Medical Cannabis & Inflammation

Living with chronic inflammation can significantly impact your quality of life and overall health. While inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury and infection—a way of signalling the immune system to heal and repair damaged tissue—when it persists over time, it can become the root cause of numerous health conditions and chronic diseases.

Inflammation defends the body against viruses and bacteria, making it a vital physiological response. Without it, our wounds would not heal, and infections could become deadly. However, if inflammation occurs for an extended period, it can become problematic, leading to conditions like heart disease, stroke, and autoimmune disorders such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Many Canadians dealing with chronic inflammation have found that traditional treatments don’t always provide adequate relief or come with unwanted side effects. This has led to increased interest in alternative approaches, including medical cannabis, which research suggests may have significant anti-inflammatory properties.

Inflammation comes in two primary forms, each with distinct characteristics and health implications:

What is Acute Inflammation?

Acute inflammation is the body’s response to an acute injury such as a scraped elbow or sprained ankle. According to the National Library of Medicine, acute inflammation occurs localized to the injury site and may include:

•  Redness
•  Swelling
•  Heat
•  Pain
•  In more extreme cases, loss of function

Cytokines are released by the damaged tissue in response to acute inflammation. These cytokines trigger immune cells, hormones, and other systems to act on the damage and heal the body. In cases of infection, the body fights off foreign invaders by raising the body’s core temperature to kill viruses and bacteria.

Another physiological process that occurs is vasodilation and increased blood flow to the inflamed area. This increased blood flow helps tissues to heal more quickly and can also lead to warmth and redness that is associated with inflammation.

Acute inflammation subsides quickly once damaged tissue is healed and the body returns to normal. If acute inflammation does not subside, it can lead to chronic inflammation.

What is Chronic Inflammation?

Researchers are continuing to work at discovering what mechanisms cause chronic inflammation to occur and the resulting implications on the body, although they do know that chronic inflammation plays a role in the development of many disease processes.

Unlike acute inflammation, chronic inflammation affects the whole body and is not localized to one specific site. It is commonly low-grade inflammation that is present at all times.

As a response to chronic inflammation, white blood cells are released by the immune system to fight a perceived threat. When there is no threat to fight, the white blood cells may start attacking healthy tissues and internal organs.

For example, chronic inflammation increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. When inflammatory cells remain in the blood vessels for a lengthy period of time, they contribute to the build-up of plaque. The immune system perceives this plaque build-up as a threat, and inflammation occurs to block off the plaque from the rest of the blood vessel. If the plaque becomes unstable or gets knocked loose, it can cause a clot to block blood flow and cause a heart attack or stroke.

Diagnosing Chronic Inflammation

Diagnosis of chronic inflammation is difficult due to a lack of outward symptoms, but a medical doctor can test for elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood. If CRP levels are elevated, it signals chronic inflammation in the body which may lead to different disease processes down the road.

Research into cannabis for inflammation has shown promising results. A 2010 study titled “Cannabinoids As Novel Anti-Inflammatory Drugs” demonstrated the effectiveness of cannabinoids as a treatment for inflammation.

The research showed that cannabinoids act on both CB1 and CB2 receptors in the immune system to decrease the production of cytokine and chemokine, which contribute to chronic inflammation. The study concluded that “cannabinoids suppress inflammatory response and subsequently attenuate disease symptoms. This property of cannabinoids is mediated through multiple pathways such as induction of apoptosis in activated immune cells, suppression of cytokines and chemokines at inflammatory sites, and upregulation of FoxP3 regulatory T cells.”

Here’s how cannabis may help with inflammation:

1. Endocannabinoid system interaction: Cannabis compounds interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in regulating inflammatory responses
2. Cytokine reduction: Cannabinoids can reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines
3. Immune system modulation: Cannabis may help regulate immune cell activity that contributes to inflammation
4. Antioxidant properties: Some cannabinoids have antioxidant effects that may help reduce oxidative stress associated with inflammation

More research on the role cannabinoids play in inflammation is needed, and with the recent legalization of cannabis, those studies should be forthcoming. Subjective reports indicate that individuals who use cannabis for pain and inflammation find that their symptoms are reduced after using cannabis.