If you or someone you love has asthma then you know how debilitating the symptoms can be. Wheezing, coughing, and labored breathing are just a few of the disruptive effects of this chronic lung disease that affects 25 million Americans. Smoking cannabis might not be the best idea for someone with lung disease, but what about using CBD oil to treat asthma?
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Research overview
As there is no cure for asthma, researchers are seeking treatments that manage the symptoms with the fewest possible side effects. According to some recent research conducted on animal models, cannabidiol (CBD) oil could be one potential therapeutic option.
The studies
The results of a 2015 study published in “Mediators of Inflammation” showed that CBD was able to stop the oversensitive inflammatory response in rats induced with asthma. The study's authors said CBD is a potential new asthma treatment.
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A subsequent 2019 study published in the “European Journal of Pharmacology” found that CBD reduces airway inflammation and fibrosis in mice with allergic asthma. Further, the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabis may be useful in treating asthma. Researchers who had previously shown that CBD administered to mice prior to a lung injury reduced inflammation also examined the effect of CBD given after the injury. They found that CBD had “a potent anti-inflammatory effect” and improved lung function.
Finally, there may be some therapeutic value in full-spectrum oil, which does contain the intoxicating cannabinoid THC as well as CBD. A 2016 literature review published in the “Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology” found that THC may help suppress the immune system. In some types of asthma, the immune system overreacts to an environmental trigger, resulting in bothersome symptoms. The findings of this study could be especially beneficial for those who suffer from allergic asthma. Researchers in this study also noted that the cannabinoid system plays an important role in balancing immunity.
Patient perspectives
Asthma is a condition that most sufferers learn to manage over time, through lifestyle and environmental changes as well as prescription maintenance medication and rescue inhalers for asthma attacks. Nick Foster is an author and blogger who writes about methods for controlling asthma. On his blog Treating Asthma at Home, Foster writes that his asthma was mostly controlled by diet and exercise, but he still felt symptoms and discomfort occasionally so he decided to try CBD. After taking 20 milligrams a day sublingually or orally, he blogged about the results. "I've been taking CBD for about a year now, and I still haven't had to sit through any discomfort or other asthmatic symptoms, let alone use my rescue inhaler," Foster said.
Since he was a child, Salvatore Miceli has kept an inhaler in his pocket, ready to treat his near daily asthma attacks. In 2018, Miceli tried CBD oil for the first time and has observed a greater clarity in his breathing. He shared with Weedmaps in a phone interview, “Not only does the CBD oil help me breathe better but it also makes me calmer. Asthma attacks can be stressful and scary, so it's great to have a treatment that addresses that as well.”
Miceli's experience with CBD oil has been so positive that he has considered canceling his upcoming surgery to repair a deviated septum. He said, “If the results continue like this, then I would love to skip the surgery.”
Is Miceli's success with CBD oil to treat asthma surprising to medical professionals? That depends on who you ask.
What the experts say
The lowered levels of anxiety Miceli credits to CBD oil do not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the benefits of medical marijuana. In fact, cannabis has been emerging as an alternative to anxiety medications and some top physicians are recognizing the potential.
Dr. Bonni Goldstein, medical director of Canna-Centers Wellness & Education in California and medical adviser to Weedmaps, has observed exceptional long-term results with hundreds of anxiety patients who have been treated with cannabis medicine.
“Cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, and CBG can be utilized to help anxiety sufferers reduce symptoms and improve the quality of their lives,” Goldstein said.
But what about the direct breathing issues related to asthma? Organizations such as the Lung Institute are quick to dismiss the idea of asthma patients smoking cannabis as dangerous, but some experts believe that using alternative measures such as CBD oil may yield a better outcome. In 2017, Bronchiectasis News reported that vaporized or edible forms of cannabis may offer temporary relief to some individuals with lung disease.
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With a fundamental lack of research into how CBD oil affects people with asthma, many medical experts remain on the fence about the treatment's benefits and drawbacks.
Bottom line
CBD oil may be able to offer anti-inflammatory relief to some asthma patients when administered under a physician's care.
Major contributions from Dr. Adie Rae.