The components that don’t cause opium in Medical Marijuana can actually be used in patients who experience psychosis. At least, researchers from the UK have found a way to decipher these substances.
Launching from the New York Post on Thursday (08/30/2018), they outlined the components of marijuana that are not intoxicating to work in the main brain area and reduce abnormal activity in patients at risk for psychosis. They claim these ingredients can become anti-psychotic drugs in the future. There is no doubt that now many countries have legalized marijuana even for Recreational Marijuana purposes.
Psychosis itself is a mental health disorder, which causes a person to perceive and interpret many things in an unusual way. They can also show symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.
Regular use of marijuana with strong doses can increase a person developing psychosis. However, cannabidiol or CBD seems to have the opposite effect.
Previous research at King’s College London showed that the CBD showed resistance to the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, substances in marijuana that make people drunk. However, how this can happen is a mystery.
No side effects
By asking for the brains of 33 young people who have psychotic symptoms, but who have not been fully diagnosed, Sagnik Bhattacharyya and her colleagues showed that CBD capsules reduce abnormal activity in parts of the brain namely the striatum, medial temporal cortex, and midbrain.
Abnormalities in these three brain regions are associated with the onset of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Most antipsychotic drugs currently target the dopamine chemical signal system in the brain, but CBD works differently.
In addition, the researchers said that there were no adverse side effects such as weight gain and other metabolic problems.
“One reason CBD is interesting is because that it is very tolerable, compared to the anti-psychotic we have,” said Bhattacharyya from King’s College.
The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the King’s college are planning for a large clinical trial with 300 patients to test the true potential of CBD in the field of medicine.