CBD’s use as a treatment for chronic pain could be a dangerous failure, say the authors of a major review. They found little evidence from clinical trials that CBD was effective in relieving pain. They add that these products also often have inaccurate label information on CBD content and may even contain other undisclosed ingredients that could be harmful to users.
CBD is short for cannabidiol, one of the two main components of marijuana (the other is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is responsible for the drug’s characteristic high). CBD and other cannabinoids do have legitimate medical uses.For example, in 2018, the CBD-based drug Epidiolex was officially recognized Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat certain types of epileptic seizures.There is a wealth of research showing that CBD can be used to treat a variety of health conditions, including anxiety, Schizophrenia, opioid use disorderand chronic pain. But not all research on CBD is positive, and many claims about its potential benefits lack scientific backing.
The new study, led by researchers at the University of Bath in the UK, reviewed data from randomized controlled trials – often considered the gold standard for clinical evidence – testing CBD in multiple forms (topical, oral, sublingual) for chronic pain . All but one study found that CBD was no better than a placebo at relieving pain.
The authors also found evidence from other studies and reviews that CBD products are often misbranded, contain less or more CBD than advertised, or sometimes contain other ingredients, such as THC, that may be harmful to users or illegal. While these impurities are unlikely to appear in products explicitly designated for medical use, today’s consumers more often purchase CBD products from retail or online stores.Some studies also suggestion Large or long-term use of CBD is not necessarily harmless and may increase the risk of liver damage.
“There is no good reason to think that CBD can relieve pain, but there is good reason to doubt the CBD content and purity of CBD products,” the authors bluntly state in the paper, publish In the April issue journal of pain.
Over the years, CBD has become a booming industry, one filled with questionable-sounding fashion products. While CBD may still have a place in our medicine cabinets, the authors say health regulators need to do more to curb scammers selling it as a cure-all. They note that people taking CBD for pain are often in desperate need of any potential help, making them easier targets for snake oil salesmen.
“For too many people with chronic pain, there are no medications to control their pain. Chronic pain can be scary, so people are very motivated to do whatever they can to find relief. This makes them vulnerable to claims about CBD. The impact of crazy commitment,” study author Andrew Moore, a pain researcher, said in a report. statement from the University of Bath.
In the United States, the FDA has previously pursued some distributors and sellers of CBD products for manufacturing Marketing claims that are extremely unsupported by evidence.Last year, the agency point out A “new regulatory pathway for CBD” is needed to govern how these products are made available to consumers – something it intends to develop with the help of Congress.
more: Scientists excited volunteers to observe the different effects of CBD and THC on the brain