Sleep Disorders + Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
One of the most crucial things that we can do to positively impact our health and wellbeing is to make sure we are getting adequate sleep. Interruptions in our sleeping pattern can have negative effects on our health. Lack of sleep or frequent interruptions during sleep patterns can cause significant changes in the body and mind, and these effects are anything but good.
According to the statistics, about 30% of people deal with insomnia, but what they don’t know is how destructive these interrupted sleeping patterns are. To keep it short (even though I am about to go into detail LoL), lack of sleep was shown to increase the risk of premature mortality aka early death SIGNIFICANTLY. But here is what is really going on behind the scenes…. Check this out.
According to Healthcare, an open access peer reviewed medical journal, lack of sleep can lead to a weakened immune system, mood swings (depression, anxiety, irritability, increased stress, etc.), cognitive impairment (poor memory, concentration, problem-solving skills, etc.), increased risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, hormonal imbalances (problems regulating weight; leading to obesity and uncontrolled appetite, leading to metabolic syndrome) (1). Chronic insomnia if left untreated can cause severe health issues and decreased quality of life, while also exasperating other health conditions, like cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1). CVD kills more people worldwide than any other cause of death and what I can tell you is that lack of sleep plays a huge role in exasperating heart disease and stress. Eventually creating this snowball effect that doesn’t stop until you’re in the grave.
The chronic effects that lack of sleep has tends to really get us in the long run. I experienced first-hand how interrupted sleeping patterns affected me working at Fire Rescue (which played a big factor for me making a career change). A common pattern I saw in Fire Rescue is that almost every man (including myself) was dealing with low testosterone. This is because our sleep was interrupted so frequently that it started to affect us hormonally. These hormones are little messengers that help our body to run smoothly, ensuring that we can maintain homeostasis and good communication between different organ systems and when this is interrupted, things can “malfunction”.
Many people resort to over the counter (OTC) medications for sleep like Tylenol PM (or the generic brand) that also contains acetaminophen but relying on these long term can cause some serious damage to our brain. These damaging effects that acetaminophen has cause us to become immune compromised, impair nutrient absorption, damage our liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract (GI), and can impair neurodevelopment (2). Anytime we impair nutrient absorption we are asking for problems.
When the body can’t absorb the nutrients that it needs, the body won’t have the things it needs and cannot function properly. Short story long (lol), symptoms will start to appear. When symptoms start to appear, conventional medicine will just prescribe a medication for. As you can see, this route of “medicine” is faulty because we never really address the root cause of the problem. We need to make sure our cells are getting these basic building blocks (nutrients) to repair and replace dying and worn-out cells. In fact, taking medication after medication without addressing the root cause of a health concern is how we tend to wind up in a far worse condition than when we started.
Ok, back to it. According to MDPI, another open access peer reviewed journal, they stated that the effects of acetaminophen were so damaging for our brain that it induces autism spectrum disorder. They stated:
“Based on available data that include approximately 20 lines of evidence from studies in laboratory animal models, observations in humans, correlations in time, and pharmacological/toxicological considerations, it has been concluded without reasonable doubt and with no evidence to the contrary that exposure of susceptible babies and children to acetaminophen (paracetamol) induces many, if not most, cases of autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) (2).
MDPI went on to conclude that acetaminophen during early fetal development is responsible for 90% or more of all cases of ASD (3). These synthetic compounds found in this medication were found to be responsible for ASD in developing babies and adults, yet this stuff is handed out left and right in school, homes, and hospitals like it’s candy. The sad part is that this study was published in 2018. They have known since 2018 (and probably before that) that acetaminophen induced autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet it is still recommended as "safe" for pregnant women. What kind of madness are we living in?!? Oh, that's right. A world that is run by big pharma with one goal in mind, fatten their wallets! They aren't worried about you and this is direct proof. They know these studies exist, but they turn a blind eye. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but big pharma wants you sick, weak, and crawling to them for help! Taking control of your health is a power move, taking back our independence.
Anything that affects us neurologically to the degree of inducing autism spectrum disorder should be banned and refrained from using the word “medicine”.
