The claims about what CBD, or cannabidiol, can do or cannot do to improve general health have spawned much misinformation.
“A lot of the information that users share is not scientifically proven. 人们说 about their anecdotal responses with the use of it and, unfortunately, a lot of this content is getting people to try things and pay for things that we have zero amount of 研究 behind,” said Laura 斯图尔特, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, 博天堂官方营养学和饮食学.
斯图尔特 has been exploring the relationship between CBD and immune function. CBD是 the second most studied ingredient in cannabis after tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). 斯图尔特 has found a big difference between what the public understands about CBD, and what 科学已经证明.
A 2018 report from the World Health Organization revealed that there are numerous CBD products being manufactured and distributed without regulatory oversight and often 包含未经验证的内容.
With two decades of experience investigating the impact of exercise and botanicals 博天堂官方网站免疫系统, 斯图尔特 began to examine the impact of both cannabis and CBD 博天堂官方网站免疫系统.
Her first studies conducted between 2016 and 2019 examined how cannabis impacted the immune system for users and non-users, specifically as it relates to exercise performance.
“We surveyed people who are physically active and then we moved more into some cross-sectional studies that explored the potential differences between cannabis users and non-users when it came to their health and fitness,” said 斯图尔特. “在这些项目中，我们看到 at males and females separately and evaluated basic health measures like blood pressure, 心率和身体成分.”
In general, 斯图尔特 did not find many differences between the cannabis and the non-cannabis users in both young males and females except for power tests. 功率测试包括 of going as fast as possible on a lab bike for 30 seconds. 斯图尔特的发现表明 that some cannabis users couldn’t maintain as much power as non-users. 换句话说， the use of cannabis adversely affected power. Since the population surveyed was small, 斯图尔特 said the results weren’t statistically significant, but it was an interesting factor to be considered by coaches, athletes and the general population.
“The next study, which started in 2021, involved a clinical trial which involved daily 服用CBD八周. We saw some potential for natural killer cells, which 是免疫系统的一部分吗. We saw that they might be potentially enhanced in their ability to kill cancer cells,” said 斯图尔特. “We also found some interesting differences between groups in their ability to feel awake after sleeping.”
In her most recent study, 斯图尔特 examined the potential effect of CBD on healthy people after she was contacted by a global beverage company to evaluate the potential impacts of regular CBD consumption on general health.
“The brand had the intention to launch a drink with some CBD, so they contacted us to conduct a clinical trial before moving forward with it,” said 斯图尔特. “他们想要的 to evaluate whether CBD had any effect on aspects of physical health, mental health, 认知与专注能力.”
斯图尔特’s 研究 found that the daily use of CBD for eight weeks in healthy individuals did not affect any of the physical and mental health indicators she was measuring.
Nine years of work not only resulted in new findings from each study, but also helped 斯图尔特 build more internal and external partnerships. 有支持和领导 of College of Natural and Health Sciences (NHS) Dean Kammel Haddad, UNC established a brand-new Complementary Health and Integrative Physiology Center (CHIPC) on campus 去年. This center will help to further 研究 on cannabis and other natural substances and their impact on health to strengthen collaborations between academia 私人公司. A future study from the center involves partnering with a pharmaceutical-grade CBD company to evaluate the impact of this substance on veterans.
“CHIPC epitomizes two of our college’s priorities: Innovation in the science of health care; and connecting with our regional STEM partners,” said Haddad. “我很激动。 that the launch of NHS’s newest center has already delivered on these two priorities.”
斯图尔特 is also excited about furthering 研究 on Cannabis.
“Cannabis is a very interesting plant, and we are still finding a lot more about its potential to impact mental and physical health. I am very excited to share this news 与公众.”
