Can Cannabidiol CBD From Cannabis Prevent Covid-19?

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about Cannabis and Corona Virus. Many articles are asking the question, can cannabidiol CBD from cannabis prevent Covid-19? The focus of the research has been on the cannabis strains of the plant, Cannabis Sativa, that are high in an anti-inflammatory cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD). We wanted to explore the clinical research on Cannabis and Corona Virus more indepthly ourselves to educate ourselves in order to help our customers during these times.

CBD and the Pandemic

Many of our customers have increased their intake of our high CBD Focus formula sublingual tinctures and lozenges enlight of the increased stress levels the pandemic has created. There are several trials taking place worldwide, including in Canada, Israel and the UK, investigating whether cannabis could be useful as a treatment for Covid-19. These studies are very preliminary and have yet to be peer-reviewed yet are promising even though larger human trials are needed.

Research and CBD

What we do know from substantial research is that CBD has shown positive results as an anti-seizure, antipsychotic, neuroprotective, antidepressant and anxiolytic. The neuroprotective activity appears linked to CBDs excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as cited in the Cannabinoids as novel anti-inflammatory drugs study, Prakash Nagarkatti, Rupal Pandey, Sadiye Amcaoglu Rieder, Venkatesh L Hegde, Mitzi Nagarkatti: Future Med Chem. 2009. Many of our customers who have consistently taken our Focus high CBD tinctures share their stories of inflammation relief that is inline with what the clinical research is stating.

Other Medical Benefits of CBD

What other clinical research is well published about the benefits of CBD? Many customers look to CBD for seizure and epilepsy relief. A recent study, Use of Cannabidiol in the Treatment of Epilepsy by Serena Silvestro, Santa Mammana, Eugenio Cavalli, Placido Bramanti, Emanuela Mazzon: published in Molecules. 2019 April, indicates the use of CBD in clinical applications could represent hope for patients who are resistant to all conventional anti-epileptic drugs.
Therefore, the medicinal benefits of CBD have been clinically proven but what about the question, does CBD from cannabis prevent Covid-19?

Preventing Covid-19

The Canadian study conducted at University of Lethbridge cited here, Wang, B.; Kovalchuk, A.; Li, D.; Ilnytskyy, Y.; Kovalchuk, I.; Kovalchuk, O. In Search of Preventative Strategies: Novel Anti-Inflammatory High-CBD Cannabis Sativa Extracts Modulate ACE2 Expression in COVID-19 Gateway Tissues. Preprints 2020, 2020040315 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202004.0315.v1) hypothesized that cannabis plants high in CBD could reduce the virus’ entry points by up to 70%.

Blocking Virus Pathways

If the Canadian study can be verified and replicated, it would prove that high CBD strains of cannabis work to prevent Covid-19 by blocking the lung pathway. Cannabis may reduce the virus’ ability to enter the lungs, where it takes hold, reproduces, and spreads. Therefore eliminating the human host. Enlight of the promising study regarding CBD and Covid-19, we feel additional larger scale randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the preventative benefits of CBD on viruses.

Be Well!