Cannabis’s therapeutic effects have long been known, with cannabinoids like THC and CBD commonly used to treat various symptoms. But what effect does cannabis have on COVID-19?
Cannabis has evolved from that substance your parents warned you about that only hippies used. As research into cannabis’s therapeutic properties has developed, so has the mainstream use of cannabis products. Cannabinoids like CBD and THC are prevalent because of their extensive therapeutic benefits and ease of use. With health benefits, including pain relief, improved anxiety, and reduced inflammation, it’s no wonder why cannabis products have soared in popularity.
Cannabis and COVID: Can it help?
With its impressive healing potential, you may be wondering if cannabis might be able to help fight the illness currently affecting the whole world – COVID-19. COVID-19 has resulted in millions of deaths, closed international borders, and caused economies to be on the brink of collapse. This contagious respiratory disease can leave you with a fever, feeling fatigued, and struggling to breathe. It can even be fatal. So can cannabis offer any help in the fight against COVID-19?
A recent study published in January of this year in the journal Aging has found that cannabis may offer some help for patients with COVID-19 (1).
Cannabis and the cytokine storm
One of the primary biological events that occur in patients with severe acute respiratory distress cases from COVID-19 is something called a “cytokine storm.” A cytokine storm is where the body experiences an extreme increase in proinflammatory cytokines. These cytokines are a category of proteins, and the cytokines involved in a cytokine storm lead to an increase in inflammation.
COVID-19 patients often suffer from lung fibrosis, a serious and untreatable condition that leaves lung tissue scarred and makes it more difficult for you to breathe. If a substance could stop the cytokine storm, it would be able to suppress inflammation, prevent lung fibrosis, and put COVID-19 patients in remission.
C.Sativa, a type of cannabis, was found in a cytokine storm study to reduce multiple cytokines and pathways related to inflammation and fibrosis. Two of the cytokines that C.Sativa reduced were TNFa and IL-6, which are thought to be the main targets when trying to block a COVID-19 cytokine storm and acute respiratory distress syndrome.