23 Apr

THC May Help Break Down Harmful Memories

Lately cannabidiol (CBD) has been hogging the therapeutic limelight; it’s an anti-inflammatory, an anti-tumor, and it helps inhibit psychotic behavior. THC, the psychoactive chemical most prized in the recreational community, has been deemed to have less potential for therapeutic use, in part due to the side effects that accompany dosage. For this reason, much clinical research has shifted toward CBD and away from THC. However, THC’s psychedelic, mindset-altering activity is exactly what lends it therapeutic benefits in situations involving memory and fear consolidation. Fear memory consolidation occurs after a painful memory is acquired, and is the process through which that memory is stabilized in the brain. Although not all aspects are understood, we know that the consolidation process involves strengthening synapses the brain deems useful and paring down synapses the brain deems less useful. Aside from this process, memories are also converted from being dependent on the short-term memory region of the brain to being independent of this region and placed in a longer-term storage area. However, memories are also capable of being re-consolidated and forming new associations. To put all of this into practical terms, someone suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming from military service may initially suffer injury while hearing an unrelated stimulus, such as a warning siren. The brain may then associate the pain and injury with that sound. Unfortunately, as the individual returns to normal society and hears similar sounds, such as ambulance sirens, those memories and fears may resurface, causing additional pain, aggression, and…

15 Apr

Whole Plant CBD More Effective Than Pure CBD?

At Cornerstone, we talk frequently about dosing, not just because it’s important to members, but also because it’s important to us. The end goal is for every patient to experience the maximum benefit of medical cannabis. Although it seems tempting to think that more medicine always means more healing, that’s just not the reality of how cannabinoids are processed in the body. In truth the body’s response is much more complex. Exhibit A: This is a graph that illustrates anti-inflammatory properties of cannabidiol (CBD) at various doses.   You’ll notice that the shape is a bell curve, meaning that in many cases, more CBD could actually equate to less anti-inflammatory help. This is not a graph mistake; it’s a common observation of the effects of CBD. In other words, dose matters. As seen, the greatest effect of CBD will occur at the middle of the curve. Because dosage depends on body fat, tolerance, and a host of other individual factors it is very difficult to advise users on “the most effective dose” for them. Cornerstone can offer you suggestions, but ultimately, individual patients are going to have to discover what amounts and what dosing schedules work for them. What is clear to us though, is that patients may get more out of their medicines by showing restraint. All that aside, wouldn’t it be great if CBD could be given in a preparation that was not dose-dependent? Shouldn’t there be a way to beat the dose curve? This is exactly the question Israeli…