Healing Hope: Cannabis Improves Quality of Life for IBD Sufferers
Cannabis Brings Relief to IBD Patients! New findings show that cannabis use is linked to lasting improvements in health-related quality of life for those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Hope and healing for those who need it most!
NEWSWELLNESSLIFESTYLE
James Verk
2/4/20251 min read
London, United Kingdom: Patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) report sustained improvements in their health-related quality of life following their use of cannabis, according to observational data published in the journal Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
British researchers assessed the use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) consisting of either botanicals or oil extracts in 116 IBD patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British specialists are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes at 18 months.
Consistent with prior research, investigators reported, “CBMP treatment was associated with improvement in IBD-specific outcomes in patients and general HRQoL [health-related quality of life] over 18-months.”
According to a literature review published in October in the scientific journal Cureus, “Many IBD patients use cannabis to control disease symptoms, and there is emerging evidence that it may play a role in disease management.”
Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products in patients enrolled in the UK Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those suffering from anxiety, fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.
Full text of the study, “UK medical cannabis registry: An updated analysis of clinical outcomes of cannabis-based medicinal products for inflammatory bowel disease,” appears in Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Additional information on cannabis and inflammatory bowel disease is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.
