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Hemps most important byproduct - Cannabidiol (aka CBD Oil) has a wide range of health benefits

The difference between Hemp and Marijuana

 

Conrad LeBeau
Cannibis is a flowering plant with three main species – sativa, indica, and ruderalis. There are several subspecies and multiple strains within the same species. While Marijuana and Hemp belong to the same species of Cannabis, there are substantial material and legal differences between these two strains of Cannabis sativa.

Marijuana, one strain of cannabis sativa, is used for two purposes; one recreational and one medical. Recreational marijuana contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and is used for its mind altering effect; namely getting “high.”

Medical marijuana can be used for both its recreational effects and its health benefits at the same time. The health benefits are derived mainly from the cannabidiol oil in the leaves, buds and seeds. However, some research indicates that other components including THC derived from the whole plant also have beneficial health effects.

However, smoking marijuana destroys most of the health benefits in the leaves and buds. By its very nature, fire destroys. Likewise. baked goods with marijuana should not be considered a reliable source of its beneficial constituents.

Marijuana with THC is classified as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). On the other hand, industrial hemp is not in that classification because it contains little or no THC. Hemp is considered a food product. In 2004, the 9th Circuit found that hemp containing less than .3% THC was not in violation of CSA. This finding was based on case law.

See Hemp Indus. Ass’n v. DEA 357 F.3d 1012

Industrial Hemp - a source of cannabidiol (CBD Oil) without THC

Industrial hemp is a different strain of Cannabis and has no recreational value as it has little or no THC content. Industrial Hemp is used for multiple purposes. Hemp has been grown for its fiber content and used to make rope, paper and other fiber products for many centuries. Today, dairy free milk is made from hemp seeds as are protein enriched powders and other edible food products.

Certain strains of THC-free hemp are used for growing cannabis that contain significant amounts of cannabidiol, aka CBD oil, the plants most valuable component with precious medicinal value. So valued is CBD oil that it has been called green-gold. Most of the CBD oil or cannabidiol distributed in the United States is grown in Europe although it legal to grow in about 30 countries.

At the time the Pure Food And Drug Act was passed in 1906, you could buy patented and non-patented medicines with marijuana in them. Considering what scientific research has discovered in the past century about the medical value of ingredients in Marijuana like CBD and Hemp, these formulas, now over 100 years old and grandfathered, may have had more health benefits than their critics acknowledged.

Today’s critics, too often, do not base their views on science but on propaganda - the myth that hemp is tainted somehow because it is the same species as marijuana (cannabis sativa) even though hemp does not violate the CSA.

Politicians who support their political donors – the nation’s biggest drug companies - do not want plant-based medicine competing with the sales of the patented drugs.

The U.S. Patent on Cannabinoids

The following patent was assigned by 3 doctors to the United States of America aka the Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) United States Patent 6,630,507 Hampson, Axelrod and Grimaldi Oct 7, 2003

Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

“Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

“The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia.

“Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. A particular disclosed class of cannabinoids useful as neuroprotective antioxidants is formula (I)"

The U.S. patent on cannabinoids lists 12 other earlier patents going back to 1942 along with 10 foreign patents. The abstract compared the antioxidant properties of cannabinoids (CBD) from cannabis sativa (hemp or marijuana) to Butylated Hydroxy Toluene (BHT) and THC. It found them to be of comparable strength. CBD is reported to be protective of the neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) and prevents and helps reverse damage from oxidative stress.

“Oxidative associated diseases include……… inflammatory diseases, systemic lupus erythematosis, myocardial ischemia or infarction, cerebrovascular accidents… spinal cord trauma, Down's syndrome, Crohn's disease, autoimmune diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes), cataract formation”

Scientific Research

Cannabinoids are plant-based compounds that have specific physiological effects on man. McPartland and Russo (1) in 2001 reported that there are more than 60 cannabinoids in the species Cannabis Sativa. The most studied Cannabinoid is Cannabidiol (CBD) and is marketed as CBD oil. Industrial hemp and marijuana also contain cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromene (CBC), and cannabigerol (CBG) among more than 60 types of cannafinoids identified in hemp and marijuana.

Endocannabinoid system

Like vitamin D, there are receptor sites on cells throughout the body that link up with cannabinoids and interlock with them (lock and key) allowing them to balance body chemistry, biological, and immune functions. Vertebrates evolved the endocannabinoid system over 600 million years ago. (1)

Scientists have discovered two cannabinoid receptors: They are CB1, found in the nerves, glands and organs. The other receptor is CB2, located in the immune system and lymph nodes. Some body tissues have both CB1 and CB2 receptors, each with a specific purpose.

