Cannabis Could Be Reversing Damage to Arthritic Joints
By admin - October 28, 2018
Patients report that cannabis puts arthritis into
remission, so the Arthritis Society funds the
research to find out if it’s true.
There’s good news for the 54 million people
who suffer from arthritis:
A study commissioned by The Arthritis
Society is investigating avenues toward
developing breakthrough therapies using
medical cannabis.
Canadian researcher, Dr. Jason McDougall,
received a Strategic Operating Grant from the
organisation to complete a three-year study on
the ability of cannabis to effectively repair
arthritic joints.
McDougall is a professor of pharmacology
and anaesthesia at Dalhousie University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, and one of the world’s
foremost pain researchers.
The study aims to discover if cannabis-based
medicine does more than simply dulls pain for
arthritis suffers—what if it can actually
reverse the damage?
It’s the first research funded by the
organisation to look directly into therapies
derived from medical cannabis.
“People living with arthritis pain are looking
for alternatives to improve their quality of
life,” said Janet Yale, president and CEO of
The Arthritis Society. “We need research to
help answer the many important questions
around medical cannabis and its use.
Our goal is to give people the ability to make
informed choices about their treatment
options and to give physicians evidence-based
guidelines
to
make
treatment
recommendations for their patients.
This project is an important step to achieving
these goals.”
The research builds on previous work from
Chinese scientists who found that not only do
arthritic joints contain extremely high
concentrations of CB2 receptors, but that
those sites also suggest a pathway for
treatment.
What is a CB2 receptor? In layman’s terms,
CB2 is a molecule in the cell wall that acts as
a doorway for cannabinoids to enter the cell.
It’s the cell’s way of flagging down helpful
particles that circulate past it during the day-
to-day functioning of the body.
While the body produces its own
endocannabinoids that can attach and work on
a cell through CB2 receptors, cannabis-based
medicine also has the ability to walk through
the same door.
Researchers believe this may be the reason
why cannabis is effective in treating disorders
like rheumatoid arthritis.
The thinking goes like this: If cannabis-based
medicine can use CB2 receptors to move
inside of cells and directly affect the firing of
pain signals in the joints, can the medicine
also repair joint damage while it’s there?
There are plenty of reasons to think so.
A study in the journal Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B found
that the body’s endocannabinoid system
releases antioxidants that help repair damaged
cells when it becomes triggered by outside
cannabinoids.
And anecdotal evidence, such as the story of
a Maine woman whose use of cannabis
smoothies led to so much relief that her
rheumatoid arthritis symptoms went into
remission, provide further thought-provoking
justifications to delve deeper into the
treatment possibilities of cannabis.
What’s more: businesses are jumping on the
bandwagon. Canadian medical cannabis
companies Aphria, Inc. and the Peace
Naturals Project have each pledged $100,000