According to a federally-funded survey, a majority of IBD patients said that marijuana and CBD provided them with “significant symptoms relief”.
The National Institutes of Health supported researchers from Case Western Reserve University to conduct a survey of IBD-patients, asking them about the different treatments they believe could address their pain and other symptoms.
Cannabis is a therapeutic choice for more than 50% of those who use it. It offers relief from “abdominal and other pains, stress anxiety depression and nausea/vomiting.”
The study’s authors stated that “the strong support for cannabis oil and CBD oil in medical treatment and its therapeutic effects highlight the potential of CBD and cannabis oil to treat IBD.” “Notably, 19.4 percent of IBD patients reported decreased opioid use, and 14.5 percent reported induced remission with cannabis or CBD oil,” the study says.
“The beliefs on the efficacy of cannabis and CBD oil are comparable to that of prescribed medications (e.g., corticosteroids and biologics/immunosuppressants), suggesting that cannabis may be perceived as equally effective. This study shows that IBD sufferers believe these substances can help relieve symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain and anxiety.
The researchers found that the majority of IBD patients who self-reported cannabis use (54%) or CBD (41%) did so for medical purposes, symptom reduction, pain management and mental health support.
The report states that “a large percentage, 63 per cent, of IBD participant reported that cannabis has a somewhat beneficial or even extremely positive effect in relieving IBD symptoms. Meanwhile, 57percent believed this about CBD Oil.”
We found, “interestingly, that IBD sufferers were more likely than other patients to use cannabis oil or CBD oil to relieve short-term symptoms (37 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively), compared with long-term relief (18 percent and 23 percent). The pattern shows that IBD sufferers are more inclined to consider these substances effective for managing acute symptoms than they are in long-term disease management.
This cross-sectional survey involved 139 participants. Among them were 106 IBD sufferers and 39 non IBD control subjects between 18 and 69 years of age.
According to the authors, the study showed “increasing patient interest in and positive perceptions of CBD and cannabis oil used as alternative or complementary therapies for IBD symptom management”.
The report also highlights the “common perception of IBD patients, that CBD and cannabis oil can be effective in managing symptoms, despite the absence of definitive clinical evidence.”
The study states that “the findings show that many IBD sufferers use cannabis to relieve symptoms and they prefer it as a therapeutic tool.”
Results are consistent with a recent scientific review on research on cannabis’ impact on inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn’s Disease (CD) or ulcerative Colitis (UC), which found that the cannabinoid-based therapy reduced the disease activity in these chronic conditions and improved the quality of patients’ lives.
In March of last year, a separate study in the Journal of Health Research and Medical Science found that “cannabinoids show potential in improving disease activity” and quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis.
The study shows that the THC/CBD combination has most robust benefits.