Asthma is a common lung condition that can be triggered by just about anything- a change in weather, a walk in the park, dust, or even being around an animal. Contrary to what many people believe, asthma doesn’t just affect the lungs, but also the eyes, ears, nose, throat, sinuses, and stomach as well.

Asthma is one of the most common diseases in the world. It causes an allergic reaction and inflammation in the lungs and airways because of problems with the immune system. People with asthma typically experience breathing difficulties, a heavy cough, or a feeling of tightness in their chest.

While asthma may just be a minor nuisance for some people, for others it can impair daily life and cause life-threatening asthma attacks. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for asthma, but its symptoms can be controlled and, in some cases, even relieved. Common treatments include a quick-relief inhaler, immunotherapy, allergy medications, and an EpiPen- which all come with a long list of side-effects. 

What if there would be a more natural and efficient way to treat asthma, to bring relief without any side-effects? You may have read claims on the internet that hemp oil cures asthma. Well, in this post we´ll be covering exactly that: CBD and asthma.

What is CBD?

Before addressing asthma specifically, it is important to understand some basics about CBD and how it works in our bodies.

CBD is a component of the cannabis plant- but unlike the bad reputation cannabis may have, CBD has absolutely no intoxicating effects. CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is a common cannabinoid in hemp, and as modern research has shown, CBD has many benefits to our health. In fact, CBD is completely natural and we have a whole body system designed to utilize it for our benefit.

CBD is most commonly used for treating sleeping difficulties, anxiety, stress, and pain. But it also helps people feel better overall, even without any pre-existing problems. And to top things off, CBD has zero side-effects, unlike most other medication out there. So how can CBD, a component of an all-natural healing plant, seem to fix so many problems we deal with, and all without any side-effects? It’s relatively simple: CBD merely helps our body do what it already should.

How CBD works in our body

You probably know all about our immune system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, and many more systems keeping us alive. But have you heard of the endocannabinoid system?

The endocannabinoid system, or ECS for short, is one of the most important and at the same time least known systems in our body. Our ECS effects and helps regulate many other of our body functions and maintain homeostasis. For example, if you catch a fever that throws off your homeostasis, your ECS jumps in to bring your body back to its ideal state and fight it off. 

Our ECS has two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2 receptors, which are located throughout our entire body. CB1 receptors are mainly located in the central nervous system, and CB2 receptors are mainly located in the peripheral nervous system. These receptors play an important role in passing along signals to ensure that all vital body functions can interact seamlessly.

Your body also has its own natural endocannabinoids. These endocannabinoids interact with the receptors of our ECS and help along the whole process. They can bind to either ECS receptors and depending on where the receptor is located and what endocannabinoid it binds to, it can have various effects. If you´re experiencing inflammation, for instance, your endocannabinoids will target your CB2 receptors in your immune cells to send a signal to your body on how to react. 

Many factors can hinder the production of our natural endocannabinoids, such as insufficient sleep, high-stress levels, alcohol, a poor diet, and medications. CBD however can help your body produce these natural endocannabinoids, which are vital in maintaining a healthy and balanced system. 

This is also why CBD can help with stress. By increasing the endocannabinoids in our body, it can help regulate the production of stress hormones, which are typically overproduced when our systems are unbalanced.

What causes asthma?

Now, let’s take a look at what causes asthma and how our body reacts to it. While it still isn’t completely clear why some people get asthma and others don’t, a combination of environmental and inherited factors likely plays a big role in it. 

As far as we know, asthma has been around since 2600BC. However, according to the European Respiratory Society, the number of people diagnosed with asthma in western Europe has doubled in the 20th century, which suggests that there’s a link between people getting asthma and the development of cities. 

It’s probable that asthma comes from developing certain sensitivities to common inhaled allergens in your childhood. Growing up in an environment with lots of dust, pollution, and exposure to chemicals may cause the disease to develop, but also living with pets, being in a highly pollinated area, or even cold weather can cause your asthma to worsen. Illnesses, viruses, and certain infections can also trigger adult-onset asthma. Either way, people develop asthma for various reasons and it’s often a combination of many genetic and environmental factors. 

Let’s take a look at what triggers asthma attacks and how it is treated.

