In the last few decades, both the medical community and the general public have come to recognize marijuana as a potential medication.
Many thanks to the academic studies and investigations that made the world aware of its medicinal benefits. In addition, the legalization of marijuana in Canada has made it possible for people to use the drug for medical purposes.
Cannabis has become an alternate way to manage the symptoms like pain, trouble sleep, vomiting and other minor health issues.
In this blog, we will discuss how marijuana can help you ease the symptoms of IBD disease like Crohn’s.
Managing Nausea, Vomiting, and Diarrhea:
Crohn’s disease causes various symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and nausea which can be common in IBD.
Sometimes, these symptoms are unbearable for the patients, disturbing their quality of life. Cannabis can help manage all these debilitating symptoms. Even oncology has confirmed its role in minimizing the symptoms of nausea caused by chemotherapy. Many studies have proved that cannabis can reduce vomiting and nausea.
Reducing Pain:
Pain is a common symptoms occurring in IBD diseases like Chron’s Disease.
Cannabinoid receptors have been studied for anti-inflammatory and pain relief throughout the body of animals. These studies have found that cannabinoids can prevent nerve problems like pain, swelling, numbness and tingling caused by chemotherapy.
Decreasing Complications:
Even while many people with chronic inflammatory bowel disease lead healthy, happy lives, the disease process can occasionally lead to complications that are both severe and fatal.
Cannabis users had lower rates of active fistulizing illness, intra-abdominal abscesses, blood product transfusions, colectomies, and parenteral nutrition needs, according to a retrospective cohort research published in 2019.
According to the study’s findings, cannabis use among hospital inpatients “may attenuate several of the well-described consequences of Crohn’s disease. These effects may be brought on by cannabis’ impact on the endocannabinoid system.
According to another study, just 2 of the patients needed surgery during an average of 3 years of cannabis use, even though 15 of the patients had undergone 19 procedures over the course of an average of 9 years before to using the drug. The currently available information is encouraging, but much more research is required to accurately evaluate the effects cannabis has on Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Improving Appetite:
Loss of appetite is also common in IBD. But it is important for you to take enough to eat as vitamin or nutrient deficiencies can lead to major health problems. Marijuana can help stimulate appetite in elders.
Marijuana’s THC increases the sensitivity to scents and flavors using the neural networks to tell the brain that it’s starving.
Recently, European neuroscientists have found that THC influences the receptors in the brain’s olfactory bulb, thereby increasing one’s ability to smell food and prompting them to eat more of it.
Helping You Sleep Better:
It is harder to sleep while going through the symptoms of IBD.
The use of sleeping medications may cause addiction and other negative effects. Marijuana can aid in this situation by enhancing sleep and reducing the length of light sleep. Elderly people can benefit greatly from cannabis as a sleep aid since cannabinoids like THC and CBD can reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.
According to a 2006 study, the CBD molecule improved alertness when the lights were on while having no adverse effects on sleep when the lights were off. According to the study’s findings, CBD may be beneficial for people who experience insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness due to a short night’s sleep.
Because it restores a person’s natural sleep cycle, which frequently drifts out of sync with our schedules in today’s contemporary lifestyle, it can assist restore effective sleep aid.
The potency of marijuana strains affects how sleepy it makes you feel. As an illustration, aged marijuana strains are five times more sedative than new strains, which causes you to fall asleep faster.
The Bottom Line:
Numerous people claim to see benefits from cannabis, such as decreased nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as well as decreased pain and increased appetite. Additionally, patients frequently claim that cannabis may help ease the effects of IBD problems, and in some cases, it may even initiate or sustain remission.
It’s also vital to note that some medical professionals believe cannabis may conceal signs of a sickness that is getting worse, necessitating careful supervision by a healthcare professional.
To properly comprehend how medical marijuana affects Crohn’s disease or IBD, a lot more research is necessary. As always, new patients should seek advice from their doctor before including any new medications in their treatment plan.
