numbness, loss of concentration and problems with eyesight. All of these have many other possible causes apart from MS. But as the disease progresses, its symptoms worsen so that sufferers from advanced MS may experience muscle spasms and spasticity, severe pain, endure difficulties in speaking and swallowing, and suffer from bladder problems. MS in its final stage can produce paralysis and the inability to speak or swallow, leaving the patient requiring constant care. As a disorder, MS is a disease of the autoimmune system…

Fibromyalgia is one of those conditions that can blight a life, while still leaving the sufferer trying to convince medical professionals that there is something wrong with them. Essentially, it’s pain: enduring, chronic pain through the whole body. What made the pain worse for sufferers for many years was the incredulity of the medical profession. Too often they would be dismissed as having nothing wrong with them or as being hysterical women for, it is true, most of the people who suffer from fibromyalgia are women. It was only accepted as a genuine disorder in 1990 and even today people can find it difficult to get a diagnosis. Symptoms of fibromyalgia include pain and a general increase in sensitivity to pain, stiff muscles, insomnia, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and mental…

For those who have chosen to ingest CBD for its health benefits, the next stage to consider is how to incorporate it into the diet. Although many people choose to swallow CBD oil by itself, holding it underneath the tongue to be absorbed, this method can leave a strong taste in the mouth and prohibit the tongue from tasting other foods properly for a short period afterwards. For these reasons, cooking with CBD to blend it subtly into any favourite meals and drinks is growing in popularity. Before doing so, you should learn how to cook with CBD effectively to maximise the medicinal properties of its molecules – cannabinoids and terpenes – in the body. Cannabinoids and terpenes begin to break down when exposed to temperatures of 160 to 180…

Imagine if the solution to all your haircare quandaries was as simple as CBD. An increasing wealth of user testimony suggests this just might be the case. There are many reported benefits to using CBD on the hair, including stronger follicles, reduced inflammation of the scalp, and improvement in skin conditions such as dandruff. Some studies suggest that CBD hair treatments might even reduce thinning and stimulate new hair growth. A huge variety of CBD hair products have launched in recent years, as haircare brands and their customers have become more aware of CBD’s apparent benefits. There are CBD shampoos, conditioners, hair oils, dry shampoos, hair masks and more. So, adding CBD to your haircare routine can be as simple as switching to a new shampoo. Many of the hair…

With so many people having found CBD to be of help, it’s not surprising that pet owners have started wondering whether their animals would benefit from it too. But would it work for them and more importantly, is it safe? Animals and the endocannabinoid system For CBD to affect an animal, we would first need to know whether they actually possess an endocannabinoid system. As the endocannabinoid system in humans was only discovered relatively recently (in the 1980s in fact), we might still be in the dark with respect to animals. But research on this has proceeded quite quickly and the results show that the endocannabinoid system’s origins lie very deep in the evolutionary past: the system is present in every species of mammal. However, the genesis of the endocannabinoid…