University of Lethbridge Canada Finds Promise in CBD and Corona Virus

You may have read our previous article CBD, Free Radicals, And the Flu Where we postulated that the Anti-inflammatory properties of CBD may help to combat the damage done by free-radicals in the immune response to the flu. A new study out of the University of Lethbridge Canada has found promising results to back up our theory.

A research scientist by the name of Dr. Igro Kovalchuck and his team have studied over 400 strains of cannabis and their effects on corona virus. “After sifting through 400 cannabis strains, researchers at the University of Lethbridge are concentrating on about a dozen that show promising results in ensuring less fertile ground for the potentially lethal virus to take root. A number of them have reduced the number of these (virus) receptors by 73 per cent, the chance of it getting in is much lower” Dr.Kovalchuck stated in an interview.

The researchers have tested out both THC and CBD for their effects on corona virus and have found strains high in CBD to be the most promising. “It will take a long time to find what the active ingredient is — there may be many… But it’s generally the anti-inflammatory properties of high-CBD content that have shown most promise” He said.

“The study under Health Canada licence using artificial human 3-D tissue models has been seeking ways to hinder the highly contagious novel coronavirus from finding a host in the lungs, intestines, and oral cavity. If successful, the work could find practical medical use in the form of mouth wash, gargle, inhalants or gel caps” said Kovalchuk.

But clinical trials may not happen, mainstream medicine is not incentivized to pay for studies on a substance that cannot be patented and is widely available. The cannabis industry has been a large part in funding recent studies on THC and CBD but with many large companies going under and the initial investor hype of the cannabis industry cooling down there is less of a hunger to spend precious budget on medical studies.

“We have clinicians who are willing to work with us but for a lot of companies in the cannabis business, it’s significant cash that they can’t afford,” said Dr.Kovalchuck.

This is one of the reasons it is so important to urge our legislators to keep natural herbal supplements available to the public freely and not regulated as pharmaceuticals which require extensive clinical study, plants cannot be patented and so pharma cannot make the same profits from herbs as they do from molecules. If herbs are regulated under the same standards they will be kept off the shelves by companies who wish to patent single molecules for maximum profit. Herbs and pharmaceuticals are different and have different but complimentary purposes and so should be regulated under their own standards.

Read the entire original article here.