Triggers & Treatment for Asthma

Here are some of the most common triggers for an asthma attack: 

–        Airborne allergens (e.g. dust mites, pet dander, pollen)

–        Air pollutants (e.g. smoke)

–        Certain food preservatives

–        Certain medications (e.g. Aspirin, Ibuprofen)

–        Respiratory infections (e.g. the common cold)

–        Physical activity

–        Stress

Depending on the many factors, such as your age, symptoms, and common asthma triggers, there are different treatment methods, primarily consisting of quick-relief and long-term treatment. 

Quick-relief inhalers, also known as bronchodilators, are the most popular way to temporarily treat asthma attacks. The inhalers can quickly open any swollen airways that are blocking your breathing and allow for easy airflow again. Another quick-relief method of treating asthma is with oral corticosteroids, which can help relieve inflammation in the airways caused by severe asthma. However, they come with quite serious side-effects if taken for longer periods of time.

Then there are long-term asthma control medications which make it less likely for asthma attacks to occur in the first place. These medications are generally taken on a daily basis, but many of them have very serious side-effects. Montelukast, for example, is one of the most popular asthma medications and its side-effects include agitation, aggression, hallucinations, depression, and suicidal thoughts. 

Clearly, this doesn’t sound that great. And this is why CBD becomes relevant. What relation is there between CBD and asthma?

How CBD can help with asthma 

CBD isn’t a miracle treatment for every disease. But it can help with a wide variety of problems, asthma included. As explained earlier, CBD mainly helps by bringing our body and immune system to its optimal state, so our body can naturally fight off illnesses and diseases. 

But there is more to how CBD can help with asthma attacks. Here are some of the CBD effects on lungs and the surrounding area. It’s a well-known fact that CBD has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive qualities, which can help reduce the inflammation and swelling in asthma patients’ airways. When the immune system an overactive immune response, CBD helps send the message to “back off”. This is called retrograde signalling. Studies have shown that CBD also affects the body´s response to external and allergenic stimuli, decreasing the likelihood of asthma attacks occurring. 

Some asthma patients also suffer from pain during attacks, which in some cases can even be debilitating. However, this pain doesn’t come from the lungs, but from the surrounding muscles. While our lungs don’t have any cannabinoid receptors, our muscles do, so CBD can help relieve asthma-induced pain in the surrounding areas. Our Relieve CBD Oil from Mission Farms CBD is one of our top products for reducing discomfort, such as from an asthma attack.  

Fortunately, CBD can bring great relief for asthma patients, when taken in any form. But it may be difficult and even triggering to inhale CBD unless it’s as a CBD inhaler for asthma, which is why oral consumption might be a better option.

The bottom line: CBD oil for asthma

Asthma has been around for as long as we know. And while we have many modern medications for it nowadays, they also come with many serious side-effects. Since cannabis is finally moving into the spotlight of research again, we´ve been able to discover more natural and efficient healing qualities of the plant- especially with CBD. 

CBD is a great potential treatment for asthma patients, and the best part is that it’s all-natural without any side-effects. Will CBD asthma treatments become an option in the future? CBD can reduce resistance in the airways and control the overactive inflammatory response that asthma patients typically suffer from. But what could asthma CBD treatments look like? This could be with quick-relief treatment options such as CBD hemp oil asthma inhalers, or simply CBD bronchodilators, that will become more popular in the future, as research on CBD oil and asthma becomes more extensive. For now, ingestible CBD Oil is a good option for people to try.

Of course, since asthma is a serious condition, it’s always best to consult with your doctor first and make sure you only take high-quality and safe CBD, such as Mission Farms CBD. All our CBD products are free of any dangerous pesticides, chemicals, and contain much less than 0.3% THC, as required by law. We make sure to triple-test all CBD before selling it to you, to ensure that it is safe, clean, and fulfills all legal guidelines.

Here you can check out our ingestible CBD products, which can be of great help in relieving asthma attacks. And if you´re interested, you can also take a look at our lab results for any Mission Farms CBD product. The best way to find what works best for you is to try it out and see which type of CBD product you prefer. We also offer bundles of various types of CBD products so you can find your best match.