New Study Says CBD May Reduce Anxiety

The data from a new clinical trial published in the journal Communications Medicine bolsters previous results that cannabidiol can significantly reduce anxiety with very minimal side effects. The new study further increases the legitimacy of using CBD to help alleviate symptoms of anxiety disorders, which affect one in five American adults.

Researchers gave participants who suffered with moderate to severe anxiety roughly 10 mg of full-spectrum CBD tincture sublingually three times a day for four weeks. Most participants had significant results as early as one week, the study says, reporting greater than 15% reduction of anxiety. By week three, 100% of the participants noted positive results. By week four, all participants noted between a 70% and 80% improvement on general anxiety and anxiety-related impairment (BAI and OASIS scores, below). Clinicians, meanwhile, rated them 83% better (HAM-A, below).  

Participants additionally reported reduced symptoms of depression and negative affect, improved mood and sleep, and improved quality of life. (In a secondary outcome, patients also exhibited improved cognitive function.) Following four weeks of treatment, the median rating of the patients’ impression of change was 6 out of a scale of 7, with 6 being “a definite improvement that has made a real and worthwhile difference.”

The study summarizes: “At baseline, patients’ average anxiety ratings were considered moderate on the BAI and severe on the OASIS, but following treatment, both BAI and OASIS average scores fell in the minimal or mild-to-none range of severity. … This rapid response has been observed in previous clinical trials of cannabinoid-based products, and is a marked improvement over the typical time course (up to 12 weeks) often required for full treatment response using conventional pharmacotherapy.”

It is also interesting to note that the dosage of CBD used in the study was also markedly lower than that used in previous studies, which used primarily isolate. Researchers believe that the full-spectrum “entourage effect” is responsible for the therapeutic response at a lower dose. (Miraflora’s CBD is organic and full-spectrum.) 

Turns out, it looks like this stuff really works. We’ll try not to say, “I told you so.”