Cannabidiol treatment found to reduce PTSD symptoms

In this study, American researchers examined the clinical benefit of cannabidiol (CBD) for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their findings were published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

• CBD is a non-psychotomimetic cannabinoid compound that can be found in plants from the genus Cannabis.
• Preclinical studies suggest that CBD has a beneficial effect on rodent models of PTSD.
• This beneficial effect could be attributed to its action on the endocannabinoid system.
• Recently, scientists have begun investigating CBD and its potential use in the treatment of a number of neuropsychiatric conditions.
• For their study, the researchers examined the effect of oral CBD administration on PTSD symptoms in 11 adult patients at an outpatient psychiatry clinic.
• CBD was administered on an open-label, flexible dosing regimen to patients diagnosed with PTSD.
• The patients also received routine psychiatric care, as well as psychiatric medications and psychotherapy.
• PTSD symptom severity was assessed every four weeks using a patient-completed PTSD Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) questionnaires.
• At the end of the study, the researchers reported that 91 percent of the patients experienced a decrease in PTSD symptom severity.
• This was evidenced by a lower PCL-5 score at Week 8 compared with baseline.
• The researchers calculated the mean total PCL-5 score reduction to be 28 percent (from 51.82 at baseline to 37.14) after eight weeks of CBD treatment.
• CBD also appeared to offer relief from frequent nightmares in a subset of patients.
• CBD was well-tolerated and none of the patients discontinued treatment because of side effects.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that oral CBD helps reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms and should be added to routine psychiatric care.

Read the full study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Elms L, Shannon S, Hughes S, Lewis N. CANNABIDIOL IN THE TREATMENT OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: A CASE SERIES. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 09 April 2019;25(4):392–397. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2018.0437