CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta Highlights Benefits of CBD Oil For Opioid Dependence
CNN recently launched its fourth episode of "Weed," featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta as he investigates the medical and therapeutic attributes of all things Cannabis. In the most recent episode, Dr. Gupta explored the benefits of Cannabinoids, like CBD and CBD oil, for recovering from opioid dependence.
The episode highlighted the abuse of opioids in the National Football League (NFL) and how football players like, Mike James, are switching from opioids to cannabinoids for their pain relief, even though the NFL won't permit it.
Neuroscientist Dr. Hurd Explains Benefits of CBD Oil for Opioid Brain Recovery
During the episode, Dr. Gupta interviewed Dr. Yasmin Hurd, the Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and the Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai. Dr. Hurd explained her research analyzing brain activity of people with opioid addiction. She explained that people who consistently use opioids have reduced brain activity because the neurons are not connecting and communicating with each other.
The lack of connectivity is due to opioids damaging Glutamate receptors in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. Damaging these receptors makes it more difficult for an individual to make good decisions, use good judgement and "just say no."
In the past, addiction treatment has leaned on Medical Assisted Treatment like Methadone to treat pain and addiction, but these solutions continue to harm the brain. However, Dr. Hurd is finding that cannabinoids, like CBD oil, are helping, both treat pain and heal the brain from opioid dependence.
According to Dr. Hurd, "CBD normalizes...Glutamate... By normalizing Glutamate, you can restructure and normalize the impairments in the cellular and molecular levels." This helps reduce cravings, making CBD oil highly effective for treating addiction.
