A recent retrospective study conducted in the United States has examined whether the use of medical cannabis can reduce the risk of death in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. Many people with conditions such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis consume cannabinoids as a means of combating nausea and vomiting. Studies have also suggested that the cannabinoids cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects. However, the use of cannabis as a natural medication for inflammatory bowel disease has not been extensively studied with randomized clinical trials.
A study published in the journal PLOS ONE from Israel with 17 patients with ulcerative colitis showed that cannabis cigarettes can significantly alleviate the clinical symptoms of the disease and outperform the placebo effect. However, the cannabis used in the study did not affect the endoscopic lesions. Researchers at Jefferson Health Hospital have now published the results of a retrospective study in the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis (JCC), which suggests that cannabis can reduce the risk of death and healthcare costs associated with inflammatory bowel disease. The study is based on health data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, which records approximately seven million hospital admissions in the United States each year. Between 2015 and 2019, approximately 1.2 million people were treated for chronic inflammatory bowel disease, with 29,445 of them reporting the use of medical cannabis for other conditions. According to the analysis of health data, the use of cannabis reduces the risk of death from inflammatory bowel disease by 72%. The study also found that the treatment duration for cannabis users was on average 0.17 days shorter and $11,054 cheaper.
While the study suggests that the health situation of cannabis users and patients with inflammatory bowel disease is better, it does not prove that the drug positively affects the course of the disease. The authors suggest that a much larger randomized study is needed to establish evidence for the positive effects of cannabis.
