Marijuana is capable of improving bone strength by enriching collagen in the matrix as well as in healing the broken or weakened bones, says a study published in the journal Bone and Mineral Research.

A number of studies in the recent days have shown that marijuana could be of good help in treating many chronic and acute conditions. Marijuana is also believed to be useful in relieving pain and inflammation. All this goodness to marijuana is rendered by one of the main active ingredients and a non-psychotropic chemical named cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) present in the plant, reported The Huffington Post.

Like Us on Facebook

"The clinical potential of cannabinoid-related compounds is simply undeniable at this point," said Yankel Gabet of the Bone Research Laboratory at the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at the Tel-Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine. He added, "While there is still a lot of work to be done to develop appropriate therapies, it is clear that it is possible to detach a clinical therapy objective from the psychoactivity of cannabis. CBD, the principal agent in our study, is primarily anti-inflammatory and has no psychoactivity," according to Pioneer News.

Gabet noted that this is the first ever study carried out on healing effects of marijuana on bones and that too on rats and not in human. The researchers broke the femur of rats methodically and administered THC, CBD and either one of the other solutions like saline, emulphor and ethanol for 3 batches of 5 to 12 rats. In another experiment THC and CBD were applied in both combined as well as separate doses to the rats, reported Medpage Today.

The researchers evaluated bone healing for eight weeks using 3D micro-computed tomography and biomechanical machines. They observed crosslinking of collagen in the healing process of bones when treated with THC and CBD and found that CBD promoted the expression of an enzyme named enzyme lysyl hydroxylase 1, or PLOD 1.

Gabet also noted: "Other studies have also shown CBD to be a safe agent,which leads us to believe we should continue this line of study in clinical trials to assess its usefulness in improving human fracture healing. We only respond to cannabis because we are built with intrinsic compounds and receptors that can also be activated by compounds in the cannabis plant."

Tagsmarijuana, Cannabidiol, Bone Fracture, Inflammation, Broken bones