According to a recent report by Florence Health, researchers are looking into how CBD could improve the quality of life of individuals living with CIPN. CIPN, also called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, is a side effect of cancer treatments and at least 85% of cancer patients going through chemotherapy experience CIPN. The condition causes issues such as chronic burning pain and sensitivity to touch.
Kannalife, a biopharmaceutical company, has researchers who are looking into how a new compound, which has been effective in animal models, can reverse CIPN. The company is called KLS-13019, which is an iteration of CBD and is one of the 113 cannabinoids in the CBD plant.
Dough Brennerman, who is on Kannalife’s scientific advisory board, shared with Florence Health that CBD has a dark side when it is at concentrations that are two times higher than the beneficial concentration. At this point, it can produce neural damage.
Brennerman has been studying neurodegeneration for the past 35 years, and he is currently excited about his team’s work on creating a separation factor of five between efficiency and toxicity. He also discussed the pharmacological specificity of the compound, and that it broadens CBD’s pharmacological value when it comes to preventing disease.
Concerning the animal studies and cell cultures, they indicate that CBD and KLS-13019 have the ability to prevent CIPN when the substances are administered prior to chemotherapy, and that only the latter has the ability to reverse CIPN.
On the downside, the report indicates that there is a danger to CBD in general according to Dr. Brennerman. He indicated in the report that even though people say that CBD is safe, he questions whether they have really looked. Further, he shared that their studies show that a high enough concentration at a long enough duration can make hippocampal neurons not happy around CBD. As a result, there is a potential of damage and cell death.