Before we talk about CBD and the treatment of nausea, let’s define a few terms here. CBD is short for cannabidiol. CBD is a phytocannabinoid–one of over a hundred cannabinoids found in plants from the genus, Cannabis.
CBD is not the mind-altering, psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.
The short answer to the question in the title of this article is yes, CBD can be used to treat the nausea associated with cancer treatment.
Now let’s look at why that is. We know that several different cannabinoids have been used therapeutically in several different cultures for centuries (Mechoulam, 2005). And we know from peer-reviewed research that some cannabinoids are very effective in the treatment of nausea (Parker, 2011).
Cannabinoids have been tested in several different animal models and humans for the relief of nausea and pain since the mid-1970’s. Interestingly enough, cannabinoids seem to help relieve the most difficult-to-treat nausea including nausea in children.
One thing that we know from research is that the vast majority of patients don’t like taking cannabinoids in pill form for nausea. The reasons are not exactly clear. It may be because in a liquid or aerosol form, the compounds offer faster relief or it may be that it’s unpleasant to swallow pills if you’re extremely nauseated to begin with or it’s possible that it’s just easier to titrate the dose needed for the patient with a liquid or aerosol model.
All of this information spells good news for CBD oil extracted from hemp. The CBD is concentrated in a liquid form, and it’s easy to ingest. And CBD appears to have a suppressive effect on both nausea and vomiting. In patients undergoing cancer treatment, the nausea is harder to control with current front-line medications than the vomiting.
A continuous state of severe nausea is so miserable that it is estimated up to 20% of patients undergoing chemotherapy will stop the therapy just because of uncontrolled nausea (Parker, 2011).
More research is needed on CBD in human models for controlling nausea, which will make the use of CBD for this purpose more mainstream. However, there is already research going back 40 years to support the use of CBD for both nausea and vomiting and anecdotal evidence going back hundreds of years.
Researchers know that it works, they just don’t fully understand the mechanism of why it works. For that we will have to wait for peer-reviewed research to catch up to what many people already know. Research will help to pinpoint dosages required and the best delivery system to the patient.
Atomic Extraction is an industrial manufacturer of high-quality, closed-loop extraction equipment (used for extracting CBD from hemp) based in Victoria, BC, Canada. If you have any questions about this article or closed-loop extraction, in general, please contact us at (778) 214-5153.