Arthritis, the inflammation of joints, causes stiffness and pain for the three million Americans suffering from it. While there isn’t a designated cure, many steps can be taken for treating it and making the symptoms less severe. The good news is that researchers have been examining the effects of cannabis’ anti-arthritic capabilities and the studies have been quite promising.
Since osteoarthritis (OA) pain is linked to central sensitization (a part of the nervous system that aids in the development and maintenance of the chronic pain) researchers sought to find the connection between OA and the way the brain processes pain.
In their study they noted that CB2 controls joint pain and targeting CB2 receptors can provide relief. When researchers administered a CB2 agonist on a spine with arthritis symptoms, the symptoms were weakened.
In another study, researchers exposed mice to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) to explore the therapeutic possibilities of CBD (the non psychoactive component of cannabis).
CIA is condition used to study rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks healthy and normal joint tissues. This painful condition results in the inflammation of the joint lining and results in pain, stiffness and swelling.
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The mice were made immune to collagen 11 (C11, a human type of collagen), resulting in acute or chronic CIA. Once these symptoms started to show, the mice were administered CBD and in both of the mice sets (the ones experiencing acute or chronic), the cannabis compound intercepted the progression of arthritis.
The study also showed that CBD was just as effective for the mice when ingested orally.
This study proves that CBD has “potent” anti-inflammatory abilities in mice, which is very positive news for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, specifically.
