Medical Marijuana: Cannabis Can Help Treat Bone-Related Conditions

Amidst the decision to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, a recent research has revealed that bones get healed faster when they are treated with a compound present in marijuana. In addition, the researchers believe that bones that are treated with marijuana are much stronger and less likely to get fractured again.

The research team at the Tel Aviv University treated the bones of the rats with marijuana. They found that when the mid-femoral fractures of the rats were treated with cannabidiol (CBD), the healing took place much quicker. CBD is a non-psychotic component present in marijuana.

The study results–which have been published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research—have raised hopes for the future application of the cannabinoid drugs to treat several bone-related conditions, including osteoporosis. The same team of researchers earlier revealed in a study that cannabinoid based drugs can also help lower down the loss of bone and helped in bone formation.

"While there is still a lot of work to be done to develop appropriate therapies, it is clear that it is possible to detach a clinical therapy objective from the psychoactivity of cannabis. The CBD, the principal agent in our study, is primarily anti-inflammatory and has no psychoactivity," said lead researcher Dr Yankel Gabet, in a statement.

In addition, Gabet also explained that the human body is more responsive towards cannabis, since different systems in the body, including the skeletal system, are built up of compounds that are better activated by the compounds present in the cannabis plant. During the study, the researchers injected one group of mice with CBD and the other group with CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The team found that CBD alone was enough to speed up the fracture healing process.

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