Nov
With arthritis already effecting over 50 million Americans, and an aging population, those numbers are set to drastically increase. Many people are becoming more and more aware of the risks associated with prescription drugs and common over the counter drugs. This has left them seeking other, natural and safer ways to alleviate their pain. This is why many have turned to nature and the healing properties of cannabidiol, or CBD.
Recently, the first major patient advocacy group has issued guidance on how to best use the hemp plant as medicine. The Arthritis Foundation has outlined how people seeking benefits from CBD should go about using it to help get supplemental relief from their pain without telling them to abandon their traditional treatments prescribed by their medical professionals.
“Using cannabis or other sources of cannabinoids for rheumatic diseases shows a lot of preclinical promise because of the importance of the endocannabinoid system in regulating inflammation and the adaptive immune response.“
Dr. Greg Gerdeman, former assistant professor of Biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida
Although still in its early stages of study, there are several well respected doctors endorsing further research on CBD and arthritis. One in particular, Greg Gerdeman, former assistant professor of Biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida has stated “Using cannabis or other sources of cannabinoids for rheumatic diseases shows a lot of preclinical promise because of the importance of the endocannabinoid system in regulating inflammation and the adaptive immune response.“
Below are guidelines issued directly from The Arthritis Foundation:
Key Takeaways
- CBD may help with arthritis-related symptoms, such as pain, insomnia and anxiety, but there have been no rigorous clinical studies in people with arthritis to confirm this.
- While no major safety issues have been found with CBD when taken in moderate doses, potential drug interactions have been identified.
- CBD should never be used to replace disease-modifying drugs that help prevent permanent joint damage in inflammatory types of arthritis.
- CBD use should be discussed with your doctor in advance, with follow-up evaluations every three months or so, as would be done for any new treatment.
- There are no established clinical guidelines to inform usage. Experts recommend starting with a low dose, and if relief is inadequate, increase in small increments weekly.
- Buy from a reputable company that has each batch tested for purity, potency and safety by an independent laboratory and provides a certificate of analysis.
With the Arthritis Foundation taking a survey of more than 2,500 patients, they came to realize a majority have used or considered using CBD in their routine. Some of their biggest concerns were that products vary greatly and that dosing may be hard if products are not reliable or labeled properly according to strength. This is why it is crucial to get your products from a trusted and transparent source. At Heirloom Selects we pride ourselves on having all of our third party testing easily accessible to anyone with a scannable QR code on every bottle and links in every product description. This will ensure you will be able to consistently administer a suitable dose to get the relief and outcome you’re looking to achieve.
