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CBD And Glaucoma: Better Than Homeopathy?

Doctors have known for decades that glaucoma patients can benefit from cannabinoids as an official treatment. Research dating back to the 1970s already indicated that cannabis compounds can help reduce the problems causing glaucoma. That is good news, because there are not many viable alternatives for treatment. Homeopathic treatments get dubious results, if any. Invasive surgery comes with complications. Regular medication can have quite severe side-effects. So can cannabinoids like CBD work against glaucoma? This article explores the promising link between CBD and Glaucoma.

What Is Glaucoma?

Let’s start off with the main conclusion: there is no simple cure for glaucoma. Glaucoma comes in different forms, but cases are on the rise. In glaucoma, vision loss sets in because of problems with the amount of fluids inside the eyeball. Depending on the type of glaucoma, patients can suffer from vision loss, nausea, tunnel vision, eye pain, and even blindness. The best that today’s treatments can do is fight the symptoms or stop the condition from worsening. The most common type of glaucoma usually sets in gradually. Therefore, most people only find out they have it when the symptoms become problematic. In the Netherlands, almost 1,5% of people over 40 years have glaucoma. US estimates hint at some 3 million patients. According to the World Health Organization, glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, globally.

Natural Treatments For Glaucoma

Across the world, many glaucoma sufferers are looking for natural alternative treatments for this common condition. Apart from laser treatment and surgery, the prevalent alternative option to treat glaucoma used to be homeopathy. Oddly, there is a great deal of scientific evidence proving that homeopathic treatments are no more effective than placebos. The evidence holds for glaucoma, and in fact for any other condition ‘treated’ with homeopathy. Nonetheless, many people contend with ‘safe’ and ‘traditional’ homeopathy, even though other natural alternatives exist. Specifically, organic compounds from the hemp plant (cannabis) have been used effectively to regulate eye pressure for some fifty years.

Hemp Against Glaucoma?

Initially, the focus was on THC, the main psychoactive cannabis component, or cannabinoid. THC lowers pressure in the eyeball, but the problem is, it only does so for a few hours. Glaucoma is a permanent problem. Treating it permanently with THC means being ‘high’ most of the time. That’s not a solution for most patients. So what about that other popular cannabinoid that doesn’t get you high? That’s right: we’re talking about CBD here.

CBD And Glaucoma Treatment

To be fair, CBD is no miracle cure for glaucoma. There’s no shame in that. So far, no cure has been found at all. CBD does have several properties that can help people cope with glaucoma, however. For one, it can alleviate the nausea experienced by certain glaucoma patients. It can also provide pain relief for more severe cases of the disease. There is a more direct link between CBD and glaucoma, however: CBD can improve the condition of your eyes.

CBD And Glaucoma: Improved Inner Eye Blood Flow

Unfortunately, CBD does not lower the ocular fluid pressure in the eyeball itself; at least, not as much as THC does. However, CBD can help reduce some typical symptoms of glaucoma, as well as protect vulnerable parts of the eye from glaucoma’s damaging effects. This is how it works: with glaucoma, nerve cells die in the outer layer of the retina. A study, published by the British Journal of Opthalmology, proved that the antioxidant characteristics of CBD can save nerve cells from dying. CBD can help nerve cells stay alive, preventing glaucoma from progressing. Moreover, said study reported improved blood circulation within the eye, thanks to CBD. Both factors had indirect, but positive effects on the eye pressure.

Further Research Into CBD And Glaucoma

As is often the case with new frontiers in medical science, research into the health benefits of CBD is still in its infancy. This also applies to studies on links between CBD and glaucoma. Nonetheless, new insights are gained every day, as more and more people discover personal benefits by trying CBD oil or CBD tablets for themselves. In recent years, many potential medical benefits of CBD have been investigated, often with promising results. Although medical studies are notoriously slow, that’s more than anyone can claim about homeopathy! As a consequence, CBD and glaucoma appear to be a more viable combination than any homeopathic treatments.

SupMedi CBD And Glaucoma

Here at SupMedi, we know we are not doctors. For this reason, we stay cautious in our claims about medicinal properties of CBD. We just want to inform you to the best of our ability. If you want to try CBD supplements as a natural alternative treatment for glaucoma, make sure to consult your doctor first. If you decide to test the link between CBD and glaucoma, always go for pure quality by choosing high-grade, laboratory-tested CBD products like our own. Meanwhile, research on treating glaucoma and many other conditions with CBD continue. To stay up to date with all the latest developments, be sure to subscribe to our SupMedi Newsletter.

If your are interested in our other CBD Products, here at SupMedi, we have a great variety of products including CBD Tablets, CBD Oil, CBD Nutrition, and other CBD Skincare products.