My reason for sharing this is to inform you of the harmful effects of OTC medications that we may be taking to get some sleep. I want to show you how to replace these medications using something natural like cannabinoids (CBD, THC, etc.) because cannabinoids were shown to have a great safety profile and more importantly, they don't interrupt normal physiological processes in the body (4). Anything that impairs the body to function normally (especially causing ASD), causing a shift away from homeostasis, is something we should limit or avoid altogether.
Looking for a healthier alternative to get some sleep?
Ingestible products like our CBD oil or gummies are a great option to help with sleep and here is why. When we swallow the oil or gummies (vs inhalation) cannabinoids are processed by our liver which makes their effects much longer. These longer effects are great for chronic conditions and those looking to get some sleep because these effects tend to last longer. When ingested, our liver converts THC to 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC) , which makes the effects more potent and prolonged.
What I will add on to that is dosing should always be controlled to reduce the negative side effects of overindulging in THC. Let’s be honest. We have all had that brownie that sent us too far, making us very uncomfortable (I know there are many good stories out there LoL), but we want to avoid that feeling. Instead, we want to find the lowest dose that gives us the benefits or relief we are looking for. This is commonly referred to as the lowest therapeutic dose. This is how we use cannabinoids as medicine. The lowest dose to give us the relief we are looking for without “overdoing it”.
Our Full Spectrum 2500mg CBD Oil and our gummies are the most popular for sleep. The FS 2500mg Oil has about 84mg of CBD and 2mg of THC per dose, where our gummies have more THC. Both are considered full spectrum because they contain CBD and THC together, which gives us that entourage effect, where they are maximizing each other’s potential. The best part about combining CBD and THC together is that CBD keeps THC in check, minimizing the negative effects that THC alone may cause (ie. paranoia, no threat to our health, just mental lol!). Here’s the catch. Cannabinoids like CBD and THC affect us all differently. While the 25mg CBD/5mg THC gummies may be perfect for me, you may benefit from the higher dose gummies, which have equal amounts of CBD and THC (10mg CBD/10mg THC). Then again, you may like the high CBD and low THC that the Full Spectrum 2500mg CBD Oil has to offer. I always advise everyone to start low and slow till you find the dose that works best for you. Our endocannabinoid systems are like fingerprints, they are unique. So, starting low and slowly working up will help best to minimize any negative effects. Once you find what dose you like, you can dial it in.
So, in other words, if you don’t want to die early from lack of sleep, buy our oil or gummies. LoL kidding. I’m not a good salesman. I’ll stick to the educational information…
Sleep is important and so using something that is health promoting and doesn't cost us our health in return, is even more important! We don’t want to cause a problem (💊) on a problem!
One amazing plant with seemingly endless uses, now that’s what I call medicine!
Bee Well,
Brandon Farless
*This information is for educational purposes only. I am simply sharing information pertaining to these studies. No medical claims or advice is being made on my behalf.
References
1. Chattu, V. K., Manzar, M. D., Kumary, S., Burman, D., Spence, D. W., & Pandi-Perumal, S. R. (2018). The Global Problem of Insufficient Sleep and Its Serious Public Health Implications. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 7(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/
2. Parker, W., Anderson, L. G., Jones, J. P., Anderson, R., Williamson, L., Bono-Lunn, D., & Konsoula, Z. (2023, December 29). The dangers of acetaminophen for neurodevelopment outweigh scant evidence for long-term benefits. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-
3. Prescott, J. D., Drake, V. J., & Stevens, J. F. (2018). Medications and Micronutrients: Identifying Clinically Relevant Interactions and Addressing Nutritional Needs. The Journal of pharmacy technology : jPT : official publication of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians, 34(5), 216–230. https://doi.org/10.
4. Binkowska, A. A., Jakubowska, N., Redeł, A., Laskowska, S., Szlufik, S., & Brzezicka, A. (2024, February 7). Cannabidiol usage, efficacy, and side effects: Analyzing the impact of health conditions, medications, and cannabis use in a cross-sectional online pilot study. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/
