Many people are enjoying a nice glass of brain damage and liver crirrhosis this holiday season. We call it Christmas cheer and say it's okay in moderation or because it's the holidays; meanwhile, most stoners, especially teens, have to sneak outside for a walk and hide.
There's nothing quite like a bunch of people sipping a brain-atrophying drink while telling stoners that they'd better not be caught with cannabis...because they know all about the horrible things it does to your brain!
Here's what the 2019 data have to say about cannabidiol (CBD) treating alcohol-induced brain damage and liver cirrhosis/steatosis:
Background: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural component of cannabis that possesses a widespread and complex immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anxiolytic, and antiepileptic properties. Much experimental data suggest that CBD could be used for various purposes in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related damage on the brain and the liver.
Aim: To provide a rationale for using CBD to treat human subjects with AUD, based on the findings of experimental studies.
Methods: Narrative review of studies pertaining to the assessment of CBD efficiency on drinking reduction, or on the improvement of any aspect of alcohol-related toxicity in AUD.
Results: Experimental studies find that CBD reduces the overall level of alcohol drinking in animal models of AUD by reducing ethanol intake, motivation for ethanol, relapse, anxiety, and impulsivity. Moreover, CBD reduces alcohol-related steatosis and fibrosis in the liver by reducing lipid accumulation, stimulating autophagy, modulating inflammation, reducing oxidative stress, and by inducing death of activated hepatic stellate cells. Finally, CBD reduces alcohol-related brain damage, preventing neuronal loss by its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties.
Conclusions: CBD could directly reduce alcohol drinking in subjects with AUD. Any other applications warrant human trials in this population. By reducing alcohol-related steatosis processes in the liver, and alcohol-related brain damage, CBD could improve both hepatic and neurocognitive outcomes in subjects with AUD, regardless of the individual’s drinking trajectory. This might pave the way for testing new harm reduction approaches in AUD, in order to protect the organs of subjects with an ongoing AUD.
Source: De Ternay, J. et al (2019). Therapeutic Prospects of Cannabidiol for Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol-Related Damages on the Liver and the Brain. Frontiers in Pharmacology, Vol 10, issue 627. doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.00627
