Cannabis compound may help frontline health workers avoid COVID-19 burnout
Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-08-14 01:00
Peer-reviewedRandomised controlled trialPeopleWhat do these mean?
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.
Randomised controlled trial: Subjects are randomly assigned to a test group, which receives the treatment, or a control group, which commonly receives a placebo. In 'blind' trials, participants do not know which group they are in; in ‘double blind’ trials, the experimenters do not know either. Blinding trials helps removes bias.
People: This is a study based on research using people.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis component now widely used for medical purposes, could help reduce symptoms of burnout and emotional exhaustion in frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazilian researchers found that the treatment helped reduce exhaustion and burnout, however it also resulted in severe side effects in around 1 in 20 of the treatment group. The authors say it is necessary to balance the benefits of CBD therapy with potential undesired or adverse effects, and further studies are needed.
Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open
Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.20603
Organisation/s: University of São Paulo, Brazil
Funder: This work was supported by grant 2020/12110-9 from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo; grant 2008/09009-2 from the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia Translational em Medicina; a grant from the Global Priorities in Cannabinoid Research Excellence Program, University Global Partnership Network (Dr Crippa); funding via research fellowships from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Drs Crippa, Hallak, de Lima Osório, Loureiro, Campos, and Zuardi); in-kind donations of cannabidiol from PurMed Global; and donated services (dosing plasma levels of cannabidiol) from Laboratório Chromatox. See paper for author conflict of interest statments