Recent breakthrough studies displayed the potential beneficial effects of CBD Oil on glioblastoma. With this, CBD Oil may be an option to consider among the various treatments available to glioblastoma patients.
What is Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is a type of aggressive brain cancer that becomes more common as we age. This type of cancer involves a malignant tumour in the brain that grows and spreads at a rapid rate. The growth of this tumour can cause headache, nausea, a change in personality, seizure, and trouble speaking among others. It is often difficult to cure glioblastoma, with many not having the option of a cure at all. However, there are various treatments that are available to patients to help ease the pain as well as slow the growth of the tumour.
Treatments
With the options available, patients often get more than one type.
One of the options may be to try and remove the tumour as much as possible with surgery. However, as glioblastoma grows into normal brain tissues after its inception, complete removal of the cancer is often impossible.
Radiation therapy often follows a surgery operation to remove any leftover tumour cells. Using a high-energy beam such as an x-ray, this treatment aims at precise points within the brain to remove the tumour which could not be by the surgery.
Chemotherapy may be another option to consider. With the use of drugs such as temozolomide, chemotherapy aims to kill cancer cells as well. Many use this treatment as a primary treatment for glioblastoma when the option for surgery is unavailable.
Other options include tumour treatment fields therapy and wafer therapy among others.
CBD Oil and Glioblastoma
Components of the cannabis plant, namely THC and CBD are increasingly regarded for their therapeutic effects as a treatment for various cancers and ailments in recent years. This is due to the pain-relieving effects of CBD as well as many other beneficial effects that THC and CBD have on the body.
CBD is an effective treatment for the symptoms present in glioblastomas such as headaches and nausea. This is as there is conclusive evidence that the use of cannabis and its byproducts such as CBD Oil assists in therapeutic purposes such as pain relief.
However, even more exciting than this is the potential effects of cannabis in inhibiting tumour growth. Studies show this is through targeting various aspects of tumour growth such as tissue invasion and stem cell-induced replicative immortality. The components of cannabis such as THC and CBD can be mixed with other components to create Sativex. When used in an experiment in patients of glioblastoma, the results were promising. 10 out of 12 (83.3%) patients receiving Sativex were still alive after one year, compared to 4 out of 9 (44.4%) patients in the placebo arm. With such positive results coming from these experiments, cannabis and its components is slowly becoming more regarded as a legitimate and effective treatment for tumour growth.
Conclusion
Glioblastoma is a deadly and cancerous brain tumour with no cure. However, among the numerous treatments available, cannabis may stand out as a favourable option to many. With limited side effects and beneficial effects, cannabis-related treatment should be on the radar for many who are affected by glioblastoma.
To learn more about the effects of cannabis and its byproducts such as CBD Oil, click here.