Cannabis To Be Tested As Crohn's Disease Treatment
Munich, Germany: Researchers at the University Hospital of Munich
have begun the first ever clinical patient trial examining the efficacy of
cannabis extracts as a treatment for Crohn's disease, according to a press
release issued by the hospital. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammation
of the intestine, characterized by severe abdominal pain, nausea, and
weight loss.
Clinical research published last year by the Max Planck Institute for
Psychiatry in Munich found that cannabinoids prevent an experimental
inflammation of the colon in animals. Researchers in Italy had previously
speculated that modulating "the endogenous cannabinoid system could
provide new therapeutics for the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal
diseases," including gastric ulcers and Crohn's disease.
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