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A new study found that cannabis oil improves significantly Crohn's disease symptoms. Surprisingly, the effect does not seem to be due to cannabis' anti-inflammatory properties.
Anecdotal reports suggest to Dr. Timna Naftali, a gastroenterologist and a professor at Tel Aviv University, that it seems that Crohn's disease. Naftali thought that the effect may be related to cannabinoid action that reduces inflammation in the gut, so she and colleagues set out to investigate this connection.
What is Crohn's disease?
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the digestive tract, gastrointestinal gold (GI) tract. In fact, Crohn's can affect any part of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it is more commonly found at the end of the small intestine (the ileum) where it joins the beginning of the large intestine (or colon) .
It is important to note that IBD disease, such as Crohn's, with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is a different type of disorder that affects the muscles contractions of the bowel. IBS is not characterized by intestinal inflammation, nor is it a chronic disease.
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The Israeli researchers performed a randomized, placebo-controlled study involving 50 participants with severe forms of the disease. Each participant was given a dose of cannabis oil containing a 4: 1 CBD to THC ratio.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the dozens of cannabinoid compounds found in the cannabis plant. CBD interacts with the receptors of the endocannabinoid system, predominantly the CB1 and CB2 receptors that are found mainly in the brain and immune cells. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active substance found in marijuana, which is responsible for its psychoactive effect. Unlike THC, CBD is not only non-psychoactive, goal it actually blocks the high one typically experiences when ingesting cannabis.
The researchers found that 65% of the participants who were given the cannabis oil entered clinical remission. This group also reported significant improvements in their quality of life. Only 35% of the placebo group offers the end of the study.
In 2011, Naftali performed a small observational study involving 30 Crohn's disease patients in Israel, which found that those who smoked 1-3 joints daily reported a positive effect on their disease severity. Patients do not actually have to smoke to get benefits, however. As the new study shows, there is a lot of options in the market, and the best CBD oil can be challenging.
But despite the symptomatic improvements, the researchers found that the CBD does not have any effect on the inflammation that is responsible for the disease. – surprising, as cannabis is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. Perhaps cannabinoids interact with a person's biology in such a way that it treats Crohn's disease symptoms without actually interfering with inflammation.
"Naftali" We have previously demonstrated that we can produce measurable improvements in the incidence of nonsteroidal cancer. " said in a statement.
"We know that cannabinoids can have profound anti-inflammatory effects but this study indicates that the symptoms may be related to these anti-inflammatory properties," the researcher added.
In the future, Naftali and colleagues plan to investigate cannabis' anti-inflammatory properties on other IBDs.
"There are many reasons for believing that the endocannabinoid system is a potential therapeutic target in Crohn's disease and other gastrointestinal diseases," Dr. Naftali said. "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."
The findings have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal. Researchers presented their findings recently at UEG Week Vienna, 2018.
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