Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding reveals CBD is helping her through cancer battle

Pop star Sarah Harding has revealed that CBD oil is helping her through her struggle with cancer.

The former Girls Aloud member was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and has revealed the disease has spread to other parts of her body.

In March, Harding stunned fans by disclosing she expected last Christmas would ‘probably be her last’.

The 39-year-old star has shed further light on her treatment in her new memoir, Hear Me Out, according to the Daily Mirror.

Harding reveals how she turned to CBD oil after being recommended it by another pop star: Duncan James from the group Blue.

She wrote: “He’d used it after he suffered a massive back injury, while he was doing drag and wearing heels in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.

“I figured that if it was something that could help Duncan in that situation, then I should definitely give it a go.”

Cancer patients looking to alleviate symptoms of the disease or offset side effects of treatments are increasingly turning to CBD oil.

Last year, researchers at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute in Australia found that a modified form of medicinal cannabis can kill cancer cells without impacting normal cells in the body.

Cannabis containing higher levels of CBD was shown to be more effective at killing cancer cells than THC, indicating it could be used as a potential treatment.

Medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS are rare but there is a large amount of anecdotal evidence of patients self-prescribing legal lifestyle CBD products.

According to data published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology Reports, at the end of last year, the majority of gynecologic oncology patients reported medical cannabis products were either as effective or more effective than prescription medications at mitigating symptoms of cancer and cancer-related treatments.

Macmillan Cancer Support are cautious over whether or not to recommend cancer patients try the products but accept there may be benefits for some patients.

The charity states on its website: “There are a number of examples where people say that using CBD oil has had a dramatic effect on their health.

“But these are individual stories and not based on clinical research trials.

“If you are thinking of using CBD oil, we suggest you talk to your healthcare team.”