Robert: Hi, I'm Robert Seik, chief science officer of Hytiva.
Robert: Today I'm with UFC Hall of Famer, Stephan Bonnar.
Robert: Who's had a 15 year career in professional fighting sports, marquee fights.
Robert: Stephan, give us a little summary of your fighting career.
Stephan: All right.
Stephan: Fought pro from 2001 to 2015 also had a amateur boxing career.
Stephan: Won, two Chicago golden will have titles at super heavyweight.
Stephan: 2002 and 2004. Fought in the UFC, close to 10 years. Fought seven world champions total.
Stephan: The who's who of the sport and train with the who's who of the sport.
Stephan: So, a lot of shots to the head from the best.
Robert: Well, yeah, then that's right.
Robert: Brutal training, brutal fights as you've had.
Robert: And today we're here to talk a little bit about CBD or cannabidiol for the potential
Robert: to treat TBI other symptoms of concussive syndrome, which you and I have talked to before.
Robert: You definitely had some of that after your long and brutal career.
Robert: So give us interviewers a little quick summary of what you felt.
Stephan: Honestly, it was, it was subtle and it kind of crept along in 2013, when I first retired maybe one or two nights
Stephan: a week, I would have trouble falling asleep.
Stephan: And then when I woke up, I couldn't go back to bed.
Stephan: When I retired for good in 2015, it was just about every night.
Stephan: And on top of that, my memory was really bad.
Stephan: It was more from hearing stories from other people like, "Oh, you don't remember? We totally,
Stephan: had this conversation."
Stephan: And then I'm getting lost too, where I'd forget where I was going in my car.
Stephan: And those three things, the sleep, the memory, the confusion getting lost, are probably
Stephan: the three most notable side effects.
Robert: And these are all common symptoms of TBI and concussive syndrome.
Robert: And what we wanted to talk about today, CBD cannabidiol, we just want to inform everyone
Robert: what that is.
Robert: CBD is cannabidiol.
Robert: And it's actually one of many phytocannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, although it is
Robert: the predominant one.
Robert: But what's interesting to note is that the human body has its own endogenous cannabinoid
Robert: system or endocannabinoid system.
Robert: And research.
Robert: One of the first studies has actually shown that there is an endocannabinoid system and
Robert: that these cannabinoids could have potential benefit in brain injury
Robert: was published in 1998 in the publication of the National Academy of Sciences.
Robert: And it showed that people who suffered from stroke or loss of circulation to parts of
Robert: the brain CBD actually provided some benefit.
Robert: The endocannabinoids provided some benefit in actually reducing the symptoms of injury.
Robert: So let's get right to it.
Robert: You had symptoms for years, someone talked to you about trying a CBD product.
Robert: And what we want to know is what did you try?
Robert: How did you use it and what changes did you notice?
Stephan: Well I used to CBD oil, and it was for insomnia.
Stephan: To be honest with you.
Stephan: I just wanted something to help me go to bed.
Stephan: I wasn't so worried about the concussions.
Stephan: Cause I had retired at this point.
Stephan: I didn't really put everything together about the trauma that I had taken in the CBD might be.
Stephan: I was just trying to get to bed to be honest with you.
Stephan: And I, I didn't take it.
Stephan: I just kind of took it sporadically.
Stephan: But then, um, I probably, after about six months to take it on a regular basis, it was
Stephan: like, wow.
Stephan: I think, I think this stuff's working.
Robert: So 15 year brutal career, six months of usinga product and you notice some benefits.
Robert: Well, what you said echoes some of the emerging research.
Robert: So emerging or preliminary search is not enough to say that CBD is going to be approved as
Robert: a drug for treating TBI or concussive syndrome.
Robert: But what we do know is that not only athletes like Stephan.
Robert: Other professional athletes in the NFL and the NBA have also said they want access to
Robert: CBD and also medical marijuana products specifically for brain injury.
Robert: And why, because other research that is emerging shows that what does CBD do?
Robert: So we have our endogenous cannabinoid system.
Robert: And if we introduce CBD that.
Robert: You took like a product we could potentially provide more protective benefits.
Robert: So what is it doing?
Robert: Some of the emerging research shows that CBD products actually remove harmful mediators
Robert: that happen in response to injury.
Robert: The cells get damaged and there are harmful mediators that cause damage to other cells.
Robert: There's also inflammation in the areas.
Robert: Which CBD can help reduce and brain injuries often help when you can improve circulation.
Robert: And in response to brain injury, the body releases its own endogenous, cannabinoids,
Robert: and other studies have shown that people who have sustained traumatic brain injury that
Robert: may have already had.
Robert: CBD or combination CBD THC products on board are actually less prone to having more severe
Robert: symptoms from that injury.
Robert: So there's definitely enough interest from other professional sports organizations.
Robert: And there's a lot of public interest too, which is why we're making this video on CBD.
Robert: So if you would like to learn more about CBD and its potential usefulness for TBI concussive
Robert: syndrome and other issues, please go to the Hytiva learning center at Hytiva.com.
Robert: We have a whole CBD video series.
Robert: So thanks for tuning into this one today.