July 19, 2012

Does Cannabis Help Treat Gastritis?

July 19, 2012
dank nugget

dank nuggetWhat is Gastritis?

It’s an inflammatory condition that can’t really be narrowed down to one single disease. When your stomach lining reaches the stage of inflammation, that’s a pretty good sign you have gastritis. This condition is usually motivated by too much of everything, whether its alcohol, cigarettes, stress, prolonged usage of anti-inflammatory drugs or a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. Sure, Gastritis may arrive according to plan, after an operation, infection, burns or injuries — in fact, it would be uncommon not to get it after such stressful events. Most people find out about it via cases of stomach pain or severe heartburns. More intense symptoms include nausea, bloating or in severe cases — vomiting. For instance, if you notice your stool is unusually black, then that might be a sign of bleeding in the stomach, which is basically, gastritis in its last stages — a burst ulcer, so step on it and get yourself to a doctor as soon as possible.

Cannabis and Gastritis: The Research

2005 was a big year for cannabis research. In this case, a study was conducted by both the Bath and Bristol University, claiming that cannabis had a healing effect in cases of inflammatory bowel disease, or in our case — gastritis. The study claimed that by influencing the cannabinoid receptors located in the brain and gut with cannabis, the treatment proves effective.

How Does Cannabis Help Gastritis?

The thing is, we have cannabinoid receptors in our brain — specifically called CB1 and we also have these receptors present in our gut. It is believed that they are an important part of the gut healing process when it gets damaged. For the purpose of this study, the team of researches intentionally induced the inflammation of the gut and then added cannabinoids into the mix. The results were magical, the stomach started to heal and they came to another conclusion — cannabis slowed down gut motility, automatically reducing the pain from muscle cramps that inevitably cause diarrhea. And, if that wasn’t enough — they also discovered that, in people with gastritis, there are CB2 receptors present in the gut as well which respond to cannabis quite well, increasing the healing chances by 50%.

Therapeutic Cannabis Dosage for Gastritis

It really depends on how much you want to smoke and how much you should smoke. If you’re an everyday toker then the whole joint could be enough to ease the pain, while a rookie may be satisfied with a bong hit or just a couple of puffs. Sativa’s are generally thought to increase immunity, provide you with more energy and not give you the urge to eat an entire fridge. Indica’s on the other hand are considered to be more medicinal because of their painkilling abilities. But indica’s are an incredible appetite booster and even though you may not feel any pain while indulging in your munchies-craze, you will definitely feel the pain after the weed stops working. So, combine the best of both worlds. We would suggest you use a hybrid with a high amount of CBD. Strains such as Super Lemon Haze, Trainwreck and Strawberry Haze should do the trick in cases of gastritis.

Courtesy of the fine folks at the Medical Marijuana Blog

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