Ref: 1. iwantmy cbd.org

15,247 – the Total Count of Scientific Articles on Cannabis Sativa

June 21, 2016, A search I done today at PubMed at the U.S. National Library of Medicine yielded 15,247 articles when using the search term “cannabis sativa.” Much of this published research centers on marijuana and its psychoactive component known as THC. However, our interest is in the non-psychoactive components known at cannabinoids, and specifically the most studied of which is cannabidiol oil (CBD oil). CBD oil and any Hemp seed extract containing less than 0.3% THC may be legally distributed in all 50 states of these United States.

Cannabinoids and Health Conditions

The following list of health conditions that may benefit persons using CBD OIL is listed at a non-profit organization called iwantmycbd.org. Each condition listed on this website has a link with more information.

  1. Acne
  2. ADD and ADHD
  3. Addiction
  4. AIDS
  5. ALS
  6. Alzheimer’s Disease
  7. Anorexia
  8. Antibiotic Resistance
  9. Anxiety
  10. Atherosclerosis
  11. Arthritis
  12. Bipolar Disorder
  13. Epilepsy and Seizures
  14. Fibromyalgia
  15. Glaucoma
  16. Heart Disease
  17. Huntington’s Disease
  18. Inflammation
  19. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  20. Kidney Disease
  21. Liver Disease
  22. Metabolic Syndrome
  23. Migraine
  24. Mood Disorders
  25. Motion Sickness
  26. Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
  27. Nausea
  28. Neurodegeneration
  29. Neuropathic Pain
  30. Obesity
  31. OCD
  32. Osteoporosis/Bone Health
  33. Parkinson’s Disease
  34. Prion/Mad Cow Disease
  35. PTSD
  36. Rheumatism
  37. Schizophrenia
  38. Sickle Cell Anemia
  39. Skin Conditions
  40. Sleep Disorders
  41. Spinal Cord Injury
  42. Stress
  43. Stroke
  44. TBI Traumatic Brain Injury

Here are some specific numbers on scientific articles available on cannabis and health effects from search terms used at the NLM. The search terms used and the total number of articles available are listed in brackets ( ). The links for each search term do not always indicate a scientific consensus with numerous questions remaining open. The links were retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed and are listed below -

Search terms used (Number of articles)

Conditions approved for medical marijuana use in California (1)

Ref: unitedpatientsgroup.org

Scientific Articles

Reading a scientific article with its many medical terms is difficult, to say the least, and may be near impossible to understand for the average reader. Articles written in a language that is difficult to understand have limited value for the general public. With technical articles, the conclusion at the end of the abstract or article is often easier to understand than the methodology described within the article. I have also found that in some abstracts, the contents inside will contradict the implied meaning in the title of the article. Also, the number of articles resulting from a computer search at a medical library does not indicate the authors support the medical use of the substance queried.

References: 1. McPartland JM, Russo EB. Cannabis and cannabis extract: greater than the sum of the parts? J. Cannabis Therapeut. 2001;1:103–132.

Hemp Oil Extracts

The extract of the seeds, leaves and aerial parts of Cannabis are legally marketed as CBD oil often in a base of hemp seed oil. A one-ounce bottle of “CBD oil” may also be labeled as “Hemp Oil” and list the amount of CBD in a one-ounce bottle or the total amount of Cannabinoids in the bottle. It is my view that the most therapeutic value of using cannabis sativa is in the total plant extract, and not in one specific ingredient. I have tried 3 different Hemp oil extracts and was more impressed with products that listed CBD in a base of Hemp seed oil instead of other oils like sunflower or olive oil.

Dosage

Various sources show a wide range of dosage recommendations. For adults using CDB for appetite suppression or as an antidepressant, as little of 5 mg of Hemp Oil with CBD taken before meals can have a beneficial effect. Effects are dose dependent – the more you use the more likely you will have the desired results.

For other conditions like seizures and cancer, doses can be as high as 1000 to 1500 mg daily of CBD. Since people have individual differences in dosage requirements almost any use of CBD oil should be considered experimental. Some people prefer to use CBD Hemp oil sublingually. CBD based chewing gum is also available and is used for appetite suppression. CBD is also in capsules and in topical ointments, usually for pain relief. In the United States, it is imported from Europe from endoca.com. Researchers in Europe have found when testing the absorption of CBD, that a person will absorb 60% more CBD when it is used as a rectal suppository instead of an oral supplement. CBD suppositories are also available.

