Great sleep is crucial to our mental, physical and emotional well-being, yet 60 million Americans are getting a lack of sleep. In this article, we will dive deep and figure out why sleep is so important, and how Cannabidiol and Sleep Disorders interact with each other.

Key points:

Sleeplessness is one of the most common issues in the health sector in America. Most people opt to choose medicine from their doctor, which always has the risk of adverse health effects.

CBD, in particular, shows a lot of hope for managing sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia and many other similar issues.

Studies are starting to show that CBD and THC work better together than medications which are made of a single molecule.

Excessive THC use can massively disrupt the circadian rhythm of your sleep.

What is sleep – an overview.

While sleep is an everyday routine for a majority of people, a particular role in our life is not entirely known. Studies show that while we sleep, it feels like we are doing nothing but it is a crucial system that benefits us in various sectors of our life such as;

Building up the immune system

Mending of tissue cells.

Adjusting your metabolism and blood pressure.

Process things you’ve learned in the previous days

The list is continuously growing as more research surrounding sleep is pouring in. All of these are attached to the ECS (Endocannabinoid System). Insufficient sleep is the most significant ailment reported to Doctors in America. A typical adult will need 7-8 hours spent sleeping every day. At least forty MILLION Americans are well below this threshold, and it is becoming a public health crisis that is going relatively unnoticed.

The CDC recently released a report which has shown that adults who get less than 7 hours sleep per day are more prone to serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression and obesity.

Pills aren’t always the answer.

Pharmaceuticals are big business, so big in fact, in 2016 Americans bought $3.38 BILLION on sedatives, over the counter sleep drugs and also herbal sleeping remedies.

Dr Kripke is a sleep specialist at Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Centre and has extensively studied the studies performed on various sleep aid medications. Of the forty studies, he reviewed 39 found that the consumption of those drugs related in 4.6 times increases in death.

Among the increase of chronic illnesses, Dr Kripke also concluded that even rare usage of the medications causes next-day impairment, increase the risk of being at fault in a car crash. Furthermore, he also saw a 100% increase in depression and suicide risk compared to people who had received a placebo.

The ECS and its effect on sleep.

Tasked with the problem of fixing sleep-related issues without heavy side effects, researchers have been investigating ways to target the Endo-Cannabinoid system specifically. The ECS is the primary regulator in our wake-sleep cycle and other sleep-related processes. Vincenzo DiMarzo summarizes the ECS as “Eat, Sleep, Relax, Protect and Forget.”

How our bodies go to sleep, stay asleep, wake and also stay awake are a key component of our circadian rhythms and endo-cannabinoid system. Circadian rhythms tell your body to do a variety of different things, such as hormone control, heart rate, and when to wake up or sleep.

Imagine it like this – it’s similar to a clock that follows our necessity for sleep, escorts us to sleep and also then will direct us to how intense your sleep needs to be. There are many factors which can influence this system such as food, drink, environment, medication, stress and much more.

Cannabidiol and sleep.

Medicinal cannabis use isn’t new as it has been used for centuries to both help people sleep and also to keep them asleep for more extended periods. In a book published in the 18th-century cannabis was listed as a pain reliever.

“Of all anaesthetics ever proposed, Indian hemp is the one which produced an effect most closely resembling the natural sleep without causing any extraordinary excitement of the vessels, or any particular suspension of secretions, or without fear of a dangerous reaction, and consecutive paralysis.” – German scholar Bernard Fronmueller in 1860. Nine years after this statement Fronmueller formally wrote a report stating that in 1,000 patients with sleep issues, hemp cured 53% (530), partially cured 21.5% (215) and only 25.5% (255) reported little or no effects. As of today, over 50 per cent of medicinal cannabis consumers report using it to aid their insomnia.

Another study concluded that forty per cent of people who have insomnia also have to endure depression and anxiety, only compounding the problem. Would it surprise you to hear that people with mental mood disorders who consume cannabis medicinally have the best rates of sleep improvement coming in at a whopping 93 per cent?

To sum up this article, CBD has promising results for anyone suffering from insomnia for over 70% of people who try it medicinally. Check out our extensive list of CBD Vendors to find the right one for you.