A group of Austrian doctors seems to be able to answer affirmatively after tests in which recovery time has been significantly reduced.
The results: strengthens the immune system
At the Klagenfurt Hospital in Austria they have administered CBD to 50 patients admitted for COVID-19 and a faster improvement in symptoms has been registered, reducing recovery and admission time. The patients treated with CBD were discharged earlier than the rest of the patients and the doctors point out that it may be due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the substance.
For three weeks they added to the physiological saline an amount of 200mg, first, and the two next weeks of 300mg and observed that the infection levels decreased more rapidly, as explained by Rudolf Likar, head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Medicine of the Austrian hospital.
According to Likar, among other benefits, cannabidiol or CBD, shows to have anti-inflammatory properties, favoring the concentration of oxygen in the blood, the reason why patients infected with coronavirus recover faster.
The warnings of the specialists:
Even so, doctors warn that these are hospital tests and not clinical trials, other factors that have not been identified could have come into play in the results, so is still early to make definitive theses.
They advise against consuming cannabis or CBD without a prescription, as this does not mean that smoking marijuana or consuming cannabidiol helps to overcome the disease, on the contrary, it could be counterproductive.
CBD vs. COVID-19:
This is the first and only clinic in Austria to treat COVID-19 patients in the ICU with cannabidiol. “There is still a lot to study. They are good conclusions, but we need more studies and more data”, declared the leader of the medical team. According to Likar, there are no side effects with CBD and it is not contraindicated with any medication.
Throughout the pandemic, various studies in the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel or the United States have recorded beneficial effects of CBD in curing the disease. While the use of oils and other CBD products has become popular in those countries where their consumption is legal as a palliative for depression or anxiety.
CBD: a new target for pharmaceutical companies?
Parallel research has shown the efficacy of the medicinal use of cannabis in the treatment of difficult-to-cure diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, autism, chronic pain, and even as a support medication for cancer chemotherapy.
In December, the UN officially recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis, eliminating the plant from the classification of the most dangerous narcotic drugs, and news about legalization as a therapeutic treatment is constant.
Recent movements in the markets show the great interests of pharmaceutical companies in this new industry. Will the countless voices of individuals demanding access to cannabinoids as an alternative recipe take a back seat? Governments are the ones who hold the key to allow the interests of the market not to override those of patients.
