Covid-19, Immune Function and Cannabis

a least harmful medicine

As a cannabis educator, one of the things I help people understand is why cannabis has so many health benefits. Ultimately, it’s all about the biological endocannabinoid system (ECS), discovered in 1992. Very generally speaking, the ECS regulates the homeostasis of most of the body’s physiological systems for balance of health, and thereby is involved in immune function.

Cannabis, discovered as a plant substance able to exactly mimic the body’s own ECS process, can also then boost and restore a deficient ECS to full function. Deficiency is very common and can result from prolonged stress, trauma, aging, and environmental toxins. Using cannabis as whole plant medicine (and not just isolated, individual cannabinoids) has been found to offer the greatest health benefit, also known as the entourage effect.

One of the overriding and significant benefits of a healthy ECS is its role in helping to maintain lower inflammation levels. Chronic Inflammation has become commonly understood as a source of many disease processes, especially as concerns the immune system.

“Indeed, chronic inflammatory diseases have been recognized as the most significant cause of death in the world today, with more than 50% of all deaths being attributable to inflammation-related diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions.” [1]

This is where cannabis comes in. A scientific Cannabis and Covid-19 Commentary in the Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids Journal, a peer-reviewed publication, lays it out regarding why cannabis could possibly assist with Covid-19 treatments and immunity. Cannabis has a beneficial modulating effect on the immune system but does not make it immunosuppressed like pharmaceutical drugs can. As always, more studies are indicated.

Perhaps this is why I seem to be immune to whatever CV-19 is and does to those who are susceptible. So far so good. Of course, as the commentary suggests, don’t overdo it; yet the thoughtful use of cannabis might be worth considering, if for no other reason than to down-regulate inflammation.

September 30, 2020

One Response to “Covid-19, Immune Function and Cannabis”

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  1. Nancy Southern says:

    Thanks for the research and clear explanation about how the two are likely interrelated.

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