Australian bio-pharmaceutical company Zelda Therapeutics may have the answer to a good night’s sleep – medicinal cannabis.
One of the company’s oil-based cannabis formulations has been working well to treat insomnia in California for several years now. So well, in fact, that the company is now moving to start formal clinical studies in Australia and Chile.
Dr Stewart Washer, a stem cell scientist and executive director of Zelda Therapeutics, says medicinal cannabis has proven to be much more effective than other treatments for insomnia.
Importantly, unlike common tranquiliser-type drugs, it also creates a more natural sleep state.
“Our upcoming clinical studies will be conducted in a sleep laboratory, allowing us to measure its effect on brain waves, so that we can validate this strand of medicinal cannabis as a dependable and safe treatment for insomnia,” Dr Washer said.
“Everyone needs to get a good night’s sleep, and following these studies, we hope to have a new class of cannabis based treatment available for purchase next year,” he said.
According to a recent report, 39.8 per cent of Australian adults experience some form of inadequate sleep or sleep disorder. Those sleep disorders are thought to contribute to nearly 400 deaths per year that are caused by people falling asleep at the wheel or having an industrial accident.
“This lack of sleep had harmful effects on everyday function and exacerbated health conditions from heart disease and stroke, through to diabetes and depression in tens of thousands of Australians,” said Professor Dorothy Bruck, chair of the Sleep Health Foundation, which commissioned the report.
The results are especially concerning when considered alongside new research suggesting sleep is vital in allowing each cell, in every organ of the body, to continue to function.
Do you suffer from a sleep disorder? Would you be prepared to try medicinal cannabis to treat your sleep disorder?
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