Cannabis is a plant that has been found to have over eighty cannabinoids, which cannabinol happens to be a part of. Until recently when cannabidiol (CBD) was discovered, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was believed to be the only active and interesting cannabinoid in the plant.
The discovery of CBD led to scientists picking interest in knowing what the remaining cannabinoids are. This essentially led to the discovery of cannabinol (CBN).
Cannabinol is a cannabinoid that’s gotten from the cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) found in cannabis. It is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that’s majorly found in aged cannabis.
It has lower relative affinities to THC. In fact, CBN is the product of oxidation or degradation of THC. This simply means that when THC is exposed to heat and oxygen, it breaks down over time, giving birth to CBN.
What is Cannabinol Used For?
Compared to the more popular cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and THC, cannabinol doesn’t have much scientific reports on it.
Still, there are evidences that suggests that CBN has a lot of therapeutic benefits to offer, some of which include stimulating bone growth, providing analgesic, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory effects, stimulating appetite, and promoting sleep.
What are the Benefits of Cannabinol?
Seizures
One of the more popular uses of cannabinol is in the treatment of siezures. Namely in people who suffer from epilepsy. There have been multiple studies showing that people who suffer from epileptic fits experience fewer instances and less severe seizures when having one.
Sleep
A lot of medical professionals make use of cannabis as a sleep aid for anyone suffering from insomnia. The reason for this is because of the cannabinol effect. In fact, it has been found that CBN is responsible for the sedative properties that cannabis is equipped with.
That is why most medical practitioners reserve high-CBN strains to be used only at nights. CBN is also administered to those who have sleep apnea or any other type of sleep disorders. Scientifically, CBN has been found to be quite effective in prolonging sleeping time in mice.
Antibacterial
It has been proven that cannabinol can be used as an active anti-bacterial. Using the cannabinoid topically has shown some positive potential of being able to treat psoriasis and burns. In fact, according to an Italian study that took place in 2008, cannabinol proved to be effective against MRSA.
Bone Growth
While the research on CBN is still ongoing and lacking, there are studies that have suggested that it could be a stimulant for bone growth.
If this theory turns out to be true in the end, CBN would be helpful in the treatment of osteoporosis. Additionally, it could help people with broken bones recover more rapidly.
Pain Relief
Cannabinol has proven to be quite effective when it comes to the reduction of pain. CBN stimulates the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide from the sensory nerves.
This action is performed without having any effect on the CB1 and CB2 receptors. This simply suggests that CBN could also be used with CBD in order to lower pain significantly by activating the CB1 and CB2 receptors.
Anti-Convulsive
Cannabinol and its derivatives have been found to be significantly effective at prolonging seizure latency according to some studies done on mice. This has led scientists to believe that CBN could be used in the treatment of epilepsy and some other seizure disorders.
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