PARKINSON'S AWARENESS

For more than eight decades, it was illegal to grow hemp, much less study the effects of its products on human subjects. Although hemp lacks the psychotropic compound of its cannabis cousin marijuana, both plants were banned by the federal government in 1937 and lumped in along with heroin and cocaine in 1970.

That all changed in late 2018 when the same U.S. government—hoping to provide agricultural states with an additional cash crop—legalized industrial hemp. The shift also gave a tacit green light to hemp byproducts such as cannabidiol, better known as CBD, which millions of consumers have used to find relief of chronic pain, anxiety, sleep problems and other disorders.

And with issues of legality finally swept away, scientists were at last freed to dig into the impacts of hemp products on the human body. Although research is still catching up to the anecdotal claims, many have about CBD’s therapeutic effects, dozens upon dozens of studies are either in the works or being planned to see just how much CBD helps with a variety of health issues.

Several of those studies focus on Parkinson’s Disease. This neurological disorder affects the cells that control the body’s movement and can manifest itself in tremors, stiff muscles and lack of balance. With April being Parkinson’s Disease Awareness month, there is hope that responsibly-sourced, high-quality CBD like the kind produced by Nature’s Highway can become a healthy, natural alternative for those battling the disease.

From a medication standpoint, CBD enjoyed a breakthrough in 2018 when a drug made with the hemp-derived compound was approved by the FDA to treat two rare forms of childhood epilepsy. More medicines made from CBD may be coming; Mount Sinai Hospital in New York recently conducted a study that indicated CBD could help reduce drug cravings and may facilitate recovery from heroin and opioid addiction.

Anecdotal tales about CBD’s effectiveness are giving way to laboratory tests.

Researchers at Yale are studying CBD and pain relief; a German study is exploring CBD and schizophrenia. West Virginia doctors have looked at CBD’s use on rare skin conditions, a Massachusetts hospital is looking into CBD and Alzheimer’s disease, and the University of Utah is preparing for a clinical trial on CBD’s effectiveness against widespread chronic pain.

For the roughly one million Americans who have Parkinson’s disease, CBD offers a natural alternative that many believe brings some relief. For anyone looking to CBD for help with anxiety, pain, or other maladies, the best type of CBD is the kind consumers can trust—like that made by Nature’s Highway, which controls its product right down to the hemp plants it grows in South Carolina, and delivers quality and purity that few competitors can match.