Cannabis educational websites

Websites that sell or distribute CBD often have a link to Discussion groups that are part of the website and are set up for customer comments. Surprisingly, the FDA has not tried to link the intended health uses of postings in these discussion forums to the distributors of cannabis sativa products who set up these websites. Here is a partial list of strictly educational websites that do not market CBD:

CBD Manufacturers and Distributors

bluebird-botanicals.com (retail and wholesalers of CBD)

endoca.com European manufacturer and exporter of CBD Oil– wholesale only - also makes CBD chewing gum and suppositories. U.S. contact: Endoca, 8605 Santa Monica Blvd, #48523, Los Angeles, CA 90069 1-888-998-0779

cannavest.com (wholesalers-retailers)

gwpharm.com clinical trials (owned by Bayer) An internet searches will locate even more sources.

Manufacturers and Distributors

Local health food stores are beginning to carry a variety of brands of Hemp oil with CBD and other cannabinoids. Since they try these products out on themselves and their customers, they can help a person in choosing a CBD product for their particular health needs.

An HIV Case report on Vitamin D and Black seed

“Mary from Brooklyn” Update 6/14/16 HIV status changes from positive to negative

We reported on the experiences of Mary from Brooklyn on this website on Feb 1, 2016 and also with a detailed article in the September 2015 update. At the time we thought that her combination of the HIV drug Complera, along with Black Seed powder, beet juice and vitamin D had resulted in her CD4/CD8 ratio returning to a normal 1.46 reference range (normal is usually from 1.0 to about 2.0). Last year she used the saliva (Oraquick) test for HIV and the result was negative. However, we since have learned that this test is not reliable when your viral load for HIV is non-detectable - her doctor ordered the p24 antigen test and it was positive for the presence of this viral protein.

Recent update – Mary reports that a recent blood test for the Elisa - Western Blot is negative for antibodies to HIV. The test was not a repeat of the earlier saliva Oraquick that is unreliable for determining a person’s HIV status after they are infected. It was the finger prick test. The person who did the test remembered “Mary” and her earlier positive test result for HIV and said of the negative result “this is impossible.” Since he also has HIV, he retested himself to make sure the testing equipment was working properly; it was; he again tested positive on the Elisa/Western Blot.

After this test, Mary went back to her doctor to retest for the p24 antigen. It came back positive again. Normally this would indicate the presence of the HIV viral protein. However, Mary’s immune system should be making antibodies for the p24 antigen and it is not. The question I have is whether or not the P24 antigen detected in her blood is from a live or dead virus?

I should add her viral load by PCR is non detectable. She also has a normal CD4 count (over 800) and a normal CD4/CD8 ratio (normally unheard of). By the way, she stopped using the black seed in Dec. of 2015. However, she has continued taking 10,000 i.u. of vitamin D3 daily, and her latest vitamin D serum level was 88 ng/ml. This is on a scale of 30 to 100 so her vitamin D levels are more than adequate. Did her high vitamin D levels have more to do with her sero-conversion than her previous use of black seed powder or had she already sero-converted by Dec. of 2015 and did not know it because no antibody test was taken in December?

She also told me her blood type is Rh negative, which she had not mentioned previously. She said she had to take an immunosuppressive drug to get pregnant as her doctor told her people with Rh-negative blood have an immune system that rejects everything that is “foreign,” including a fetus. Adding all these new developments together raises some interesting questions:

1. Is she cured or is she not cured of active HIV infection?

2. Does the continued presence of the p24 antigen indicate active or dead viral particles?

3. What role did her unique blood type (Rh negative) play in her sero-conversion?

A leap of faith: One way to find out if the P24 antigen represents active or dead viral particles is to stop all drugs and treatments for HIV and retest every 30 days for the presence of HIV antibodies. If there remains any active virus, then the antibodies should return. The presence of HIV can also be found with PCR if the virus multiplies above a certain threshold.

Since antigen presentation on the surface of an infected cell is believe to be the key to total viral eradication, I will be writing an updated article on this subject that we published in Positive Health News Report No 16 in 1998. In this article, I reported on the role of glutathione and ATP in improving antigen presentation.

Restoring Antigen Presentation - the immune system’s key to viral eradication

“The key to complete viral eradication depends on healthy cells that can process and present (foreign) antigen.” Mark Konlee - Feb, 1998 Positive Health News Report No 16.

