In fact, liver disease is on the list of the twelve most common causes of death.
Liver disease affects millions of lives around the world.
Meanwhile, studies show that cannabis not only relieves pain and inflammation, but also restores liver function. When the liver becomes severely damaged, it loses its ability to heal itself.,
Here is everything you need to know about cannabis and liver disease.
Progression of liver disease
To better understand exactly how cannabis helps with liver disease, it is helpful to know how the liver functions. The liver is the largest internal organ in the body.
As such, she has many roles including:
- Processing, delivery and storage of food
- Blood purification
- Detoxification of harmful substances
- Production of vital nutrients
- And much more!
A healthy liver is vital to human life. One of the amazing abilities of the liver is to heal itself. A healthy liver can regenerate cells even if it is damaged.
However, when liver damage is too severe, or if it occurs over a long period of time, the liver loses this ability. Instead, scar tissue forms in the liver.
The first stage of this scarring is fibrosis. The last stage is cirrhosis.
What causes cirrhosis?
Cirrhosis occurs when the liver produces too much scar tissue from long-term damage.
A healthy liver regenerates healthy cells. An unhealthy liver that has developed into cirrhosis will regenerate scar tissue. This scar tissue replaces healthy cells, causing the liver to fail to function properly.
The longer this cycle continues, the more vicious it becomes. As cirrhosis progresses, scar tissue begins to outnumber healthy tissue. This makes it difficult for the liver to even perform basic functions.
Cirrhosis can lead to a number of debilitating side effects, including fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, itching, and even yellowing of the skin. However, studies show that cannabis can help. In fact, it can even cure the root cause of this condition.
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Role of the endocannabinoid system
Why is cannabis effective in treating liver disease?
It has to do with the endocannabinoid system or just the ECS.
The EX is present in any living creature with vertebrae, including humans. The researchers found that the ECS is an expansive network of chemical compounds and receptors, first discovered in the late 1980s and early 90s.
These receptors, CB1 and CB2, are located throughout the brain, body, organs, and central nervous system. Together, the receptors form a signaling system that works to maintain health and balance almost all metabolic processes.
Part of this signaling involves CB receptors paired with chemicals produced by the body called endocannabinoids.
When there is dysfunction in this system, the cannabinoids in cannabis (like THC and CBD) are the perfect complement to ECS.
Cannabinoids and the liver
In 2005, researchers at the Hebrew University School of Medicine found that endocannabinoids help modulate inflammatory responses along with vascular changes.
The study found that endocannabinoids are critical for neurological functioning and beneficial for people suffering from liver diseases such as cirrhosis and fibrosis.
The researchers from the study concluded:
"Endocananabinoids appear to be involved in several aspects of acute and chronic liver disease, including vascular changes, modulation of the inflammatory process, and neurological function."
A 2011 study published in Cell Death and Disease found that CBD (one of the many cannabinoids found in cannabis) andplays a crucial role in the treatment of liver diseases.
Over an 8-month period, mice were injected with increasing concentrations of various cannabinoids. Surprisingly, the researchers found that CBD induces apoptosis in HSCs (hemocytoblast), or hepatocellular cells. HSCs are responsible for the development of scar tissue in the liver.
In other words, CBD killed the harmful cells that lead to the progression of liver disease.
Of course, this study did not include humans. However, the results speak for themselves, especially when we look at the study as a whole.
For example, a study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. In the study, researchers examined the effects of CBD on hepatic encephalopathy, a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by acute or chronic liver failure.
During the study, mice were injected with either saline or thioacetamide. Thioacetamide is a substance that induces liver fibrosis in mice. Mice were treated with either CBD or vehicle (a substance equivalent to CBD minus the active ingredient).
The researchers found that only CBD restored neurological and cognitive functioning, impaired in mice treated with thioacetamide. In fact, CBD was able to restore normal liver function in mice suffering from liver failure.
At the end of the study, the researchers concluded:
“Cannabidiol restores liver function, normalizes 5-HT levels, and improves brain pathology in line with the normalization of brain function. Therefore, the action of cannabidiol may be the result of a combination of its actions in the liver and brain.”
Now imagine if this same study were done on humans. We will likely be much closer to understanding cannabis as a treatment for liver disease.
Price
Original price before discount€69.90
Price: €39.90
3491.25 ₽
1364.98 ₴
Price
Original price before discount€38.90
Price: €24.90
2178.75 ₽
851.83 ₴
Price
Original price before discount€27.90
Price: €22.90
2003.75 ₽
783.41 ₴
