How CBD and Terpenes May Support Cellular Health

Every cell in your body is a complex structure of even smaller units with specific functions, called organelles. In healthy cells, the organelles efficiently work together to create proteins, generate energy, transport molecules, and perform other cell functions. They maintain balance and order in the body.

Cancer develops when a process inside the cell malfunctions in one of several possible ways. It's not instant; cancer develops in a multi-step process. Multiple mechanisms must fail before cells become cancerous.

Malfunctions, or Mutations, That Can Eventually Lead to Cancer

There are a variety of malfunctions or mutations that can create conditions that can lead to cancer, such as faster cell division.

In that case, the regulators that control cell division become inactive. Malfunctioning cells resist apoptosis (cell death), so they don't go through the process of cell death that is normal for non-functional cells; allowing mutations to replicate.

Whether benign or cancerous, a tumor develops as malfunctioning cells continue to divide without the usual controls telling them to stop. Over time, uncontrolled cell division results in additional cell mutations that can potentially develop into cancer.

Cellular Problems Call for Cellular Support

Studies indicate that CBD and its entourage of cannabinoids and terpenes can help relieve the pain and inflammation associated with cancerous cells. More significantly, they may arrest unregulated cell division and encourage cancer cells and tumor cells to die.

Here is some research on CBD, cannabinoids, and hemp terpenes on how they may help the body to fight cancerous cells and support healthy cell function.

CBD and the Minor Cannabinoids

Hemp is woven through human history. Like Jampha, which is the Tibetan word for 'loving kindness', hemp spores originated in Tibet. Archeologists traced ancient fossilized hemp spores to their beginning on a Tibetan plateau. With 28 million years to spread, hemp grew wild on several continents before human civilizations emerged. Ancient people from China, India, and Mesopotamia (and elsewhere) cultivated hemp for its strong and fast-growing fibers. Remnants of 8000-year-old hemp clothing were found in Mesopotamia and 6000-year-old threads in China. 

Recorded uses of cannabis as medicine stretch back to 2700 BC.

In modern times, studies on the applications of cannabinoids and CBD for cancer patients caught new interest in 1975 when a group demonstrated both THC and CBD could inhibit the growth of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Since then, CBD and other cannabinoids have been shown to inhibit replication and stimulate the natural cell death process in multiple types of cancerous cells, including lung, glioma, thyroid, lymphoma, skin, pancreas, uterus, breast, and prostate. They also interfere with tumor neovascularization, cancer cell migration, and metastasis.

The construction of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a critical way that tumors grow, invade, and metastasize. Research shows CBD can influence tumor angiogenesis. It prevents the creation of new blood vessels, thereby slowing or ceasing tumor growth.

The Cannabinoids

Full-spectrum CBD products include cannabinoids like the ones below.

Cannabinoid: CBDA

An acidic precursor to CBD, CBDA slows down the proliferation of cancer cells. Studies show it inhibits cell migration and encourages cell death in breast cancer.

Cannabinoids: CBC and CBG

CBC and CBG can penetrate the cell's membrane, making them even more effective at signaling mutated cancer cells to die than CBDA.

Cannabinoid: CBN

CBN is a mildly psychoactive cannabinoid that can also go through the cell's membrane. In addition to working as an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever, and bone strengthener, it was found to reduce tumor size in one form of lung cancer.

Terpenes: Powerful Plant Healers

Stroll through a lemon grove, pine forest, or blooming rose garden, and you will inhale plant terpene molecules. They perform essential functions for the plants, like repairing cells or repelling pests, and have distinct aromas. The hemp plant can have up to 200 plant terpenes, which is an exceptionally high number.
Here are some of the plant terpenes we include in Jampha's full-spectrum CBD products with published anti-cancer and anti-tumor research.

A-Bisabolol

Preliminary studies with terpene a-bisabolol show it inhibited tumor growth and induced cell death in pancreatic cancer.

A-Phellandrene

When tested on leukemia cells, a-phellandrene boosted the immune response and increased B- and T-cell proliferation.

In human liver tumor cells, it induced cell necrosis, which means it damaged the cancer cells but did not kill them.

Alpha and Beta-Pinene

Alpha and beta-pinene work together synergistically to increase cell apoptosis in lung cancer cells.

When tested on leukemia cells, researchers found these pine-scented terpenes inhibit proliferation and increase cell death.

B-Caryophyllene

In two types of colon cancer, b-caryophyllene significantly decreased proliferation.

A potent anti-inflammatory it also reduces pain and accelerates cell healing.

Cadinene

Cadinene inhibits the growth of ovarian cancer by interrupting the cell cycle in mutated cells and encouraging apoptosis.

Citral

Citral reduced the weight and size of breast cancer tumors without the harsh side-effects of other current treatments.

Citronellol

Citronellol induced necroptosis in lung cancer cells. Necroptosis is a kind of cell death usually caused by damage or infiltration by pathogens.

Eugenol

Eugenol fights proliferation and induces apoptosis in several forms of cancer, including melanoma, osteosarcoma, leukemia, gastric, skin tumors, and mast cells.

Geraniol

Geraniol shows anti-tumor properties on skin, oral, breast, lung, colon, prostate, pancreatic, kidney, and liver cancers. It makes tumor cells more vulnerable to commonly used chemotherapy agents and constrains their ability to acquire adaptive resistance.

Humulene

Humulene inhibits the proliferation of carcinoma cells. It also helps the body produce chemicals that induce apoptosis and slow tumor growth.

Limonene

Limonene is toxic to malignant tumor cells and is another powerful plant molecule that induces cell death in cancer cells.

Linalool

Linalool is proving useful in inducing apoptosis in several types of cancer cells, including leukemia and cervical cancer.

Myrcene

Myrcene may have applications in fighting breast cancer. It impaired cancer's ability to grow and induced cell death.

Nerolidol

Nerolidol reduced both benign and malignant tumors of the gallbladder.

Phytol

Phytol enhances the natural killer cells that fight cancer while also strengthening immunity and reducing inflammation.

Terpineol

Terpineol fights cancer by suppressing the signaling pathway tumor cells use to grow.

Terpinolene

Preliminary studies indicate terpinolene may fight proliferation in brain cancer cells.

Valencene

The citrusy terpene valencene was shown to reduce proliferation in several types of cancer, including ovarian.

Plant Terpenes Are Powerful Immune-Support Agents

As you can see, plant terpenes are remarkable aids to your immune system. Each Jampha product includes a unique formulation of terpenes. CBD and Cannabinoids have potential cancer-fighting and other health properties.

Medical experts recommend only adding CBD to your healing regime under the knowledge and care of a physician, particularly if you are actively healing from cancer or have any liver damage.