Anyone who suffers from acne will tell you, pimples and blackheads are no fun at all, and many creams and ointments simply don’t work
However, a new report has confirmed that cannabis cream may be the latest and greatest cure for acne sufferers, due to the active component, cannabidiol or CDB. A dermatological company called Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., recently announced that they are carrying out clinical trials using a synthetic form of CBD, called BTX 1503, which they claim could be the ultimate acne cure.
The clinical trial, carried out in Australia, involved 20 study participants, none of which had acne. They were given the cream to apply over the period of a month, on healthy skin, to test for safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics. The next stage will be to roll out the study to people who have acne, with the hope that this cream could cure them.
According to the company, stage 1 of the testing was a roaring success, “Top line data demonstrates that BTX 1503 has an excellent safety profile, with little to no skin irritation, and no severe adverse events were recorded,” they said.
Botanix are aware that acne is a condition which has confused medical experts for years, with tens of creams and ointments, pills and potions, which are effective for some, yet totally useless for others, and that’s not to mention some terrible side effects.
Yet again the issue faced here is that not enough research and test studies have been carried out on cannabis due to its limbo status as street drug. Botanix spoke about one paper from back in 2014, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, which used biopsies of human scalp and arm skin to try to determine whether CBD could suppress acne. In that study, the conclusion was reached that CBD inhibited both lipogenic action and the production of sebocytes. It also concluded that CBD had an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin.
It still remains to be seen whether or not CBD, either in its natural form or synthetically, could be the answer that every acne patient has been looking for. On this one, only time will tell.
If you are interested in learning more about CBD and acne, you can read the full Botanix stage 1 study results HERE. And you can read the full 2014 Journal of Clinical Investigation study HERE.
[Image credit: Flickr]