This is a revised and updated reprint of the earlier article.

The key to preventing and ending chronic infections begins with restoring the ability of the individual cells to process and present foreign antigens on the cell’s surface. Two factors emerge from research. One is the amount of energy a cell can produce known as Adenosine TriPhosphate (ATP) and the other is the amount of reduced glutathione in the cells.

Toxemia, an overload of toxins and waste products in the intestines, lymph nodes, liver, and circulating blood serum, can fatally impair their ability to produce ATP. Toxins also include pesticides, heavy metals, some food preservatives and some inflammatory byproducts of digestion. Antigen presentation also depends on glutathione. A number of foods and supplements discussed later in this article can help to increase glutathione levels.

The presentation of antigen on the cell’s membrane enables the immune system to see the foreign invader and locate the source of the infection (the infected cell). You could call this process microsurgery. Unless antigen presentation takes place in every single infected cell, the complete elimination of an infection from the host by an immune response will not be possible and a chronic infection will persist at some level.

If complete elimination of the infection is not possible, but the level of the pathogen (i.e. virus) activity is low enough, the patient may have no symptoms and may feel normal. The key to complete viral eradication depends on healthy cells that can process and present a foreign antigen.

WHAT IS A FOREIGN ANTIGEN?

A “foreign antigen” is a protein that is “not self” and is part of a virus, fungus or bacteria that invades a cell. In contrast to a foreign protein is a usable protein like an amino acid that results from the digestion of meat. When you eat a hamburger, you are eating foreign protein that comes from a cow. When meat is digested, it is broken down into amino acids, the building blocks of human muscle and other tissues.

Thus, what was once foreign protein (hamburger) eventually becomes self (human muscle). If a hamburger is not completely digested and some of the meat proteins pass through a leaky gut, the immune system will attack the protein as “foreign” and this will turn on an antibody response.

When a macrophage comes along and sees a piece of foreign protein tagged with an antibody, the macrophage will engulf it and then present part of the foreign antigen on the cell surface. When the CD4 cells see it (i.e. a piece of foreign protein from a hamburger), it will signal the macrophage to digest it. Thus, foreign proteins (viruses, fungus, mycoplasmas, parasites, bacteria), that are incompletely digested proteins are absorbed through a leaky gut. If the membranes of the intestinal tract are intact, this absorption will not occur.

CERTAIN VIRUSES CAN EVADE AN EFFECTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSE

Medical research indicates that the “nef” gene on the HIV virus impairs antigen processing and presentation. In laboratory experiments, when the nef gene was clipped off the HIV virus, antigen processing and presentation occurred and the viral load dropped to very low levels as a result of an effective CD8 cytotoxic lymphocyte response that destroyed the infected cells. A. Hill et al stated that -

“Many viruses have evolved mechanisms to avoid detection by the host immune system. Herpes simplex (HSV) expresses an immediate early protein, ICP47, which blocks presentation of viral peptides to MHC class I-restricted cells.”(1).

This failure of antigen presentation begins when the infected cells do not process a piece of the virus and present it on the cell surface in the folds of the MHC class I molecules. This presentation of antigen on the cell membrane must occur before the CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes or macrophages will either clear the infection from the cell or destroy the infected cell. Despite the genes on a virus that can impair antigen presentation, healthy cells continue to present antigen and elicit an effective immune response.

However, less healthy cells may not be able to present antigen but may still be able to present MHC I molecules, but without antigen locked into the folds of the MHC molecules. When this happens, it is the processing of antigen and transport to the cell membranes that fails rather than a failure to present MHC class I molecules.

These less-than-healthy cells continue to live as virus-producing factories but may eventually fail to present MHC class I molecules on their membranes. Normally, when this happens, Natural Killer cells will destroy these cells. However, if Natural Killer cell function fails sufficiently, the infected cells are not destroyed and continue to turn out thousands of copies of new viruses. This is why improving antigen presentation, NK function and CD8 cytotoxic lymphocyte activity is so important in chronic conditions like AIDS, CFIDS, chronic candidiasis, EBV, herpes and cancer. You need to support these three functions:

1. Antigen presentation (as demonstrated by DTH/DCH responses)
2. NK function
3. CD8 CTL activity to elicit an effective immune response against the intracellular infections.

