With the movement to legalize cannabis for medical and recreational purposes, scientists are able to look more closely at the unique components of this plant, learning evermore about the positive effects it can have on our physical and mental health. A recent medical study in Israel looked at how an organic compound in cannabis can help to mitigate inflammation.
Chronic inflammation has become a serious health issue in our society today, caused by the introduction of adulterated and processed foods, toxins in our environment and insanely high levels of stress. Some doctors and researchers have even suggested that inflammation is the cause of all modern disease, therefore, natural solutions to stopping inflammation are critical to health.
A Israeli study conducted in late 2018 looked at how compounds in cannabis can positively affect inflammation. Cannabidiol (CBD) is one such compound in cannabis that has a wide range of medical benefits and is becoming wildly popular in the marketplace, but a lesser-known compound, terpenoids, demonstrated remarkable power to mitigate inflammation.
Terpenoids, often referred to as terpenes, are volatile, aromatic oils released by the cannabis plant when flowering.
“Different chemotypes of cannabis have a distinctive composition of terpenoids. These essential oils do have anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities that vary according to their composition, but they had no effect on TNFa titers [antibodies].”
“We suggest that terpenoids may be used to diminute acute inflammation effect, whereas the cannabinoids to inhibit chronic inflammation symptoms.” [Source]
In short, this means that we may be on the cusp of yet another revolution in medical cannabis, and that producers and innovators will certainly find ways to develop powerful new medicine from terpenes, much like what has occurred with CBD’s.
A final quote from the report on the significance of today’s research in validating the medical efficacy of cannabis.
“Human beings have used Cannabis or Cannabis products in various forms for thousands of years and references to therapeutic use of the plant are found in Hieratic script on papyri dated around 1700 BC.2 More recent reports have reviewed the history and characteristics of the materials and determined their clinical and biological properties.” [Source]
