neu·ro·sci·ence
Managing Stigma
Through Science
By Dr. Phillip Blair, MD
PTSD knows no prejudice. 70% of PTSD occurs in nonmilitary traumas including large numbers of women and children. Without question, PTSD is an epidemic, every doctor has at least one patient suffering from PTSD.
Both as a military doctor and as a disease management specialist I’ve treated hundreds of patients with social stigma conditions, but few have the stigma of PTSD and even fewer treatments have the social stigma of cannabis.
Science is the best cure to both those stigmas.
PTSD is a physical, not a mental condition. In PTSD the neuropathways of the brain are physically rewired to return the patient to a traumatic event. The more often the flashback occurs, the more deeply the neural pathways are reinforced.
Traditional therapies of support groups, behavioral therapy, antidepressants and sleep medications only partially relieve PTSD symptoms and do not promote recovery, because they are not addressing the root cause: an imbalanced Endocannabinoid System (ECS).
The ECS is simultaneously the most important medical discovery of our lifetimes and the least utilized in medical treatment. Yet the research is clear: the ECS affects the neurologic, immunologic and endocrine systems. An imbalanced ECS is an imbalanced body and mind.
In a PTSD patient, the ECS deficiency manifests itself with increased adrenaline, reductions in cortisol from chronic stress and reductions in endocannabinoids combined with an increase in CB1 receptors. PTSD is the body’s cry for a restoration of balance in the ECS. Researchers in Germany noted an inverse relationship with the amount of endocannabinoids found in hair of PTSD sufferers and the severity of their PTSD symptoms.
Research and my experience with PTSD patients is clear: cannabidiol (CBD) relieves PTSD by reducing CB1 receptors and increasing anandamide (eCB) while also restoring homeostasis levels of cortisol and adrenaline. CBD not only restores the body’s chemical balance, but the physical neural pathways are rerouted. My patients report an average 80% reduction in PTSD symptoms.
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