Cannabis And COVID-19: Can CBD Prevent The Virus?
- 1. How does covid-19 work?
- 2. What role does cbd play with covid-19?
- 2. a. Could cbd prevent coronavirus?
- 2. b. Could cbd treat covid-19's symptoms?
- 3. Will cbd get you high?
- 3. a. Forms of consuming cbd
- 4. The bottom line
Even though most of us are probably already tired of hearing and seeing everything covid-19 related, the thing is, this is the reality we're living in now. Therefore, we must understand that in order to overcome this global pandemic we will all need to actively participate.
When we say participate we mean inform ourselves and take care of us and the people that surround us until science or some miracle something comes from the cosmos with the solution to all our problems.
So what if we told you that CBD could potentially be this cosmic entity coming to save the day. We wouldn't mind praying to the 420 God at all.
As you might already know, CBD is one of cannabis' most famous cannabinoids, and it is well-known for its medical properties. And with the pandemic going on, this has lead scientists to consider CBD as a possible solution to prevent coronavirus.
That's right, CBD is running the race towards becoming the solution to prevent covid-19. Place your bets.
1. How Does Covid-19 Work?
In order to understand how CBD could potentially prevent covid or become a treatment alternative, we'll need to explain how the virus works first.
As you might have already seen, covid-19 has a spiky protein surface that attaches itself to receptors found on our healthy cells, specifically those in our lungs. These viral proteins go straight through ACE2 receptors -an enzyme attached to the cell membranes of lungs, arteries, heart, kidney, and intestines' cells.
Once they've made it inside, the coronavirus takes over healthy cells and eventually kills some of them, impacting on the respiratory system along the way, affecting the respiratory tract, mouth, nose, throat, and lungs. The lower airways have more ACE2 receptors than the rest of the respiratory tract and for this reason, the virus tends to be harder on our bodies than other viruses such as a common cold. 1
The first most common symptoms include cough and fever, and in those where the situation gets more serious, the infection can be as severe as resulting in some acute respiratory distress a couple of days later.
2. What Role does CBD play with Covid-19?
The well-known cannabinoid cannabidiol, or CBD, is famous for its anti-inflammatory properties, its vasorelaxant abilities, and anxiety and pain-relieving capacities.
By combining CBD with other cannabinoids and terpenes, besides the necessary clinical intervention, CBD's properties are quite promising to treat the symptoms of covid-19's symptoms.
For example, cannabis could reduce blood coagulation, helping with the commonly altered coagulation often produced by the virus. Furthermore, CBD will effectively reduce any inflammation produced in the respiratory tract as well.
Could CBD Prevent Coronavirus?
After almost one year since the first coronavirus cases, everyone is expectant of a cure that will come to save the day. However, the process to develop a vaccine takes more than half a year or more until the product is finally available for public consumption, so we'll need patience or a miracle.
So how could CBD take part in the prevention of covid-19? Although a lot of research still needs to be done, there is one study examining the possibility of using CBD as an oral solution form, i.e. extracts, mouthwash or throat gargling liquids to prevent the disease.
The study indicates that CBD could help to lower and/or alter ACE2 levels in high-risk tissues. These receptors levels mutate along with the virus's progression, therefore the ability to modulate these receptors' levels is highly encouraging. 2
Could CBD Treat Covid-19's Symptoms?
Research on coronavirus has found particular interest in a phenomenon called cytokine storm syndrome, where too many cytokine proteins are released in the body, having the possibility to attack the lungs, overwhelming the immune system with hyperinflammation. This is the phenomenon responsible for most of coronavirus's deaths.
As we already know, CBD and THC are both effective compounds for the treatment of patients dealing with symptoms of inflammation. A recent investigation lead by a group of Israeli companies has found that certain combinations of terpenes and cannabinoids showed to be twice more effective than the usual corticosteroid dexamethasone for reducing inflammation produced by the coronavirus.
