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Marijuana is a well know treatment recommended to cancer patients, but a new study has found that a certain ingredient found in marijuana can also help heal broken bones, especially if the psychoactive substance doesn’t remain a component of the treatment.
It’s worth mentioning that the study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, has been conducted only on rats. But while human testing has not taken place yet, the scientists working on the study believe that the results are very promising.
The research team says that the compound, known as cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), not only makes bones heal faster, but also makes them stronger than before. The experts from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University also informed that the compound is a non-psychoactive ingredient.
Once isolated from the other marijuana ingredients and given to the rats, the cannabinoid cannabidiol enhanced the animals’ healing abilities in no more than eight (8) weeks. It’s worth mentioning that tests were primarily performed on fractured legs.
What’s more, the researchers also discovered why cannabinoid cannabidiol makes bones heal faster and stronger – the test results showed that the compound helps them mineralize. One major implication of this finding is that the ingredient may also come to the aid of elderly and help prevent osteoporosis.
Dr. Yankel Gabet, one of the study’s lead researchers and a member of Tel Aviv University’s Bone Research Laboratory, gave a statement informing that researchers have found that cannabinoid cannabidiol makes bones stronger all on its own. This happens during the healing process, as “the maturation of the collagenous matrix” is enhanced, a phenomenon which provides bone tissue with “the basis for new mineralization”.
He went on to stress that bones that have been healed with the help of cannabinoid cannabidiol will be much harder to break or damage in the future.
For their study, the team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University injected a group of frats with cannabinoid cannabidiol to see if the compound can help them heal their mid-femoral fractures. Signs of improvement started showing in no more than eight (8) weeks.
The researchers then took the next step and injected a second group of rats with a mix of cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance found in marijuana.
But when they compared the results from both groups, they found that cannabinoid cannabidiol on its own is a much more effective treatment. So smoking a joint will not help your bones heal.
Dr. Gabet and his team informed that people benefit from an endocannabinoid system which occurs naturally and is responsible for regulation the human skeleton as well as more than one physiological process. It is because of this that our brains and bodies are trained to respond to cannabinoids, even when they come from an outside source such as marijuana.
This may be the first study to point out that marijuana can help heal broken bones, but it’s not the first one to point out that the plant has great medical value. Previously conducted studies have shown how a pure form of cannabis can help keep blood sugar levels in check, as well as slow down the spread of HIV.
As for, cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), other studies have found that the compound might also reduce inflammation caused by multiple sclerosis, stop metastasis in certain types of aggressive cancers, kill cancer cells in patients suffering from leukemia, and serve as a good alternative antipsychotic treatment.
Image Source: haaretz.com
