Page 48 - HME Business, May/June 2021

2021 HME BUSINESS HANDBOOK
PAIN MANAGEMENT
RAMPING UP YOUR CBD PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE TO ADDRESS PATIENT NEEDS
M ANY HME providers are adding CBD to
their lineup of product offerings, and for them to maintain their reputation for being home healthcare product experts for their communities, it is important for them to have some solid understanding of CBD.
For those unfamiliar with CBD, it is a chemical compound called a cannabinoid, which is produced by the cannabis plant. One cannabinoid most everyone has heard of is tetrahydrocan- nabinol (THC), the psychoactive component that causes a high in recreational marijuana. CBD, also known as cannabidiol,
is the cannabinoid often used
in managing chronic pain, insomnia and anxiety.
When it comes to CBD prod- ucts derived from hemp, the hemp plant is part of the cannabis family, which falls primarily
into two groups, marijuana and hemp plants. Marijuana comes from cannabis that contains
a much higher level of THC, whereas hemp contains only trace amounts. As you might know, hemp is a very flexible plant that can be used to create products such as textiles, building mate- rials, industrial products, paper, foods, and body care products.
By Thomas Pappas
CBD: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
There are two main types of CBD derived from hemp plants:
• Full Spectrum CBD contains 0.3 percent
THC or less. With so little THC, hemp
doesn’t have intoxicating effects.
• Broad Spectrum CBD contains zero THC.
Our bodies produce CBD, but in most cases, simply not enough of it. So, not unlike other vitamins and minerals, we take supplements to make up for our dietary and bodies’ shortfalls.
The endogenous cannabinoid molecules made by your body are also called endocannabinoids. Discovered by researchers in the 1990s, the endocan- nabinoid system (ECS) is a security and defense system that seeks to maintain internal harmony and balance (homeo- stasis) within the body. The ECS relays information between different systems in the body, regulating functions such
as sleep, mood, appetite, memory and reproduction. The ECS responds to various stimuli, like injury, chronic inflam- mation, and different forms of pain, and protects cells and cell components, like the mitochondria and nerve cells, which are sensitive and prone to damage.
MAPPING CBD BENEFITS TO PATIENT NEEDS
Bearing the ECS’s functions in mind, CBD products offer a variety of primary treat- ment benefits: pain, inflammation, stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Bearing those treatment benefits in mind, it’s easy to start to see various patient groups that could find CBD useful. Going to ProjectCBD.org, a non-profit information gathering site dedicated to promoting and publicizing research on CBD, there are many medical
POINTS TO REMEMBER
• Providers looking to offer CBD must be experts in how different patients can use it. This maintains and underscores their reputation as a trusted resource.
• CBD is a cannabinoid that is typi- cally derived from hemp. Full- spectrum CBD has trace amounts of THC, the chemical in marijuana that produces a “high,” while broad- spectrum has none.
• CBD works in concert with the body’s naturally occurring endocan-
studies that are seeing positive outcomes in a variety of care arenas.
In the case of pain management, there is a broad range of patient groups suffering joint and musculoskeletal pain that have found benefits from CBD.
This includes sufferers of these types of conditions: osteoarthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, low back pain, chronic pain, and muscle spasms.
Similarly, CBD has been used to
treat patients with internal and nervous system pain from conditions such as: neuropathic pain, migraine, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, cancer, chronic fatigue/ myalgic encephalomyelitis, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and inflammatory or irritable bowel pain.
When it comes to stress, depres-
sion and anxiety, CBD is being used for patients with these types of conditions: anxiety, depression, PTSD, and insomnia.
Lastly, CBD has also been used to treat issues related to neurological and cerebral conditions such as: Tourettes syndrome, tremors, seizures, multiple sclerosis, autism spectral disorders (ASD), Parkinsons disease, peripheral neuropathy, and brain trauma/damage.
CBD is being purchased with the goal of mandating good overall health. The successful seller is knowledgeable so that he or she can educate clients and make most pertinent recommendations. ■
An HME industry veteran, Thomas Pappas is the founder and CEO of Crosstown Concepts Corp., which produces an FDA-registered product line of CBD pain formulas. He can be reached at crosstownconcepts@yahoo.com, and is accredited with ProjectCBD.org.
nabinoid system (ECS) to address a
number of issues.
• CBD benefits patients suffering
from a wide variety of conditions, such as pain, inflammation, stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and neurological and internal conditions.
LEARN MORE
To read more news and features about pain management, visit hme-business. com/pain. To learn about Crosstown Concepts Corp.’s CBD products, visit crosstownconcepts.com.
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HMEBusiness | May/June 2021 | hme-business.com Management Solutions | Technology | Products