Doctors Don’t Understand How “CBD Oil” Works In The Body

CBD Oil Being Dripped into Bottle, next to broken down Hemp Plant

Hailed as a wonder-drug, CBD oil is the new, trendy thing in healthcare. Everyone and their dog is using it to treat almost any imaginable ailment: anxiety, chronic pain, seizures, even addiction cravings. But for all its supposed uses, the underlying mechanisms for how CBD oil actually works are mostly unknown.

How CBD Oil Works On Our Feelings

Cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive compound found in hemp and marijuana plants. It typically causes the user to feel relaxed and calm without the sluggishness or impairment of THC. Very few side effects have been associated with CBD usage, even when taken in large doses. Unfortunately, no standardized dose has been empirically established as safe or effective. In fact, outside of two rare forms of pediatric epilepsy, CBD oil has not been approved as a treatment option for any disorder or illness.

Almost no doctor will prescribe CBD oil to treat symptoms and disorders. The lack of completed research into the potential uses and limitations of CBD oil means that prescribing CBD as a treatment is unethical and not up to medical standards. Furthermore, there is still lots of unknown information concerning CBD oil. No one knows the effect that CBD can have on pregnant women and their babies. While it has been deemed safe for short-term use, the long-term effects of using the oil have not been studied. The effects of CBD, when combined with other medications, are also unknown.

Doctors Have Not Studied CBD Products Enough

Because CBD oil was only disentangled from marijuana and THC laws in 2018, very little research has been conducted on its efficacy and limitations. Research on the mechanisms behind CBD oil is currently being studied in Canada, at McMaster University. Their preliminary findings suggest that CBD oil works by modulating the body’s endocannabinoid receptors. This modulation is thought to influence the body’s homeostasis, which would affect pain and inflammation across a person’s body. But effects on the endocannabinoid system don’t tell the whole story. Studies show that CBD oil is more likely to work if the user thinks that it will work. This implies that those who use CBD oil are likely influenced by the placebo effect.

The lack of medical conclusiveness hasn’t stopped consumers from trying CBD oil in addition to — or in lieu of — their prescribed medications. These trials have had some promising, if not conclusive, results. Reductions in social anxiety and generalized anxiety disorders have been widely reported. Women, long ignored by healthcare professionals when reporting chronic pain, are finding relief with CBD oils. Even patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are reporting a reduction in psychotic symptoms, including fewer intrusive hallucinations and delusions. These results can’t all be explained by a placebo effect. CBD evidently has real medical benefits, even if the medical community has yet to grasp them.

As of 2019, 22 million people in the United States consumed CBD. The industry is projected to be worth $23 billion by 2023. Most of these consumers are self-medicating illnesses that would otherwise be treated with more addictive medications, such as opioids. Whether the efficacy of CBD oil has been determined or not, cannabidiol is here to stay.