Combating Autoimmune Disorders with Cannabinoids
Dr. Austin Quon
A REMARKABLE STATISTIC: 50 million Americans in 2018 are currently diagnosed with an Autoimmune Disease.
An autoimmune condition develops when the body’s healthy immune cells are unable to regulate the release of inflammatory chemicals and normal cascades of healing inflammation begin to attack and destroy healthy cells and tissues. Autoimmune conditions can affect all of the body’s organs and can cross-over into many of the body’s systems, making them especially hard to diagnosis and manage effectively. An autoimmune condition can manifest in a wide range signs and symptoms, occur intermittently, and when acute can be severely debilitating causing joint and muscle pains, inflammation, skin reactions, and severe abdominal symptoms. Common autoimmune disorders include ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis (MS).Guillain-Barre syndrome, psoriasis, Graves’ disease ( hyperthyroidism), Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, vasculitis, ankylosing spondylitis, and myasthenia gravis.
The body has an innate mechanism of identifying when there should be inflammation for healing and when too much inflammation is present. In an autoimmune conditions, often times there has become dysfunctional and poorly regulated release of inflammatory cytokines and immunomodulatory chemicals. This system must be rewired in the presence of an autoimmune reaction. The majority of drugs currently available to doctors for the treatment of autoimmune diseases are specifically immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory and carry serious and deadly side effects, most notably increasing the risk of contracting an infectious disease.
Researchers have suggested the endocannabinoid system (ECS) as a key player in immunoregulation where immune cells in both the innate and adaptive immune systems are able to produce and degrade endogenous cannabinoids as needed in order to signal the immune cells to properly release a proper therapeutic ratio of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory chemicals. Studies have presented that modulating the human endocannabinoid system by increasing the production of endogenous cannabinoids or the use of exogenous, supplementary cannabinoids is a POTENT treatment modality in combating inflammatory disorders. This highlights the fact that activation of cannabinoid receptors is an essential physiological step in the body’s N8 ability to protect itself against abnormal inflammation
In order to get the best effects on the immune system, a study from the November 2017 Frontiers in Immunology Journal suggests that the phytonutrients, terpenes, bioflavinoids, cannabimetics, and other plant molecules that naturally occur in the hemp plant have specific effects on non-classical cannabinoid-like receptors that directly influence immune function called transient receptor potential channels (TRP) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), This evidence suggests the role of plant-based cannabinoid nutrition in signalling the normal N8 intelligence of the immune system to maintain the body’s inflammatory equilibrium.
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This article is not meant to diagnose, treat, or mitigate any sort of disease, conditions, cancer or pathology. Please consult with your physician if you have questions about CBD or any autoimmune condition.