Results
On average, participants were 40.8 (SD 11.69) years old, and 51 (58%) were male. Most participants had schizophrenia (N=83, 94%), and the others had schizoaffective disorder (N=3, 3%), schizophreniform disorder (N=1, 1%), or delusional disorder (N=1, 1%). Baseline outcome measures were similar between groups.
At treatment end, participants receiving CBD:
Had a slight improvement in their positive psychotic symptoms (PANSS positive score difference = -1.4, 95% CI -2.5 to -0.2, p=0.02)
Their negative symptoms showed no statistically significant improvement
They were also more likely to be rated as improved and less severely unwell by clinicians (CGI-I treatment difference = -0.5 (95% CI = -0.8 to -0.1); CGI-S treatment difference = -0.3 (95% CI -0.5 to 0.0))
CBD had a beneficial impact on cognition (BACS treatment difference = 1.31 (95% CI -0.1 to 2.72, p=0.07) and reduced the day-to-day impact of illness (GAF treatment difference = 3.0 (95% CI -0.4 to 6.4 p=0.08), but these results were not quite statistically significant
CBD was well tolerated by participants, and there was no significant change in weight or cholesterol measures in either group
Rates of adverse events were similar between CBD and placebo groups.
Conclusions
McGuire et al. found that CBD had a beneficial, but modest, impact on positive psychotic symptoms and severity of illness when delivered as an adjunctive treatment to existing antipsychotic treatment. They also reported an improvement to cognition and the impact of patients’ illness on their day-to-day lives, which although only approaching statistical significance, may suggest a possible beneficial effect. However, they found no impact on negative psychotic symptoms.
Overall, these results suggest that CBD has an antipsychotic effect in schizophrenia when delivered as an adjunct treatment. However, this effect appears to be very modest and limited to only positive psychotic symptoms
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…existing antipsychotic treatment. You could probably say that about minerals or vitamins with placebo.
NO impact on negs…which is half the modern battle. Lots of rubbish out there on cannabis. I don’t think it’s good for psychotics. Some still persist but you’d wonder how well they’d do without. Bit like alcohol and other crutches!
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Yeah good for some. Really made my depression go away but then there’s dependence and not good for psychotics.
Don’t get me wrong. I think all drugs should be legal. Go get your heroin from a doctor. At least your getting medical help and shooting rooms will save lives.
Saying that. Lots of bulldust with cannabis. It really should be a social issue and not a legal one! For schizophrenics it’s just not such a good move!
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I wonder the level of positive psychotic traits were among the research participants. If their primary antipsychotic already lowered psychotic traits there may not have been much psychosis to reduce to begin with. A standalone trial with psychotic individuals would more efficiently determine if cbd is effective or not. Using cbd as an adjunct could theoretically be ineffective from interactions between drugs, being how cbd and other antipsychotics have different dynamics. Idk, I just hope it works. The concept of a side effect free medication is very appealing
Double blind is the standard.
If it isn’t then it’s rubbish. Yeah symptom free is great but welcome to the real world. Cannabis isn’t that great but buy into that rubbish. Seriously. It’s good for making paper and good for many things like depression but for psychotic disorders it’s poison.
Some will persist though. Makes you Think. How good will you do without it…that is the key!
I have no doubt that was accounted for. I sense these results are going to be treated with scepticism by those hell bent on seeing CBD as the next best thing for the treatment of psychosis , and who are of a somewhat anti meds mindset.
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It’s worth being skeptical about because there are other studies like the one mentioned in this article http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/30/marijuana-compound-treats-schizophrenia-with-few-side-effects-clinical-trial/
Patients in a psychotic episode were given ether a more traditional antipsychotic or were given cbd. At the end of the study both groups received significant improvement. If CBD were an ineffective antipsychotic that study shouldn’t have found what it did. From my knowledge it was cbd monotherapy too. And the cbd group had less side effects too.
I will agree people will get near religious about the efficacy of cbd. Thinking it can cure something like tinnitus to which I can vouch it has no such effect. There was another study I found that demonstrated cbd couldn’t help treatment resistant schizophrenia sufferers. So cbd definitely has its limits.
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The article I posted said its effects were ‘very modest’ not that it was ineffective.
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The article I posted showed people with psychosis making significant improvement on symptoms taking only cbd which is different than modest results . So ether there would be something up with the study you brought up or the one I did. And being how your study had patients who were already receiving treatment via antipsychotics, I would imagine the problem is in your study. The difference in results may be because the majority of psychotic ailments were already treated by the other antipsychotic so the-cbd had little symptoms to treat. Or any symptoms left were the most treatment resistant symptoms the sufferer had left, symptoms any antipsychotics would have trouble treating.
As said previously that would have been accounted for when measuring the degree of effect
It might be taken into consideration or it might not. The only way to know is to read the full study and I don’t have access to it. I read the abstract though and the conclusion there seemed more optimistic so they may have considered it.
If you are really suffering on meds then achieving even a modest improvement in cognition is a bonus, and with any improvement against positive symptoms; and people in this situation should take advantage of every opportunity available.
What is the dosage of the cbd in this study? does anyone know? Thanks
1000 mgs/day 15 characters
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It is quite pricey! £65 for 60 capsules at 900mg. So £32.50 a month.
https://www.healthspan.co.uk/products/super-strength-cbd-oil-15mg#/?pack size=60
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Great you found it. Yeah they did take it in to consideration. In the discussion section the researcher says along the lines that although the effects were Modest, they were in people already been treated with proper dosages of antipsychotics. So the results were still displaying valid antipsychotic properties.
There was no dispute about that. Even a very modest effect on top of antipsychotic use is a positive one.
Idc what yall say im trying it when i move to a place where i can get it. Black and milds and vapes are just not cutting it for my smoking habits so i just quit 
Just to clarify here, this is not a study on cannabis and schizophrenia. It’s cannabidiol (CBD). The CBD they used did not have any THC in it, which is probably the big no no when it comes to cannabis and schizophrenia.
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