By Sarah Klein
The Philadelphia Tribune
https://www.phillytrib.com/
You might think it’s “just” marijuana, but the cannabis plant is actually made up of more than 560 compounds, more than 100 of which are considered cannabinoids. And there’s a reason people have been using this plant for more than 1,000 years for its feel-good and medicinal properties. These chemicals have a similar structure to the molecules our bodies naturally make and operate in the endocannabinoid system, a cellular network that’s involved in regulating sleep, pain, inflammatory and immune responses, and hunger.
The two most prominent cannabinoids in marijuana — and most studied for their effects in the human body — are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and cannabidiol, or CBD. Both have therapeutic potential for various health concerns, but there’s still a lot we don’t know.
