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27 doctor focus cannapatientcare.com july/august 2022 | cannabis patient care lives, even without being aware of it, and how it could be di- recting their attitudes towards their own health and healing. She explores the links people have formed about health con- ditions, even if they are not entirely valid. "What happens if a child at a very young age is told 'your grandmother has cancer and she's going to die'? Well, believe it or not, for the rest of life that two-year-old mind or three-year-old mind of the child says 'cancer equals death,'" she explained. Dr Hughes add- ed that even if this same person later in their life understands that there are treatments and that most people survive can- cer, that subconscious link can still linger and hinder. With autoimmune diseases in particular, subconscious be- liefs play a role in the body's ability to heal and deal. An au- toimmune disease is the body attacking itself, perceiving its own cells as an invader. It can involve several parts of the body, such as with lupus, or be contained to one part of the body. "Every person that I've ever treated with an autoimmune disease of some sort has had a quite a bit of this negative self-talk toward themselves," said Dr. Hughes. "There's this feeling of 'there's something of me defective.' And what does the body do if there's something defective? It tries to elimi- nate it." The negative self-talk parallels the self-destruction of the disease, both potentially influencing each other. Part of the solution then becomes overcoming this type of negative internal dialogue and beginning a "radical reform." Dr. Hughes said that her patients are sometimes hesitant to share their method of healing with their friends and family due to its un- conventional nature, but accepting help and coaching with an open mind is key to starting on the path to better health. How CBD Fits In While part of her practice involves exploring and resetting subconscious beliefs and their impact on health, another important part of her practice involves treatment with CBD oil. Dr. Hughes first learned about the cannabinoid years ago and it gave her a new option for promoting health. "I came across a medical article on CBD in a journal, a review article on the use of CBD in skin, and I thought, this is powerful stuff that has multiple beneficial effects. Something that regulates the production and the growth of the skin. It has a broad window of safe usage amounts, it's hard to overdose on it, and doesn't cause sensitivity if it's used on the skin," she said. The unique properties of CBD oil paired well, she not- ed, with what skin needs to function well. As Dr. Hughes ex- plained, the top layer of the epidermis keeps the human body waterproof, allergen proof, and irritant proof. With inflamma- tion, though, that protective barrier is disrupted and in need of repair, especially if conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, and dandruff are already present. "CBD actually in- teracts with the inflammatory cascade, as it's called in physi- ology, at multiple points to decrease inflammation. It doesn't have to go deep into the body to have an effect because it's literally skin deep. That's one really exciting part of CBD," said Dr. Hughes. Additionally, it also regulates the cell maturation and helps reform the skin barrier. "In the world of skincare, there are no products other than prescription medications that do that. There are none." Thinking that the anti-inflammatory and anti-itch prop- erties of CBD should be explored more, Dr. Hughes began to "tinker in her kitchen," testing quantity amounts and per- centages to create skin care products containing CBD oil that would help people with common inflammatory skin condi- tions. From the initial tests to the creation of the final product to then perfecting the product, the whole process took sever- al years, but eventually she produced a scalp oil to treat dan- druff. Different than a traditional dandruff shampoo, it delivers oil directly to the scalp to help repair the natural skin barri- er. "The skin barrier repair function is a game changer, even for conditions such as chapped lips or dishpan hands–that's a skin barrier repair problem," Dr. Hughes explained. "This is dermatologic magic. So, why aren't we using it more?" Challenges, Obstacles, and Overcoming With the success of her new discoveries came challenges and obstacles within the medical community around the acceptance of using or studying the effects of cannabis or CBD as treat- ment. For starters, once Dr. Hughes finalized her CBD scalp oil product, she encountered the challenge of finding a licensed facility willing to produce it. After a couple of years, she found a physician through a networking event who was interested in "I'm for what works," Dr. Hughes said. "If it's not harming you and you're better, I am for what works. I'm never going to tell a person to stop doing something that is clearly improving their lives."