ECS Deficiency and Diseases/Conditions Involved

ECS Deficiency and Diseases/Conditions Involved 

Does conventional medicine have us chasing our tails or chasing root causes?

If you follow us on our Instagram stories (If not you should follow along HERE ) you may have heard me talk about endocannabinoid system (ECS) deficiency and what diseases/conditions can be affected when our own body isn’t synthesizing the endocannabinoids (ones we make in the inside) that we need to maintain homeostasis. The endocannabinoid system is the largest receptor system in the human body that controls homeostasis, immune response, pain, mood, sleep, appetite, memory, and various cellular activities, from neurotransmission, bone cell regulation, to neuroprotection. The truth is, this receptor system is present in almost every cell in the body, including cancer cells (which is why we can utilize cannabinoids like CBD and THC for the anti-cancer, anti-tumor, and cellular modulating properties). 

Since the ECS controls and maintains many physiological functions, what happens when our body doesn’t produce the endocannabinoids (anandamide and 2-AG) that it needs to maintain these internal functions? Check this out.

In 2003, Dr. Ethan Russo (board-certified neurologist and psychopharmacology researcher) proposed the idea that if our body was unable to make these endocannabinoids that it needed to maintain internal and cellular homeostasis, our body would “malfunction” and different symptoms would surface, leading to the development of medical conditions such as migraines, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and other treatment resistant conditions (1). His hypothesis was confirmed in 2016 that migraines, fibromyalgia, and IBS are involved with ECS dysfunction/deficiency, but what about these other treatment resistant conditions? Could cannabinoid medicine be the answer that we have been searching for, for so long? Could it be that our medical system knows this information about ECS dysfunction exists, but instead of treating the root cause through the ECS, we still prescribe medications that do nothing but simply treat symptoms?

Since that idea was proposed by Dr. Russo, his hypothesis was confirmed and then some. There has been a better understanding of the ECS and although there is still so much to explore with this complex receptor system, we now understand different diseases/conditions that are directly tied to ECS dysfunction. 

This is huge!! It’s huge because these conditions that I am about to mention, are being treated with various pharmaceutical drugs that may be just treating the symptom. When you treat just the symptom, while ignoring the root cause, we aren’t getting anywhere from a health standpoint. We are just making a drug company rich. In fact, our health may actually get worse once we throw a problem (💊) on a problem, putting extra stress on our body. We need a better approach. One that deals directly with the root cause. One that deals directly with the ECS when ECS deficiency/dysfunction arises. 

Different diseases/conditions that are a result of ECS deficiency include (2):

- Anxiety and depression

- Autoimmune diseases 

- Cardiovascular Disease 

- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

- Eating disorders

- Epilepsy

- Failure to thrive in newborns

- Fibromyalgia/myofascial pain syndrome

- Huntington’s Disease

- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

- Migraine headaches

- Multiple Sclerosis

- Nausea and motion sickness

- Parkinson’s Disease

- Schizophrenia

 If we know that these diseases/conditions are a result of ECS deficiency, why would we utilize any other treatment option than the one that directly involves that system (ECS)?

 One plant with seemingly endless uses, now that’s what I call medicine.

 Bee-Well,

Brandon Farless

*This information is for education purposes only and we are sharing information pertaining to these studies. No medical advice or claims are being made. 

References

1. Smith, S. C., & Wagner, M. S. (2014). Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD) revisited: can this concept explain the therapeutic benefits of cannabis in migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and other treatment-resistant conditions?. Neuro endocrinology letters, 35(3), 198–201.
   
   
2. Goldstein, B. (2020). Cannabis is medicine: How medical cannabis and CBD are healing everything from anxiety to chronic pain. Little, Brown Spark.