While there has been a great deal of evidence to support cannabis therapy as a treatment for cancer, epilepsy, ALS, Crohn’s Disease and more, there is less proof that the plant is beneficial to those who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome. However, a biotech firm in the Netherlands is going to be launching the first clinical trials that are looking into the possibility of using CBD to treat the common ailment.
“IBS is the most common gastrointestinal disorder and affects up to 15 percent of the worldwide population,” Axim CEO Dr. George E. Anastassov said in a statement, “and It has no sustainable cure.”
The trial will use a group of 40 adult patients with IBS using CanChew Plus, a chewing gum that has 50mg of CBD extracted from hemp plants. Some patients will receive the CBD gum, others will receive a placebo. They will be able to take up to six servings per day, and that data will be recorded along with the general relief of symptoms of IBS, such as stomach cramps, bloating, and lower abdominal pain, as well as any changes in “stool frequency”.
“This is the first advancement in cannabinoid research for treatment of IBS in medical history and gives a clear example of how far ahead AXIM is in its clinical development programs,” Titus added.
IBS is different from Crohn’s in that there is no single underlying cause of the condition – but rather it is the collection of a number of symptoms. This has left people who suffer from IBS with very few options when it comes to how to treat it – the most common recommendations include changing diet and exercise, using the process of elimination with diet to see what foods your body reacts well to and which it doesn’t.
Instead, this research aims to prove that CBD could actually help to relieve those symptoms – and for the millions of people diagnosed with IBS this would be a huge relief. If this study is successful, the company plans to do further research on their CanChew RX, as well as MedChew RX (which contains both CBD and THC). MedChew RX is actually being studied as a treatment for pain related to MS. The idea is that in the form of chewing gum, the therapeutic effects will be longer lasting.
