“Cannabis (or marijuana) has been used in traditional medicine to treat intestinal inflammation. A survey by Ravikoff Allegretti et al. at a specialized IBD clinic shows that, in the USA, marijuana is used by a substantial number of patients with IBD to alleviate their symptoms.”
http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrgastro.2013.245.html
More and more, researchers are investigating the beneficial effects of marijuana on a variety of diseases. In Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology this week, researchers in Israel reported their findings from a study of how cannabis affects patients with Crohn’s disease.
Cannabis sativa has been reported to benefit inflammatory bowel diseases, the researchers wrote. The team wanted to see if it was possible to induce remission in Crohn’s patients through cannabis treatment…
… a short course (8 weeks) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects,” the team wrote. “Further studies, with larger patient groups and a non-smoking mode of intake, are warranted.”
Read more: http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/15508/20130514/marijuana-thc-crohnsdisease-cannabis.htm
In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, an 8-week treatment regimen involving daily smoking of marijuana ‘cigarettes’ resulted in a reduction in overall disease severity in 10 of the 11 patients that were studied. 5 of these patients experienced complete remission of their disease.
The results were published online in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and authored by scientists at the Meir Medical Clinical in Israel. Israel has one of the most fastest growing medical marijuana programs in the world, with over 11,000 registered patients as of today — up from just 400 in 2009.
While the researchers say that their study was the first placebo-controlled trial — the “gold standard” when it comes to medical research — to investigate the effects of marijuana use on patients with Crohn’s disease, other studies have produced similar results.
Based on findings from both animal and human research, experts suggest that cannabis could play a role in the treatment of Crohn’s and other inflammatory bowel diseases by regulating intestinal hyperactivity, inflammation and pain.
Marijuana’s medical properties come directly from compounds known as cannabinoids, including the well-known tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) molecule. Interestingly, the cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant have been shown to mimic the activity of endocannabinoids – cannabinoids that are produced naturally by the human body.
Similarly, studies have identified a variety of digestive functions that can be modulated by cannabinoid activity, especially in inflammatory disease states.
Although the findings of the current study provide considerable support for the use of marijuana as a Crohn’s disease treatment, the authors call for more studies to “look into the role of cannabinoids in controlling inflammation and symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease.”
Indeed, larger studies may be able to provide stronger confirmation or perhaps refute the findings of the newest study, which failed to demonstrate complete remission of Crohn’s in the majority of the treatment group.
Still, the authors concluded their research by stating, “a short course of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active Crohn’s disease, compared to placebo, without side effects.””
“Marijuana – scientific name “cannabis” – performed like a champ in the first-ever placebo-controlled trial of the drug to treat Crohn’s Disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.”
“The disease of the digestive tract afflicts 400,000 – 600,000 people in North America alone causing abdominal pain, diarrhea (which can be bloody), severe vomiting, weight loss, as well as secondary skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration.
Smoking pot caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s disease compared to placebo in half the patients who lit up for eight weeks, according to clinical trial data to be published the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Researchers at Israel’s Meir Medical Center took 21 people with intractable, severe Crohn’s disease and gave 11 of them two joints a day for eight weeks. “The standardized cannabis cigarettes” contained 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD (cannabidiol). (Such marijuana is available on dispensary shelves in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities that have regulated access to the drug.) The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.
Investigators reported that smoking weed caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s Disease in five of the 11 subjects. Another five of the eleven test subjects saw their Crohn’s Disease symptoms cut in half. Furthermore, “subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.”
The study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the consumption of cannabis for the treatment of Crohn’s, notes NORML. All of the patients had intractable forms of the disease and did not respond to conventional treatments. Still, the United States government claims that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and has no medical use. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is waging a war on safe access to medical cannabis in the Bay Area.”
“Smoking cannabis may be key in treating Crohn’s disease, research suggest.
In a recent trial marijuana was shown to induce ‘complete remission’ for patients suffering from the condition, which is also known as inflammatory bowel disease.
Scientists at Meir Medical Center, Israel, studied 21 people with severe Crohn’s disease who did not respond to various therapies.
They split the patients into two groups: 11 were given a joint to smoke twice a day for eight weeks, while 10 were given a placebo cigarette which contained no trace of cannabinoids.
A ‘complete remission’ of Crohn’s disease was recorded in 5/11 (45%) of the cannabis group and 1/10 in the placebo group.
A total of 10/11 patients in the cannabis group responded to the clinical trial with Crohn’s symptoms (which include pain, diarrhoea, tiredness and weight loss) significantly reduced.
In addition, study authors wrote: “Subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.”
“Further studies, with larger patient groups and a non-smoking mode of intake, are warranted,” they added.”
Please Note: The title of this article has been changed to “Could Cannabis Cure Crohn’s Disease?”
Abstract
“Cannabinoid receptors of type 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2), endogenous ligands that activate them (endocannabinoids), and mechanisms for endocannabinoid biosynthesis and inactivation have been identified in the gastrointestinal system. Activation of CB1 receptors by endocannabinoids produces relaxation of the lower oesophageal sphincter and inhibition of gastric acid secretion, intestinal motility, and fluid stimulated secretion. However, stimulation of cannabinoid receptors impacts on gastrointestinal functions in several other ways. Recent data indicate that the endocannabinoid system in the small intestine and colon becomes over stimulated during inflammation in both animal models and human inflammatory disorders. The pathological significance of this “endocannabinoid overactivity” and its possible exploitation for therapeutic purposes are discussed here.”
“The endocannabinoid system of the gastrointestinal tract includes not only cannabinoid receptors but also endogenous agonists of these receptors, as well as mechanisms for their biosynthesis and inactivation”
“The main psychotropic constituent of the plant Cannabis sativa and marijuana, Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol, exerts its pharmacological effects by activating two G protein coupled cannabinoid receptors.1These are the CB1 receptor, present in central and peripheral nerves (including the human enteric nervous system), and the CB2 receptor, expressed abundantly in immune cells. In rodents, CB1 receptor immunoreactivity has been detected in discrete nuclei of the dorsovagal complex (involved in emesis), and in efferents from the vagal ganglia and in enteric (myenteric and submucosal) nerve terminals where they inhibit excitatory (mainly cholinergic) neurotransmission. In vivo pharmacological studies have shown that activation of CB1 receptors reduces emesis, produces inhibition of gastric acid secretion8 and relaxation of the lower oesophageal sphincter (two effects that might be beneficial in the treatment of gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease), and inhibits intestinal motility and secretion. Consistent with immunohistochemical data showing that CB2 receptors are particularly evident in colonic tissues from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), evidence suggests that CB2 inhibits intestinal motility during certain pathological states.1″
“…endocannabinoids convey protection from enteric hypersecretory states (for example, cholera toxin induced diarrhoea), which is in agreement with anecdotal reports from folk medicine on the use of Cannabis sativa in the treatment of diarrhoea.“
“Overactivity of the endocannabinoid system is becoming a well established concept in human intestinal conditions with an inflammatory component”
“The inhibitory effects of cannabinoids on intestinal inflammation, as well as on intestinal motility and secretory diarrhoea, observed in preclinical studies, increase the potential for their use in the treatment of IBD”
“There is great potential for the development of new therapeutic agents against intestinal inflammation from the endocannabinoid system”
“Conclusions: new therapies for the treatment of IBD from the endocannabinoid system”