1. Nature 1995 Jun 1;375(6530):411-5

FACTORS THAT DEPRESS ANTIGEN PRESENTATION - LOW ATP AND GLUTATHIONE LEVELS

Two factors that adversely affect antigen processing and presentation are low ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) and decreased levels of the anti-oxidant - L-Glutathione. Scientific studies also indicate that a lack of gamma interferon (IFN gamma) impairs the presentation of MHC class I molecules. IFN gamma is a TH1 type cytokine along with Interleukin II and Interleukin 12 that increases CD8 cytotoxic lymphocyte activity, and especially when TH2 cytokines like Interleukin 6 and 10 are down regulated. CD4’s tend to produce predominantly either TH1 or TH2 type cytokines.

Cytokines are chemical messengers. TH2 cytokines stimulate B cells to produce more antibodies (humoral response). While the antibody response is effective against the common cold and flu (infections outside of the cells), it is not effective in conditions of chronic intracellular infections that occur in AIDS, CFIDS, candidiasis and cancer where a TH1 or cell mediated immune response is needed. These two branches of the immune system are like opposite ends of a teeter-totter; when one end goes up TH2 (humoral/antibodies) the other end goes down TH1 (cell-mediated immunity) and vice-versa.

An article titled “Defective antigen processing correlates with a low level of intracellular glutathione” by S. Short, BJ Merkel, R Caffrey and KL McCoy of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and published in Eur J Immunol 1996 Dec: 26(12):3015-20, they report on the results of an experiment with Chinese hamster ovary cells that exhibit a defect in processing Antigen with disulfide bonds. They state:

“Low intracellular glutathione levels in antigen-presenting cells correlated with defective processing of AG with disulfide bonds, indicating that this thiol may be a critical factor in regulating Ag (antigen) processing.”

Summary of Supplements (Adult doses)
that support ATP/glutathione

1. Whey Protein – organic grassfed cold processed. Use 20 grams once or twice daily in water or juice.

2. N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) 500 mg 2X or cold processed whey protein (20 grams 2X).

3. Vitamin A and Vitamin D3 10,000 daily - plus 30 to 60 minutes of tanning in the sun each day or when sunlight from 11 am to 3 pm.

4. Alpha Lipoic Acid - 50 mg 2 times daily.

5. Magnesium Malate 1000 mg twice daily with meals.

6. N-Acetyl Carnitine 500 mg twice daily.

7. Zinc Gluconate – 25 mg 2X

8. Vitamin C plus bioflavonoids - 500 to 1000 mg 2X (vitamin C)

9. B Vitamins - Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin and B6, B12 et al. (Sublingual Co-enzymated B Complex - or use Nutritional Yeast)

10. Coenzyme Q10 (50 to 60 mg 2X) – Food sources, spinach, broccoli, sardines. [Note – wheat germ is a rich source of CoQ9 that is converted by the liver into CoQ10]

11. Vitamin E – mixed Tocopherols (400 i.u. daily)

12. Milk Thistle – 500 mg 2X

13. Natural Selenium – 4 to 8 Brazil nuts or take 400 to 800 mcg yeast grown or plant based selenium (Phytosel).

14. Wakame seaweed, Spirulina, Chlorella etc.

15. Cayenne – one capsules with each meal.

16. Kelp seaweed – one tablet or cap. daily.

17. Sprouts and raw dark green vegetables - sources of Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD).

18. Green tea – one to 3 cups daily.

19. Whole lemon/olive oil drink or Kombuchu tea or Apple Cider vinegar

20. Coconut oil – one tablespoon 2X

21. Castor Oil packs over the liver area with heath pad. Astragalus capsules or extract – use as directed – [Castor oil and Astragalus increase white blood cell counts and function.]

22. EDTA Chelation Therapy– use to chelate and remove lead, mercury and other heavy metals that are toxic to cell function.

23. Exercise – walk half an hour in the AM and again before bedtime. [Weight lifting is not recommended.] Walking induces quality sleep. Other sources of melatonin are tart cherry juice, walnuts or sprouted beans.

24. Avoid refined sugar, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners that depress the immune response.

25. Fasting – periodic – on bread and water or whole grain bread and raw veggies – rejuvenates the immune response against all diseases.

Additional Products/protocols that increase Glutathione levels

Note: when glutathione levels have bottomed out, try using more than one of the above protocols simultaneously. Avoid immunosuppressive drugs like morphine that reduce DTH responses. Keep Hope Alive PO Box 270041 West Allis, WI 53227 414- 231- 9817

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