According to a recent study, symptoms of Crohn’s Disease can be tackled with cannabis, even though neither CBD nor THC has a positive impact on gut inflammation, the primary cause of the Crohn’s Disease. The new research is the first to reveal that, contrary to the conventional medical opinion, cannabis consumption is indeed helpful in relieving Crohn Disease’s symptoms.
“We know that cannabinoids can have profound anti-inflammatory effects, but this study indicates that the improvement in symptoms may not be related to these anti-inflammatory properties,” explained Dr. Timna Naftali, who is a gastroenterology specialist at Tel Aviv University’s Meir Hospital and Kupat Holim Clinic in Israel, and the leading author of the new study.
Dr. Naftali presented the study’s report at the United European Gastroenterology annual meeting (UEG Week 2018), held in Vienna, Austria. According to Naftali, Crohn’s Disease is affecting 1.6 million people in the United States, attacking the gastrointestinal tract, or gut, causing inflammation.
Cannabis Can Relieve Symptoms And Improve Quality of Life in Individuals with Crohn’s Disease
In short, Crohn’s Disease is a very severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a medical condition that can attack any part of the gastrointestinal tract, negatively impacting the quality of life, causing constant diarrhea, bleeding, constipation, pain, and cramps in the abdomen.
Additionally, IBD causes fatigue, weight loss, night sweating, fever, and ulcerative colitis which hits the colon.
In the study, Dr. Naftali examined 46 people with Crohn’s Disease, who presented moderately-severe symptoms. The researchers divided the subjects into two equal groups. One group received an 8-week therapy with cannabis. According to the scientists, the group who got cannabis treatment presented 65 percent improvement in Crohn’s Disease symptoms, in comparison to only 35 percent of the placebo group.
“For now, however, we can only consider medicinal cannabis as an alternative or additional intervention that provides temporary symptom relief for some people with Crohn’s Disease,” said Dr. Naftali.
Vadim is a passionate writer on various topics but especially on stuff related to health, technology, and science. Therefore, for Great Lakes Ledger, Vadim will cover health and Sci&Tech news.