What is the Endocannabinoid System (ECS)?
Within our bodies, there is a network of receptors that cannabis interacts with in order to produce therapeutic effects. This internal network is called the endocannabinoid system (ECS).
The ECS is a big deal, you guys! The function of the ECS is the reason that cannabis provides medicinal benefits to suffering people, and deeper research and understanding of the ECS in recent years underscores the therapeutic value of the cannabis plant.
About the ECS
The ECS is a homeostatic communication system in our bodies that researchers have yet to fully understand but is known to play a vital role in our mood, appetite, pain-sensation, and memory among other major functions in the body.
Did you know? The Endocannabinoid System is the largest receptor system in the human body!
The primary function of the ECS is to maintain homeostasis in response to excess oxidative stress or health-altering events. When the body experiences a pain event, or a health disrupting event (such as injury or significant onset of stress), the ECS initiates a rapid response by opening up communication pathways that allow the body to start healing the area of concern. Basically, when something in the body is “off”, the ECS kicks into gear and begins its balancing act.
The ECS is active in every body, regardless of whether or not someone has consumed cannabis. The endocannabinoid system is akin to the internet, as it functions like a fiber-optic network from head to toe, finger to finger. You could also consider the endocannabinoid to be the body’s “supercomputer”.
The ECS is present in about a dozen centers in our brain that have to do with energy metabolism, emotional response to adverse memories, pain perception, and memory storage. The ECS oversees many brain functions, including movement, emotions, memory, pain, pleasure, and reproduction. In fact, ECS receptors are the most common receptors in the brain, more than any other neurotransmitter system.
As important as the effects on the brain, the ECS has receptors in every organ system in the body. The ECS oversees immune function, blood sugar, the behavior of muscle and fat tissues, hormone levels, perception of pain and pleasure, and metabolic functions. It maintains heartbeat, lung function, digestion, the sleep-wake cycle, appetite regulation, and the speed at which bones heal. It enables us to forget pain and rewards us for eating and having sex.
Here are a few of the bodily functions managed by the ECS: Aversive memory removal (essentially, the ability to let go of painful memories), hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis modulation (responsible for stress management control), immunomodulation, wake and sleep cycles, blood pressure, bone density, tumor reduction, reproduction (including the desire to have sex), and neuroprotection.
The two main receptors in the endocannabinoid system are called CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors are primarily found in the brain and the central nervous system and the CB2 receptors are found in tissues throughout the body. Both receptors are what’s called “G protein” receptors, or cells that are responsible for sending messages throughout the greater cell network. The CB1 receptor is the mechanism through which cannabis provides psychoactivity and modulation of memory, appetite, pain, and sleep, and CB2 receptor activation is responsible for immune regulation and a reduction in inflammation.
Endocannabinoids, the cannabinoid molecules that are created by the body, fit into cannabinoid receptors like locks into a key. Endocannabinoids either interact with allosteric or orthosteric “ports” on the cannabinoid receptors. The terms orthosteric and allosteric refer to how a substance binds with an internal receptor site. Orthosteric ports including the primary, active receptor site and allosteric ports are found along the protein surface. When endocannabinoids bind to cannabinoid cells, it creates a cascade of neurotransmitter activity and signaling that kicks the balancing act of the ECS into gear.
When patients do not have a healthy endocannabinoid tone (meaning they have an imbalance of endocannabinoids available in the body), it is beneficial for them to supplement with the externally sourced phytocannabinoids contained within the cannabis plant. Phytocannabinoids, including the famous molecules THC and CBD, work together to increase a patient’s endocannabinoid tone and the adaptability of their internal endocannabinoid system.
Now that we understand more about the endocannabinoid system, medical practitioners are able to theorize to the extent that this knowledge can be leveraged for the betterment of human health. The link between endocannabinoid health and general health is a concept that will likely contribute to better care and treatment for ailing populations in the future.
For more about the endocannabinoid system, check out this downloadable resource from MM411: The Human Endocannabinoid System
Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency (CECD)
Now that researchers know about the endocannabinoid system, the cannabis-conscious healthcare community has been able to consider how to provide better treatments for a group of diseases known as Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency (CECD).
You might be thinking, why would someone have a deficiency in internal cannabinoids, and why does it matter? Well, it turns out there are some pretty negative implications when we don’t have enough cannabinoids coursing through our cells.
There are many reasons that someone’s endocannabinoid system may not be functioning properly without intervention. For instance, chronic stress can lead to ECS disruption. CBD and other cannabinoids are likely to play a major role in the treatment of CECD in the future.
Dr. Ethan Russo first theorized the existence of CECD in 2003. He noted that medical cannabis had therapeutic benefits for several conditions, including migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other neurological conditions. He noticed that exogenous cannabinoid treatment (ie: consuming cannabis) frequently provided symptomatic benefits to these conditions that otherwise failed to respond to standard pharmacotherapy.
Dr. Russo also noted that many brain disorders are associated with neurotransmitter deficiencies, affecting acetylcholine in Alzheimer's disease, dopamine in parkinsonian syndromes, and serotonin and norepinephrine in depression, and that a comparable deficiency in endocannabinoid levels may result in syndromes depending on where the endocannabinoid tone was deficient in the patient.
Russo concluded that these conditions that responded so well to cannabis therapy were resultant from the patient having an insufficient amount of endocannabinoids in their body, and so he called these conditions “clinical endocannabinoid deficiency” syndromes (CECD).
Dr. Russo did not specifically include anxiety as one of the CECD in his original paper in 2003. However, in the most recent update of his work, he linked anxiety, depression, and PTSD to endocannabinoid deficiencies.
Dr. Russo’s work accentuates the need to fully analyze the role in cannabinoid therapy for improving the lives of patients suffering from conditions created by an endocannabinoid deficiency. The time for normalizing cannabis as healthcare is now… there are so many people out there who will benefit!
For more on CECD, check out this report summarizing Dr. Ethan Russo’s work on the topic: Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD) revisited.
The resource linked from this post, the Human Endocannabinoid System, was sourced from MM411, the cannabis education company that hosted my Medical Cannabis Consultant Certification. Thank you to MM411 for the permission to share this resource.