To help their patients recoil from the distress caused by COVID-19, medical experts are experimenting with anything that feels even slightly applicable as a workable remedy. With this intention, many of them are now assessing the effectiveness of CBD for treating COVID-19 symptoms.
According to recent studies, CBD can help reduce respiratory distress, immunity responses, and other symptoms in COVID-19 patients. In the studies, CBD not only reversed clinical symptoms but also improved physical damages endured by the organs during infection.
Most of the experts relate this ability of CBD with its resemblance to the cannabinoids present in the body. Since cannabinoids are an essential part of the endocannabinoid system, CBD’s role in reducing infection symptoms might have relevant explanations.
COVID-19 and its impact on the lungs: ARDS and Cykotine storm
Although symptoms of COVID-19 vary greatly between individuals, all experts agree that it is a respiratory infection. It causes severe damages to the airways of patients leading to difficulty in breathing, and pneumonia in patients. Although artificial ventilators might help, a majority of patients in advanced stages of infection do no survive.
The structural makeup of coronavirus makes it excessively easy for it to break into human cells. The ‘spikes’ protruding on its surface not only distinguish it from other viruses. In addition to this, they also help it to break through the protective protein gates that surround our body’s cells. These protective gates are called ACE2 receptors and play a very vital role in controlling inflammation and blood pressure in the body.
According to experts, COVID-19 binds to the ACE2 receptors, upsetting their primary roles. “Instead of ACE2 helping blood vessels relax, it helps the virus get into the host where it makes more viruses instead of helping the lungs relax and do their job,” says Dr. Jack Yu from MCG.
One organ that gets seriously affected in this myriad of infectious attacks is our lungs.
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS is a very common yet serious complication that launches full-blown cytokine storms in the most vulnerable coronavirus victims. This is an aggressive response of the body that causes the immune system to release a large amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The result of this is acute lung injury and a low oxygen saturation level in patients. According to a 2020 study from the National Institutes of Health, the average mortality rate of ARDS is 43%.
How can CBD help combat lung damage caused by COVID-19?
The task at hand for researchers is to find an effective cure for the symptoms of COVID-19 alongside their quest of developing a fecund vaccine.
As a means to address this issue, scientists from the Dental College of Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia have uncovered how CBD helps to reduce inflammations in the lungs brought about by COVID-19.
The team created a lung model that duplicated the damages caused by COVID-19 and other viruses on the lungs. The model included mice with classic symptoms of ARDS, including an over-responsive immune system.
They found that the major role played by CBD in the study was the regulation of apelin levels. Apelin is a natural peptide that is made by blood cells, lungs, brain, heart, and fat tissue in the body. It regulates blood pressure and plays a vital role in bringing down the inflammation.
In patients suffering from ARDS, the levels of peptide fell to zero but increased by about 20 times with CBD. Furthermore, CBD also helped to normalize the oxygen levels, swelling, immune responses as well as scarring on the lungs caused by ARDS.
In yet another study conducted by Israeli scientists, a new therapy using CBD-loaded exosomes was considered to treat COVID-19 patients. The reason for this being that CBD-Loaded exosomes could potentially have a synergistic anti-inflammatory. This could help it in reducing damaged organs, especially the lungs of coronavirus patients.
Furthermore, another component of the cannabis plant known as THC has also shown some promising results for reducing virus symptoms. Mice studied in three separate studies showed 100% survival rates when THC was given to them for infection symptoms. While these lab results do not fully reflect real-life results for humans, researchers are truly amazed at the effectiveness of THC for ARDS.
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