How Does CBD Help to Treat Your Asthma Problem?

CBD has been linked to many therapeutic benefits, such as helping mitigate asthma and other infections. Find out more about how CBD helps you deal with asthma in this article.

According to a global report by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than three hundred million people have asthma yearly. Asthma is one of the fatal chronic infections but could be treated with natural and safer remedies. One of the remedies for treating asthma is using CBD. After learning about its benefits, most people look forward to using CBD as a treatment for many health infections. CBD is a natural organic compound with no intoxicating, opioid or psychoactive effects. Therefore, it is a better alternative for people suffering from chronic infections like asthma than over-the-counter medicine. However, there isn't enough scientific evidence proving CBD can help deal with asthma, but the available evidence is promising.

What Is CBD?

CBD, or cannabidiol, is an active organic chemical compound found mainly in hemp or marijuana. It can be legally extracted from hemp, and medical marijuana is also allowed in several states. However, most CBD extracted for medicinal purposes is from USA and EU. These two states produce high-quality CBD with zero levels of THC. CBD produced from marijuana may be tainted by more than ten percent THC, which is way too high above the 0.3 percent legal level. The legislations surrounding the use of CBD vary in different states; hence they produce legalized CBD products such as gummies, topicals, capsules, and tinctures. CBD has stormed the global market for its numerous benefits, such as asthma treatment and pain and inflammation relief. Moreover, CBD doesn't have intoxicating, psychoactive, or opioid effects like THC and other pharmacological treatment drugs.

Understanding Asthma

Asthma is a common respiratory infection deemed hard to treat. It is caused by inflammation and swelling in the lung airways hence causing difficulty in breathing. When the respiratory tracts become infected with asthma, they fail with mucus, thus limiting air passage into the system. There are several types of asthma.

An individual may have allergic asthma caused by a highly sensitive immune system. This may lead to infection when the body is exposed to the allergen. These allergens include dust, pollen, germ-ridden dirt, molds, cold, and pet dander.

Medical reports show that about eight percent of the American population struggle with different forms of asthma. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), at least ten people are administered asthma treatment daily in the United States. Learn more about can cbd help you focus?

What Are the Symptoms of Asthma?

• Shortness of breath (the most common symptom)
• Sleeping difficulties
• Severe coughing and wheezing
• Pain or chest tightness

These symptoms can occur simultaneously or vary from person to person. Moreover, these symptoms occur depending on environmental factors such as cold weather, exposure to allergens, and when exercising. Most people with asthma only report a mild condition. However, severe asthma may be life-threatening and needs quick medical attention.

Asthma attacks flare up when the symptoms become worse. These conditions contribute to more than two million emergency visits to health institutions yearly. When care is delayed for such patients, death is inevitable. Learn more about can cbg help with depression?

Can CBD Treat Asthma?

Maintaining or managing asthma symptoms is challenging. Although there are prevention and treatment methods, the symptoms exhibit severe side effects. In most cases, the condition may fail to subside and flare up whenever you are exposed to the allergen or certain conditions. For example, a preventive inhaler may lead to sore throat, fungal infections, and a neglected voice. Other pharmacological treatment methods, such as the leukotriene modifier – zileuton – increase the risk of depression, suicidal thoughts, and hallucination. These side effects are tragic; hence most people are seeking simpler methods, and CBD is one of the best choices on the list. 

Many studies have been carried out over the years to determine the effect of CBD on asthma. Moltke et al. (2021) noted that CBD can mitigate asthma symptoms and reduce its flare-ups and frequency of occurrence.

How CBD Helps Treats Asthma

Studies show that CBD works in several ways to cure the effects of asthma. Vuolo et al. (2019) suggested that although it is not an approved cure for asthma, it effectively keeps the severe symptoms in check. However, the evidence behind the effects of CBD on asthma is insufficient; hence it needs more elaboration in later studies. The following are common ways CBD can help you treat your asthma problems.

CBD Oil and Inflammation

Asthma is caused by inflammation, and it's also the main trigger. For example, when exposed to allergens such as pollen, the immune system responds by triggering inflammation. When the respiratory paths are inflamed, mucus secretion occurs, thus leading to blocking. Blocking the respiratory tract makes breathing tougher. 

According to Juknat et al. (2016), CBD features potent anti-inflammatory effects. Its interaction with CB2 receptors helps lower inflammation in the airway system.

CBD Oil and Muscle Spasms

The latest research claims that CBD features antispasmodic effects. Eskander et al. (2020) suggested that CBD helps reduce muscle spasms in the airways system, relieving asthma symptoms. Although more studies need to be done on the effects of CBD in treating asthma, patients who suffer from muscle spasms have used CBD to deal with the condition, and the results were promising.

CBD and Drug-Induced Anxiety

Many drugs used to treat asthma may lead to side effects like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. According to Crippa et al. (2016), CBD features strong anxiolytic properties; hence it can help you alleviate the situation after using pharmacological drugs.

The Bottom Line

Asthma is a common respiratory infection deemed hard to treat. It is caused by inflammation and swelling in the lung airways hence causing difficulty in breathing. When the respiratory tracts become infected with asthma, they fail with mucus, thus limiting air passage into the system. Maintaining or managing asthma symptoms is not easy. Although there are several prevention and treatment methods, they exhibit severe side effects.

In most cases, the condition may fail to subside and flare up whenever you are exposed to the allergen or certain conditions. For example, a preventive inhaler may lead to sore throat, fungal infections, and a neglected voice. Many studies have been carried out over the years to determine the effect of CBD on asthma. Available evidence shows that CBD can mitigate asthma symptoms and reduce its flare-ups and frequency of occurrence.

References

Crippa, J. A., Guimarães, F. S., Campos, A. C., & Zuardi, A. W. (2018). Translational investigation of the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD): toward a new age. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 2009.

Eskander, J. P., Spall, J., Spall, A., Shah, R. V., & Kaye, A. D. (2020). Cannabidiol (CBD) as a treatment of acute and chronic back pain: A case series and literature review. J Opioid Manag, 16(3), 215-8.

Juknat, A., Kozela, E., Kaushansky, N., Mechoulam, R., & Vogel, Z. (2016). Anti-inflammatory effects of the cannabidiol derivative dimethylheptyl-cannabidiol–studies in BV-2 microglia and encephalitogenic T cells. Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology, 27(3), 289-296.

Moltke, J., & Hindocha, C. (2021). Reasons for cannabidiol use: a cross-sectional study of CBD users, focusing on self-perceived stress, anxiety, and sleep problems. Journal of cannabis research, 3(1), 1-12.

Vuolo, F., Petronilho, F., Sonai, B., Ritter, C., Hallak, J. E., Zuardi, A. W., ... & Dal-Pizzol, F. (2015). Evaluation of serum cytokines levels and the role of cannabidiol treatment in animal model of asthma. Mediators of inflammation, 2015.