Cannabis and Bone Healing

The health benefits of cannabis or its constituents have become all the rage in university studies of late. Cannabis has been shown to reduce the effects of Parkinson’s disease and to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s, as well as to alleviate anxiety and panic attacks in some patients. Tetrahydrocannabinol, (THC) has also proven to be beneficial for cancer patients by inducing apoptosis, or controlled cell death, in cancerous cells. Recent studies at Tel Aviv University are following this trend, and seem to show that cannabis can be beneficial for bone recovery in rats.

Research published in The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research indicate that CBD induces broken bones to heal faster, and can even make the healed bone stronger than it had been, pre-injury. Yankel Gabet, one of the authors of the study, explained that CBD can enhance maturation of the collagenous matrix that serves as a scaffold for mineralization of bone tissue. Once healed, broken bones treated this way appear to be more resilient to future breakage.

Bone cells in mammals have been shown to express special receptors for cannabinoids that help regulate bone metabolism, mass and cell function of bones. Cannabinoid receptor ligands are showing promise for treatment of bone diseases like osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and bone metastasis.

In the study, the scientists gave rats "mild" bone fractures, followed by CBD and THC injections. They then compared healing effects with control rats who did not receive injections. Though the THC injections didn't appear to have much effect, injections of CBD alone were found to be effective for enhanced fracture healing. They hope to begin trials with humans next.

On a slightly unrelated note: While I find these kinds of studies to be interesting and useful, I can't help but be appalled at the callousness and cruelty of animal experimentation. If it were up to me, we would be using these scientists as the control group in such studies.