News: Can marijuana treat the symptoms of Crohn’s Disease?

A new study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, suggests that cannabis could help relieve symptoms of Crohn’s Disease, a lifelong chronic illness that causes abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and lack of energy.

That’s good news for sufferers, especially considering there is currently no cure.

Researchers studied 21 patients with Crohn’s Disease. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first group was given cannabis cigarettes twice a day, the second group was given a  placebo containing cannabis flowers from which the THC had been removed.

“A short course (8 week) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects,” the study’s authors wrote.

The most promising part?

“Complete remission was achieved by 5/11 subjects in the cannabis group.”

Crohn’s patients aren’t the only ones who can benefit from marijuana’s medical properties, according to new research.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine, suggests that marijuana can lower the risk of diabetes as well.

Marijuana users have lower fasting insulin levels, Murray Mittleman, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study told Time Healthland. They are “less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood sugar level,’ he says.

According to Health Canada, medical marijuana can also be used to manage symptoms like severe pain, cachexia, anorexia, weight loss, and severe nausea from cancer; arthritis pain; seizures from epilepsy; and pain and muscle spasms from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis.

Still, it’s important to keep in mind that marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, and high levels of an enzyme that converts certain smoke components into their most cancer-causing forms – so it’s not for recreational use.

That being said, would you consider using medical marijuana to treat symptoms of a disease or ailment?

-Katharine Watts, associate web editor

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