The COVID-19 virus continues to be a threat to public health. It has claimed millions of lives and livelihoods which may take economies years to recover from. Unfortunately, cases are surging again globally.
For vaccinated individuals experiencing mild to moderate illness, a smooth recovery can be achieved with rest, medication, and proper nutrition. More serious symptoms like joint and muscle pain, depression or anxiety, brain fog, and fatigue can be harder to manage.
Meanwhile, previously infected people continue to suffer from long COVID or the long-term effects of the infection. While people can experience a wide range of symptoms at varying degrees, people are desperate for medical breakthroughs that would make living with the virus less life-altering.
Researchers all over the world are scrambling to understand post-COVID conditions better. One study has reported evidence that CBD or cannabidiol products can prevent infection.
The link between CBD and Covid-fighting interferons
A study published in Science Advances has found that CBD can potentially help prevent early-stage COVID, a finding that warrants future clinical trials. Co-authored by researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Chicago, the study tested pharmaceutical-grade CBD on human cells in mice.
The researchers observed that while CBD can’t prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells, CBD inhibits the virus’ ability to replicate early at a certain threshold concentration. It does so in part by up-regulating the host ER response and interferon-signaling pathways. In simple terms, CBD signals the interferon pathway to fight the virus. And interferons have been tested clinically as potential COVID-19 treatments. Moreover, the effect is the same for three other variants of COVID and two other types of cells.
The UC and UChicago researchers also pretreated mice with CBD for one week and observed suppressed infection in the lungs and nasal passages. While definite answers can only come from intensive clinical trials, the study highlights the potential of CBD in preventing severe illness.
However, the researchers caution against the use of CBD as therapy for COVID. They note that the products used in the tests are high-quality, high-purity, pharmaceutical-grade CBD, which means that they have been rigorously tested against FDA standards.
In addition to the tests done in the lab, the researchers also look at 1,212 patients from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative. The retrospective analysis revealed that patients who were taking medically prescribed CBD for epilepsy treatment were less likely to test positive for COVID compared to those who weren’t taking CBD.
CBD and its therapeutic potential
Countless active natural products have medicinal potential. Many studies have reported the beneficial impact of CBD on pain, depression, anxiety symptoms, and overall well-being.
CBD is known to have anti-inflammatory effects, and severe COVID infection is notorious for triggering the so-called “cytokine storm,” a severe immune reaction in which the body releases an excessive amount of cytokines into the blood. If it’s proven that CBD can inhibit replication of the virus, the fatal second phase of COVID infection won’t have to be a problem.
Now that there's a potential link between CBD and COVID, researchers can further look into CBD and obtain clinical evidence of how it can mitigate the harm of COVID. After all, experts claim that the virus is here to stay and that we’ll all have to find a way to live with it.
While vaccination is still the most effective way to lower the risk of infection and severe illness, it would be comforting to know that natural options can be available in the future. But researchers warn consumers to always go for CBD products like oils, tinctures, and edibles that have been extracted and created in the most reliable way possible.
The COVID-blocking effects of CBD were only observed in products that are highly pure and concentrated. The study also found that combining pure CBD with THC, the psychoactive element found in marijuana, drastically reduced CBD’s efficacy.
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Explore our blog today to know more about the benefits of our Hawaiian-inspired CBD.
