International health investigators estimate that about 4% of the world’s human population suffers from some form of anxiety, although, researchers do not know the exact number. Anxiety often goes undiagnosed for various reasons in certain parts of the world so the actual rate may be higher than reported.
Anxiety is often described as involving intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Physical symptoms of anxiety can include a fast heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, and/or fatigue.
Many of the pharmaceutical treatments that are commonly prescribed to anxiety patients involve a long list of possible side effects. Some cases of anxiety are so bad that pharmaceutical treatments don’t even work.
Fortunately, orally administered cannabidiol (CBD) products may be able to help in some cases according to a recent clinical trial conducted in India. Below is more information about the trial’s results via a news release from NORML:
Telangana, India: The administration of oral CBD is safe and effective for patients suffering from mild to moderate anxiety disorders, according to clinical trial data published in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry.
An international team of investigators assessed the efficacy of 150mg/mL of CBD versus a placebo in a cohort of 178 subjects with anxiety. Patients consumed either CBD or a placebo for 15 weeks.
Researchers reported, “The … CBD oral solution showed therapeutic efficacy, excellent safety, and tolerability in treating not only mild to moderate anxiety disorders, but also associated depression and disturbances in sleep quality with no incidences of withdrawal anxiety upon dose tapering and at the end of the treatment.”
They concluded: “In this Phase III study, … CBD oral solution exhibited superior efficacy in achieving the primary and secondary objectives when compared to the placebo group. … These results pave way for probable prospective use of … CBD … for various psychiatry disorders alone or in conjunction with other drugs.”
The findings are consistent with those of other clinical trials finding that CBD reduces levels of emotional exhaustion, social anxiety disorder, and treatment-resistant anxiety disorders.
Full text of the study, “Evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of nanodispersible cannabidiol oral solution (150 mg/mL) versus placebo in mild to moderate anxiety subjects: A double blind multicenter randomized clinical trial,” appears in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry.
This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.
Photo by Cristi Ursea on Unsplash
