Here we go again! Some of you have been asking about the effectiveness of CBD oil. That means I have an assignment. Off to the research!
Once again I did not have any luck on clinicaltrials.gov. I searched age-related macular degeneration + CBD oil and got pretty much nothing.
Well, not totally true. I found a study that was about age-related macular degeneration and POT 4. Wrong POT though. POT-4 was the original designation for APL-2. APL-2 is a reformulation of POT-4. [Lin/Linda: since the time that Sue wrote this, this entry went away. Can’t find anything like POT-4.]
For the uninformed – like I was – CBD oil is cannabis oil. You know cannabis, pot, marijuana, weed, grass, reefer. Call it what you will, it is all marijuana. Only CBD is the non-psychoactive part of the marijuana plant. In other words, no high, no mellow, no munchies.
Looking for CBD by itself on clinicaltrials.gov I found 55 studies. Most of them were dealing with movement disorders and cognitive dysfunctions. There was not a one that dealt with retinal disease.
Then off to Google Scholar. Not much luck there either. I found an abstract on a “study” that compared dark adaptation in Jamaican fisherman (oops! I forgot ganja, man, ganja another synonym!) before and after using a tincture of marijuana. The study also looked at Moroccan fisherman who were using kif, a marijuana and tobacco mixture.
I put the word study in parentheses because they looked at a total of four subjects. They also did not appear to control for the quality of the cannabis. In addition, there did not appear to be any statistical analysis. All in all, it sounded like somebody had two, fun field trips. They came back with great photos (I hope) and the start of an idea for some real research.
So, if there is no scientific proof, why all the interest in CBD oil? Well, if you go to the general sources on the web, you find a lot of claims being made for cannabis oil.
The article in Medical News Today (July, 2018) tries to separate the truth from the hype. It quotes several sources as saying CDB has many benefits in the body. With cannabinoids receptors in the brain, those 55 studies being done on movement disorders and other brain functions make sense.
The article also reported there are cannabinoid receptors in the immune system. CBD has been found to reduce pain and inflammation in mice and rats. The article goes on to say how CBD oils have been proposed as potential treatments for things like seizures, cancer and even acne.
However, nowhere in the article does it say CBD oils have been proposed or used for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. There are no references to vision, the eye or any related terms.
I found some articles making those claims, but they were all anecdotal reports. You know, testimonials from someone’s great aunt Tillie saying how she used CBD oil and was cured. Those things remind me of my father trying to make me believe rubbing a raw potato on a wart and burying it during the full moon would make my wart go away. He swore it worked for him as a kid but he was a sample of one. Not scientific.
I like to withhold judgment on these sorts of things until there is scientific proof. Study and replication study in human subjects. So far that has not happened with CBD oil and AMD. Maybe soon, but not now. CBD oil is not a proven cure or even a treatment for age-related macular degeneration or any vision-related problem.
Written October 21st, 2018
Lin/Linda: I recommend that you read this WebMD article that points out the possible risks of taking these products: CBD Oil: It’s all the rage but is it safe and effective?