Psoriasis and Medicinal Cannabis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin and possibly an autoimmune disease that causes scaly lesions, redness, swelling and skin irritation. It is not contagious, but it can be hereditary affecting more men than women aged 15-35 years. What happens during this illness is that the cell renewal cycle is much shorter (the rate of normal renewal of dead cells is around one month) may be a few days or up to two weeks, causing excessive accumulation of dead cells on the surface of the skin, creating lesions characteristic of the disease.

There are 5 different types of psoriasis, erythrodermic (intense reddening in a large area of the body), Guttata (small pink ares with red spots) whose appearance is linked to streptococcal infections, inverse psoriasis (armpits and groin irritation), psoriasis plate (thick patches covered with silvery white scales) this is the most common and pustular psoriasis (blisters pustules surrounded by red skin).

Effects of CBD on Psoriasis

The analgesic effect of cannabinoids is one of the best characterized effects for people suffering from psoriasis. Flaking and itching decreases in addition to moisturizing the affected area.

Medicinal Cannabis Treatment for Psoriasis

Mast cells are cells that regulate inflammatory processes by releasing interleukins, histamines, proteases, TNF, and various others. Due to this, there have been studies to evaulate if the cannabinoid receptor CB1R could act as a mediator and inhibit the inflammation and toxicity within the cells in individuals with proriasis. Studies have shown that the CB1R is a strong agonist in the mast cell proliferation and topical application of it works to suppress mast cell recruitment into the skin, thus reducing the level of histamine in the blood. The use of cannabinoid CB1R is very beneficial in relieving symptoms caused by inflammatory skin diseases such as, but not limitied to psoriasis. [1]

CBD cream is a proper treatment for prosiasis due to its potent anti-inflammatory properties and the ability for patients to use the the CBD receptors on the skin in the form of creams or oils. Additionally, cannabinoids play an important role in the regulation of keratinocyte hyperproliferation leather (characteristic present in psoriasis).[2]