Cannabis in its various forms is still a sworn-by medicine in many societies around the world, but since its prohibition those possible medical advantages haven't been seen in much of the Western world.
But researchers using the non-psychotropic cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) component of the plant found that it significantly helps fractured bones.
The same researchers from Tel Aviv University had previously discovered that cannabinoid receptors within our bodies stimulated bone formation and inhibited bone loss. They believe it has undeniable clinical potential to help fight osteoporosis and other bone-related diseases.
They conducted the study on rats with mid-femoral fractures and found that CBD, even when isolated from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of cannabis, enhanced the healing process of the femora after just eight weeks.
"We found that CBD alone makes bones stronger during healing, enhancing the maturation of the collagenous matrix, which provides the basis for new mineralisation of bone tissue," said Dr Yankel Gabet of the Bone Research Laboratory at the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology. "After being treated with CBD, the healed bone will be harder to break in the future."
The researchers, lead by Dr Gabet, injected one group of rats with CBD alone and another group with both CBD and THC. They found CBD alone provided the necessary therapy.
"We found CBD alone to be sufficiently effective in enhancing fracture healing," said Dr Gabet. "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."
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