CBD & ECS:
all you should know
CBD & ECS:
You have probably heard these two popular abbreviations. This article will help you understand what is cannabidiol (CBD) and how can this topic relate to your endocannabinoid system (ECS).
Cannabidiol (CBD)
Cannabidiol, also called CBD, is a naturally occurring cannabinoid derived from the Cannabis Sativa plant . CBD is used in drugs, cosmetics and food products due to its influence on the regulation of the endocannabinoid system.
CBD has been demonstrated to be an effective compound for the treatment of a vast multitude of diseases and disorders, such as arthritis, epilepsy, insomnia, psoriasis and many others, which we invite you to read more about in our disease database. As claimed by World Health Organization (WHO), CBD has a high safety profile and is well tolerated by humans and animals. It is important to underline that CBD has no psychoactive effects, and no research indicated abuse or dependence potential (2).
The endocannabinoid system (ECS)
The reason for such a broad therapeutic potential of CBD is the fact that this substance can bind to the receptors in the human body and help regulate the activity of the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS is a system that could be called a homeostatic regulator. In simple terms, the ECS allows your brain to communicate with your cells and vice versa in order to monitor and provide for the needs of separate cells and organs. It influences a wide variety of physiological processes all over the body, helping to maintain a steady state of the body’s internal physical and chemical conditions. It is involved in regulating physiological and cognitive processes, such as:
Activity of the immune system
Appetite
Pain sensation
Mood
Memory
Fertility
Pregnancy
IN SHORT
The ECS is a system that could be called a homeostatic regulator. It influences a wide variety of physiological processes all over the body, helping to maintain a steady state of the body’s internal physical and chemical conditions. In simple terms, the ECS allows your brain to communicate with your cells and vice versa in order to monitor and provide for the needs of separate cells and organs. CBD can support the correct functioning of the ECS. By this, CBD can help the human body to regain balance and self-regulate (2).
Cannabinoids
To understand the types of cannabinoids of different origin, we need to introduce two Greek terms:
phytón, meaning plant
&
éndon, meaning internal
These terms gave rise to the prefixes phyto- and endo-, which refer to the origin. Accordingly, phyto-cannabinoids are cannabinoids which come from the plant, meanwhile endo-cannabinoids are produced within the body. Since CBD is a phytocannabinoid, it means that when introduced to the body, it has the ability of binding to CB1 and CB2 receptors, mimicking the endocannabinoids, and supporting the ECS system. By this, CBD can help the human body to regain balance and self-regulate (2).
IMAGINE
To understand the importance of communication in your body, you can try to imagine what would happen if the internet and the telephone network around the world would start to fail. Suddenly, people would not know what is happening in different regions. This would mean that a sudden need or excess of resources could not be handled properly. On top of that, the information about any emergencies would travel very slowly. Now you probably understand how crucial it is for your cells to communicate, thus how important it is for your ECS to function well. Actually, a misfunction of the ECS might cause malfunction of a variety of different systems in your body, making you experience symptoms of illness. In such cases, CBD can support the correct functioning of your ECS.
Before you start using CBD
If you experience physical or psychiatric disease or disorder and you wish to start using cannabis products, you should choose a CBD-based product that fits your specific needs. Products with CBD attributes come in different forms of application and in order to choose your optimal treatment, you might want to read more about CBD bioavailability in our other blog post. Bioavailability is the fraction of an administered CBD that reaches the systemic circulation and understanding this concept will help you understand what are the benefits of using topical and intra-nasal products.
EVERY CASE IS SPECIAL
Additionally, you should remember that different conditions require a different dosage of the substance. We recommend you use products which are developed specifically to treat the condition or the symptoms. For example, CANNASEN ® CBD Psoriasis gel is a medical device and its main effect is based on the Dead Sea salt, the main active ingredient found in the gel. The mode of action is to promote the desquamation process and to reduce dandruff and drought-related redness. This is supported by a physical conductive cooling effect from the ethanol. Furthermore, the gel is complemented with CBD which can help increase the treatment effectiveness. For more information about our products, visit our product base.
- World Health Organization, 2018. CANNABIDIOL (CBD) Critical Review Report. [online] Geneva. Available at: <https://www.who.int/medicines/access/controlled-substances/CannabidiolCriticalReview.pdf> [Accessed 17 February 2021].
Reviewed by:
Lina Babickaite
M.Sc. Biomedical Science
