Consumers use CBD for almost everything. Whether they suffer from anxiety or chronic pain, the vast majority of CBD companies market that their products allegedly help relieve certain ailments. While many studies have confirmed that the cannabinoid does in fact help relieve pain and inflammation, newly-released research from history’s largest clinical trial on cannabinoids has found significant improvement in pain relief.
Making a Measurable Impact
Released by Radicle Science and Open Book Extracts, this randomized clinical trial on cannabinoids and pain is the first study of its kind to examine the synergistic impacts of rare cannabinoids such as Cannabichromene (CBC) and Cannabigerol (CBG). Involving more than 1,600 participants from all over the U.S., the results demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements in pain across the different formulations of the cannabinoids utilized.
“Rare cannabinoids are present in a variety of health and wellness products containing cannabis and hemp, but there has been virtually no clinical data on their effectiveness for any medical condition, including pain. Radicle Science assessed for the first time in history the potential synergistic effects of certain rare cannabinoids on pain and demonstrated that these natural products can make a measurable positive impact,” Dr. Jeff Chen, MD, CEO and co-founder of Radicle Science, said.
Clinical Trial Methodology
According to a release sent to Leaf Retailer, all formulations in the pain study on CBD and rare cannabinoids were supplied by Open Book Extracts (OBX), a NSF-certified manufacturer and distributor of the industry’s most innovative and highest quality cannabinoid ingredients and finished products. The trial was specifically designed to examine if adding other ingredients to a formulation (“enhanced products”) in conjunction with CBD could lead to better outcomes than with CBD alone. The trial included six product arms, which all contained CBD at 40 mg per serving. Most arms also contained varying levels of rare cannabinoids, including CBG and CBC.
A diverse sample of 1629 pain-sufferers from across the U.S. were randomized to receive and take one of these product formulations for a month while reporting their pain relative to specific benchmarks that included severity, general activity, sleep quality, anxiety symptoms, and overall quality of life. All products tested were deemed safe to consume, and only about 1-in-10 participants reported side effects — none of which were severe.
Significant Research Findings
All of the enhanced product formulations led to statistically significant improvements in pain, anxiety, sleep quality, and over quality of life in just four weeks. On average, nearly half (45%) of participants who received any of the enhanced products experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in their pain, meaning they realized a distinct and palpable improvement in their quality of life through improved pain symptoms, according to the release.
Overall, the different enhanced formulations performed roughly the same for the improvement of pain, anxiety, sleep quality, and quality of life. However, for those with moderate pain, there was evidence that the addition of 20mg CBC to a formulation containing 40mg of CBD could significantly improve its pain-relieving effects — particularly when this enhanced product was taken for two or more weeks.
The Research Does Not Stop Here
The OBX Pain Study on CBD and Rare Cannabinoids is OBX’s first completed clinical trial with Radicle Science. The two companies will continue their partnership with similar large-scale, blinded, randomized, -controlled clinical trials on rare cannabinoids, including THCV, CBN, CBG, and CBC, which OBX will supply. Radicle will be studying their effects on other health and lifestyle benchmarks, such as energy, focus, appetite, sleep disturbance, stress, and anxiety across thousands of study participants.
“It was promising to see that the addition of a rare cannabinoid could augment the effects of CBD. We will be further exploring the entourage effect with an upcoming study, Radicle Spectrum, which will be the first head-to-head study comparing full or broad spectrum CBD to isolate and placebo. It is our hope this study will provide data to help the FDA ascertain whether CBD isolate is a drug,” Pelin Thorogood, Radicle Science co-founder and Executive Chair, said.