Desperate times call for sensible measures.
Despite the arrival of vaccines, waves of covid keep on coming – and the doctors and hospital staff on the frontlines are burning out.
The go-to pharmacological treatments for emotional distress, depression, insomnia, anxiety and PTSD (such as antidepressants) take several weeks to kick in.
Our heroes on the covid front need something fast acting and effective, particularly before compassion fatigue sets in and ICU staff start to make snarky comments about the unvaccinated.
That’s the thinking behind a Brazilian study, which investigated the benefits and side effects of giving CBD to covid healthcare workers.
In the study, a group of 120 physicians, nurses, and physical therapists were randomised to receive either 300mg of CBD plus standard care or standard care alone for 28 days.
Those taking CBD had substantial reductions in their levels of emotional exhaustion at day 14, day 21 and day 28 compared with those not taking CBD.
However, the five people with side effects such as elevated liver enzymes and severe pharmacodermia were all in the CBD arm.
“In this study, CBD therapy reduced symptoms of burnout and emotional exhaustion among health care professionals working with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors said.
“However, it is necessary to balance the benefits of CBD therapy with potential undesired or adverse effects. Future double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm the present findings.”
But we all know laughter is the best medicine. So why don’t you send Back Page story tips to felicity@medicalrepublic.com.au.
