Researchers at the University of New Mexico report that full-spectrum hemp oil (not to be confused with industrial hemp oil) reduced chronic neuropathic pain in mice tenfold.
Many studies have shown that cannabis is an effective treatment for neuropathic pain. A new study from the University of New Mexico is one of the most compelling. “Full spectrum” whole hemp oil was found to significantly reduce pain in mice.
In a study published in Life magazine, the researchers wrote that in some cases, “full spectrum” extracted hemp oil had the effect of “reducing mechanical pain sensitivity by more than tenfold.”
A tenfold reduction in pain is a significant reduction in pain. In a press release, the researchers noted that the oil was so effective that some mice experienced pain sensitivity on par with control mice, which had no pain problems and received no treatment at all.
The University of New Mexico study is the first to measure the therapeutic potential of legal low-THC hemp oil. In a press release, co-researcher Dr. Jacob Miguel Vigil, assistant professor of psychology at the school, said cannabis plants with low THC levels offered “profound and often immediate relief from symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and depression.”
The decision to make cannabis legal prompted the researchers to start the study.
The researchers focused on hemp oil because Congress authorized the sale of hemp nationwide in the 2018 farm bill. The decision was “a monumental milestone in the history of cannabis prohibition in the United States,” researchers at the University of New Mexico wrote.
Anecdotal evidence of the benefits of hemp oil has been around for many years. But the researchers wanted to study its use in pain because very little research had been done in the United States. That’s because up to this point, the federal government has limited testing options.
In the press release, the researchers also noted that the legalization of cannabis gives US citizens access to a “natural, effective, and relatively safe alternative treatment option for chronic pain” as opposed to opioids. Opioids have become one of the main forms of preventable death in the country. The opioid epidemic has left many wondering why opioid painkillers are legal but marijuana is not.
The mouse study is more accurate because humans have biases.
In the experiment, researchers at the University of New Mexico used mice. They noted that the use of animals in such an experiment actually has advantages over human clinical trials due to human marijuana bias, anticipation effects, and the perceptual and cognitive responses that can occur in people participating in an experiment on marijuana. cannabis theme.
To induce pain in mice, the researchers used postoperative neuropathic pain equivalent to several years of chronic pain in human clinical patients. But within a few hours of consuming cannabis, the mice experienced a significant reduction in pain. In some cases, during this period, they experienced almost no pain.
The researchers also found that the “entourage effect” found in full spectrum hemp oil is the key to its pain-relieving properties. All cannabinoids – CBD, CBN, THC – work in harmony. Researcher Jegason P. Diviant said in a press release that “cannabis plants contain a variety of therapeutic compounds that likely contribute to pain relief, including terpenes and flavonoidswho theoretically work together like members of a symphony”.
The researchers said more research is needed on the long-term effects of using cannabis oil for pain, as well as human trials. But Vigil said the results of the current study are part of an extremely exciting period of modern medical discovery because the average citizen now has legal access to all-natural and effective medicines that can be easily and cheaply produced by simply planting a seed in the ground. and take care of it like any other important part of your life.
