Can CBD really be useful in the treatment of various disorders, from chronic pain to sleep problems or mental health? With the public’s growing interest in these questions, Canal Détox takes a look at the subject, looking at what is behind this scientific name and the effects of CBD on certain disorders that have been researched.

Until now less-publicized than THC, the main psychoactive molecule of cannabidiol (CBD) is now everywhere. Stores dedicated to the sale of CBD-based products rich in CBD, herbal teas prepared to fight insomnia or even oils to ingest against anxiety and dried hemp flowers to smoke or vaporize… Many varied products are now available on the market.

While France has just launched an experiment on medical CBD (with products composed of both THC and CBD) and the craze for CBD-based products continues to grow, it seems relevant to look at what the science says at the moment.

What does the science publish to date really show? Can CBD really be useful in the treatment of various disorders, from chronic pain to sleep problems or mental health? With the public’s growing interest in these questions, Canal Détox takes a look at what’s behind the scientific name and the effects of CBD on certain disorders that have been researched.

CBD, THC: some reference marks

Hemp is a plant native to equatorial regions. Several species exist. Those consumed for their psychotropic properties, i.e. capable of modifying the functioning of our central nervous system, are from the sativa family. Nearly 500 compounds of the plant are known, including about sixty cannabinoids.

The main psychoactive compound in CBD is the cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as THC). Cannabidiol (CBD) is also present in large quantities in the plant and is not legally classified as a psychoactive drug, although it also has psychoactive effects via an interaction with the serotonin system. This would also explain the “soothing” effect put forward by the sellers to help people suffering from anxiety, sleep difficulties but also chronic pain.

Note that the products proposed in the trade and sold under the label CBD are presented in the form of natural extracts of flowers or whole flowers. They contain mainly CBD but also some THC (even if it is sometimes present in minute quantities). This is reduced to “CBD products” in everyday language, but this does not reflect the reality and complexity of the composition of the products sold and consumed.

Over the past decade, the scientific community has shown increasing interest in CBD, as this molecule is suspected of being involved in some of the potential therapeutic effects. However, most of the data available to date come not from large rigorous clinical trials, but from the recognition by scientists that cbd oils may act on many biological targets in the body.

Severe epilepsy in children

It was a CNN documentary that first put CBD in the spotlight in 2013. The film told the story of Charlotte, a little girl suffering from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. With no effective treatment for the hundreds of seizures she suffered each week, her parents turned to an alternative solution: an oil particularly rich in CBD.

Today, while the use of CBD for therapeutic purposes is authorized in many countries, the only CBD-based pharmacological treatment that has been rigorously tested in clinical trials in the United States and has received FDA approval is Epidiolex, which is indicated for the treatment of pediatric epileptic fits.

In France, the HAS has decided to reimburse it only when it is prescribed for epileptic seizures associated with Dravet or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in people over the age of two and under medical supervision.