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Lock restrictions can be comfortable around the world, but COVID-19 remains a genuine threat. A vaccine is still missing, but studies show that it would possibly come from an unforeseen source: cannabidiol, also known as “CBD”.
Following a study conducted at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, researchers believe that strong cannabis strains could prove valuable in preventing or treating coronavirus infections.
They published the effects of their pre-printing study, in which they talk about researching a lot of hash strains to identify how those involving maximum CBD can simply decrease the effect of coronavirus on the human body. [Preprinted parts have not been peer-reviewed]
With two-thirds of Americans who support cannabis legalization, this revelation is less taboo than it was before. But how do studies recommend that CBD can simply fight COVID-19 infections, and where does the team believe these studies can conduct?
Their study led them to hypothesize that these CBD-rich extracts can be used to fight Covid-19 infections by modulating the grades of ACE2 (angiotensin II conversion enzyme) in certain “bridge” tissues.
These come with pulmonary tissue, oral/nasal mucosa, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and testicles. Researchers that modulating ACE2 grades in those SPACES with CBD can help decrease people’s susceptibility to Covid-19. Because coronavirus can only enter a human host with a receptor, i.e. ACE2, targeting them can particularly lessen the threat of infection.
“The virus has the ability to join [ACE2] and push it into the cell, almost like a doorway,” Dr. Igor Kovalchuck, one of the researchers and professor of life sciences at Lethbridge, said in an interview with CTV.
“Imagine that a mobile is a great construction,” Dr. Kovalchuck continued. “Cannabinoids the number of doors in construction by, say, 70% […] The access point will be restricted. So, therefore, you have a better chance of fighting it.
However, because those extracts have CBD but are incredibly low in THC, other people may not feel the superior effect related to cannabis.
The study has still been reviewed and reviewed in pairs, but the team believes that these sativa lines can be used to expand preventive remedies such as mouthwashes or “throat gargle” solutions.
“Given the current dire and evolving epidemiological situation, every possible therapeutic opportunity and avenue must be considered”, the team concluded.
The university’s study was conducted in partnership with Pathway, a company that is developing cannabis-focused remedies for various diseases, and Swysh Inc., an oral health company specializing in cannabinoid products.
The growing awareness of CBD’s effectiveness against pain and combating other problems, adding anxiety and arthritis, gives greater credibility to the products recommended by Dr. Kovalchuck.
“There’s a lot of documentation about hashish in cancer, hashish in inflammation, anxiety, obesity, etc.,” Dr. Kovalchuck told CTV. “When Covid-19 started, Olga [his wife and co-investigator] came up with the concept of reviewing our knowledge and seeing if we can use it for Covid.”
However, Olga Kovalchuck noted, “It won’t do the hashish you buy in the store.” The strains studied are cultivated for medicinal purposes and their CBD content is low in THC, unlike hashish used for recreational purposes.
If studies are definitively gained through peers and trigger further studies on the opposite fight against COVID-19 with CBD, it would possibly challenge non-unusual negative perceptions of cannabis. However, it is important to note that this study was not conducted in humans.
Gather more evidence of CBD’s ability to fight COVID-19
Other parties are exploring the possibility of treating COVID-19 with cannabis, adding Israeli canna technology company Stero Therapeutics.
This began in a position to begin its studies on the effect of CBD on coronavirus at the height of the global crisis. He planned to start clinical trials with 10 patients, all affected by COVID-19, at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
However, trials had to be cancelled when these patients became unavailable and several other medical centers in Israel closed their coronavirus due to great relief in the new cases.
The company has targeted Europe, where coronavirus cases remain the main cases and more than 176,000 deaths have been reported as of June 30. However, the number of cases has increased in Israel since the trials were cancelled, meaning that Stero Therapeutics could resume them after all.
It aims to find out whether CBD can increase the effectiveness of corticosteroids (a key remedy for autoimmune diseases) or decrease steroid dosages while improving its effect.
Steroids have been used in the opposite fight to Covid-19, especially their effect on acute infections, in which an over-the-top immune formula reaction is triggered. Known as a cytokine storm, it causes more damage to organs (especially the lungs) than the coronavirus itself.
Stero Therapeutics hopes that his studies show that CBD can be used to improve the effectiveness of steroids in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Research through Stero Therapeutics and the Lethbridge University team can open the door to new unforeseen strategies to save it and treat coronavirus. However, additional studies will be needed to determine studies and facilitate the creation of CBD-centered responses for patients with COVID-19.
Whatever the outcome, the need for an effective remedy is urgent. The U.S. government implemented Operation Warp Speed in May, investing billions in vaccine creation and testing, but experts warned of the rush to publish a low-efficiency one.
However, if life is going to continue safely and the savings will have to survive, it is possible that other people are willing to take the first remedy that comes, based on CBD or not.
Photograph: sorbetto, Getty Images
CBD, coronavirus, COVID-19
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