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The CBD and THC in Medical Cannabis oils interact with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in your body.
The ECS is primarily responsible for maintaining homeostasis, a balance in internal environment and energy input and output in the body.
It has three major components:
- Cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2)
- Cannabinoids naturally produced in the body, known as Endocannabinoids (that’s right – you have cannabinoids naturally produced in your own body)
- Enzymes which break down the endocannabinoids
Because of the legal classification of cannabis over the last 30 years, as well as the ECS only being discovered in 1992, the research isn’t yet clear on the exact mechanisms by which medical cannabis interacts with the ECS system.
It is thought that it inhibits the enzyme responsible for breaking down the body’s naturally produced endocannabinoids [1], which influences many physiological processes, including [2]:
- Homeostasis (the state of balance in your body)
- Pain sensation
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Nervous functions
- Feeding behaviour/appetite
- Emotional behaviour
- Neurogenesis
- Neuroprotection
- Reward
- Cognition
- Learning and memory
- Pre-and post-natal development
References
- Bisogno, T. et al., ‘Molecular targets for cannabidiol and its synthetic analogues: effect on vanilloid VR1 receptors and on the cellular uptake and enzymatic hydrolysis of anandamide’, British Journal of Pharmacology, 134/4 (2001), 845-852
- Lowe, H.; Toyang, N.; Steele, B.; Bryant, J.; Ngwa, W. The Endocannabinoid System: A Potential Target for the Treatment of Various Diseases. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 9472. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22179472
