Australia examines use of hemp extracts to treat anxiety, seizures

Pharmacologists at the University of Sydney in Australia have found tantalising clues as to why low-dose CBD products containing a full-spectrum of cannabinoids seem to have therapeutic impacts at relatively low doses.

The study shows cannabinoids in a cannabis extract interact to produce much higher concentrations of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) in the bloodstream than when CBDA is administered alone as a single molecule.

In fact, the cannabis extract delivered 14-times higher CBDA concentrations in the bloodstream when administered orally to mice.

Low-dose CBD products appear to reduce anxiety and are anticonvulsant agents against seizures. But it remains unclear how these products produce these results.

"Our own preclinical studies show CBDA reduces anxiety and seizures. This result provides us with a pathway to explore why some cannabis extracts yield pharmacological effects in humans at lower doses”, said the researchers.