Can Cannabinoids Work Synergistically In Treatment Of Pain? Here's What One Study Reveals

Radicle Science, an AI-driven healthtech B-corp revealed the results of cannabinoid clinical trial on pain, in partnership with Open Book Extracts (OBX). All formulations in the pain study on CBD and rare cannabinoids were supplied by OBX, a NSF-certified manufacturer and distributor of cannabinoid ingredients and finished products.

The OBX pain study on CBD and rare cannabinoids was a blinded, randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the effects of various cannabinoid formulations on pain, as well as other health outcomes. The trial was specifically designed to examine if adding other ingredients to a formulation in conjunction with CBD could lead to better outcomes than with CBD alone.

The trial included 6 product arms, which all contained CBD at 40 mg per serving. Most arms also contained varying levels of rare cannabinoids, including CBG and CBC.

A diverse sample of 1629 pain-sufferers from across the U.S. were randomized to receive and take one of these product formulations for a month while reporting their pain relative to specific benchmarks that included severity, general activity, sleep quality, anxiety symptoms and overall quality of life.

Significant Research Findings

All of the enhanced product formulations included in this clinical trial led to statistically significant improvements in pain, anxiety, sleep quality and overall quality of life.

On average, nearly half (44.8%) of participants who received any of the enhanced products experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in their pain, meaning they realized a distinct and palpable improvement in their quality of life through improved pain symptoms.

Overall, the different enhanced formulations performed roughly the same for the improvement of pain, anxiety, sleep quality and quality of life. However, for people with moderate pain, there was evidence that the addition of 20mg CBC to a formulation containing 40mg of CBD could significantly improve its pain-relieving effects — particularly when this enhanced product was taken for 2 or more weeks.

All products tested were deemed safe to consume. Only about 1 in 10 participants reported side effects, and none were severe.

The OBX pain study on CBD and rare cannabinoids is OBX's first completed clinical trial with Radicle Science. Radicle Science and OBX will continue their partnership with similar large-scale, blinded, randomized, controlled clinical trials on rare cannabinoids, including THCV, CBN, CBG and CBC, which OBX will supply. Radicle will be studying their effects on other health and lifestyle benchmarks, such as energy, focus, appetite, sleep disturbance, stress and anxiety, across thousands of study participants.

Pelin Thorogood, Radicle Science co-founder and executive chair stated, "It was promising to see that the addition of a rare cannabinoid could augment the effects of CBD. We will be further exploring the entourage effect with an upcoming study, Radicle Spectrum, which will be the first head-to-head study comparing full or broad spectrum CBD to isolate and placebo. It is our hope this study will provide data to help the FDA ascertain whether CBD isolate is a drug."

Photo: Courtesy of Radicle Science

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