You will not have to look any farther than your nearest local drugstore or any beauty store to understand that CBD has begun to play a very starry role in almost everything these days right from mere sparkling water to tinctures to gummy bears, etc. Some may even consider CBD to be the most “it” ingredient of our generation as well.
Yes, the legalization of the recreational herb, marijuana has been dominating the news worldwide for quite some time now, however, the research regarding its recreational and medicinal properties is advancing in more than just one way. The whole world celebrated when the FDA decided to give a nod and approve a prescription drug that is derived from the cannabis plant and can be used in the treatment of epilepsy. Most of us might have already heard about how CBD can help lessen anxiety, stress, and pain. How does this work? You see, when someone experiences pain, they give out a stress response, this leads to an increase in the cortisol and an increase in the blood sugar levels. Therefore, relieving the pain can lead to lowering the stress levels which in turn also improves the blood sugar levels and keeps it in control. So, the million-dollar question is does CBD medications have an impact in the case of treating diabetes as well? Or does it have the potential of lowering the chances of contracting type 1 or type 2 diabetes? There are millions of individuals out there who are suffering from diabetes and are always on a lookout for some relief from the symptoms of diabetes and the high cost of treatment that diabetes brings along.
The Diabetes Epidemic
If you look around, you will notice that in the present time, diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases. Not to forget that this disease is also one of the hardest to treat. If you listen to the reports of the Center for Disease Control, nearly 100 million in the US are living with diabetes. Worldwide, diabetes has become one of the major contributors to early death and is also a major reason for a rise in the number of cases about kidney failure, stroke, heart attacks, blindness, and even amputation of the lower limb. Diabetes is known to be deadly, costly, and debilitating. There is a serious need to come up with solutions to prevent diabetes disease and also help treat symptoms without causing any inflated costs that drill a hole in the economy of US pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Could Cannabis Prevent, Or Treat Diabetes?
In the world of diseases, diabetes readily accounts to be a complicated disease. The causes for it, be it the Type 1 or Type 2 isn’t quite known, the causes are murky enough and it affects the body in a very drastic way. Both these types of diabetes stem because of the body’s inability to regulate and produce insulin.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps your body to process the sugar that it consumes. And if you are struck by diabetes disease, you will have to either supplement your insulin or go on ever expensive replacement therapy for your insulin. For those affected with diabetes, it is very critical to manage their blood glucose levels. If it worsens then the outcomes could be very adverse right from vision loss, limb amputation, and even kidney damage.
Several types of research have shown positive results when it comes to the relationship between diabetes and marijuana. But due to a lack of researches that needs to be conducted on a large scale, the relationship between these two hasn’t been proved on definitive terms. The studies conducted with these two falls under the categories of prevention and treatment. The Diabetes Council reports show a correlation between the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes symptoms and marijuana may lie due to the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids.
They say that the anti-inflammatory properties that marijuana contains help in the treatment of secondary symptoms that diabetes disease showcases like eye issues, heart problems, and pain. The AAMC (American Alliance for Medical Cannabis) research shows other benefits by using cannabis on secondary symptoms such as:
- Neuroprotective effect—reduces nerve pains in the body.
- Anti-spasmodic agents—relieve pain and GI cramps.
- Vasolidator—helps improve the circulation in the body.
- Restless leg syndrome—helps calm this condition down and lets the diabetic person sleep better.
We can say from all these that marijuana cannot be taken as a “cure-all” medicine for diabetes, but it can definitely be regarded as a less expensive and potentially safer way to manage and treat the diabetes disease. The success of marijuana’s medical properties on diabetes is yet to be determined and that can be found out only after serious studies are carried out into the correlation between them.
Several companies have come forward and are producing medications that are made from cannabis extracts. This has lead to the revolution of plant-based pharmaceuticals. The Diabetes Council also claims that CBD can significantly reduce the onset and occurrence of diabetes among people. Some researches claim that CBD helps in stabilizing the blood sugar levels of the body, prevents nerve inflammation, lowers blood pressure levels, improves circulation throughout the body by keeping the blood vessels opened up. Few types of research claim that CBD medication proves to be better than existing medication when it comes to treating diabetes.
As much as the early studies show positive results on cannabis effect on humans effected with diabetes, most of these proven research has been done on animals. There is a lack of larger researches conducted especially on humans. Only if this is done, it will give the healthcare providers a wider angle of understanding about the correlation between marijuana and diabetes disease and this will help in better development of cannabis-induced medications. And if you have already set your mind on trying CBD for diabetes, always consult a doctor as CBD is known to have interactions with other medications.