These same companies are also the ones doing research on the development of a potentially CBD-full exosomes therapy, a minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of covid-19. This technology aims to target both the central nervous system indications and coronavirus.
CBD-loaded exosomes have the potential to provide high synergistic anti-inflammatory effects by specifically targeting affected organs, such as damaged lung cells.
3. Will CBD Get You High?
Although this depends on the precise balance between CBD and THC present in any of the forms of cannabis consumption, the short answer is no, CBD does not get you high. The compound in cannabis that is known for the psychoactive effects is THC, the one that normally produces feelings of euphoria, relaxation, and dizziness, among other common marijuana effects.
The cannabinoid CBD on the other hand is famous for targeting the muscles and relieving pain and inflammation. Therefore, what you should be looking for when you search for strictly medical use of cannabis is strains high on CBD content, such as our genetic CBD Auto 20:1, which contains 20% of CBD content and THC as low as 0,3%.
However, some patients may still need a slight THC push to really target their symptoms, therefore you should aim at a 1:1 balanced genetic.
Forms of consuming CBD
The main barrier keeping people from consuming and making the most out of cannabis health effects is that they would rather not engage in smoke inhalation. However, most of these people are not aware of the fact that smoking isn't the only available option for consuming marijuana. In fact, quite the opposite of that.
Cannabis is a versatile compound and can adapt to various usage methods. Some of the most common consumption alternatives include edibles and vaping.
On the edibles section, you can go all the way from baking salty or sweet plates, using hemp seeds or cannabis oil as well. And consuming raw cannabis comes along with some amazing health benefits as well.
However, when it comes to edibles, the main counterpart is the time to take effect. Normally, after you've eaten marijuana edibles, it could range from 1 to 2 hours until the effects start to kick in. However, as long as this may sound, so is the duration of the effects, they take longer to kick in and to fade away.
On the other hand, vaping is another great alternative to consume cannabis. Although this method includes what some would call smoking, it isn't quite exactly smoking given there is no combustion process taking place.
Vaping, which burns the marijuana buds at a much lower temperature, has shown to reduce the negative affections that smoking on a regular basis has on the human body. Besides, when you vape or smoke, the effects can start to take place anywhere between 2 to 10 minutes.
| Consumption Method | Effects |
|---|---|
| Vaping | Effects kick in after 2 to 10 minutes. Peak after 10 minutes and last up to 1 to 3 hours. |
| Eating Edibles | Effects take place after 1 or even 2 hours. Peak after 2 hours and effects last up to 24 hours. |
So, given that the coronavirus mainly affects the respiratory system, although vaping isn't as harmful as smoking is, the most recommended way of consumption would be taking edibles.
Just think of it, if your throat is incredibly sore and throbbing would you really like to inhale warm gasses through it? Most likely not, the warmest thing passing through these days is probably thousands of cups of tea and liters of soup.
4. The Bottom Line
It is strange to think about this time on earth, where medicine is running a race towards defeating the global covid-19 pandemic that has come and turned the world upside down. And it's in times like these where scientists and investigators must go out of their own ways to think of possible solutions to the problem.
No wonder why they pointed their finger at medical cannabis, a compound that surprises us every day more with its amazing health properties. We're optimistic that soon things will finally turn their tables for good and this nightmare will reach the end.
For now, stay safe and take care of each other. And why not test CBD on a daily basis and see if it helps to prevent the virus?
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.
EXTERNAL REFERENCES
- "SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and research gaps: Understanding SARS-CoV-2 interaction with the ACE2 receptor and implications for therapy" Prasun K. Datta, Fengming Liu, Tracy Fischer, Jay Rappaport, and Xuebin Qin. June 2020.
- "In Search of Preventative Strategies: Novel Anti-Inflammatory High-CBD Cannabis Sativa Extracts Modulate ACE2 Expression in COVID-19 Gateway Tissues" Bo Wang, Anna Kovalchuk, Dongping Li, Yaroslav Ilnytskyy, Igor Kovalchuk, and Olga Kovalchuk. April 2020.
