Study: Cannabis Effective Treatment for 90% of Ulcerative Colitis Patients

A new study by Israel-based medical cannabis company Tikum Olam found 90% of patients who suffer from ulcerative colitis indicated decreased stomach pain after using medical cannabis, after conventional medicines failed, according to a Jerusalem Post report. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic, inflammatory, colon condition comparable to Crohn’s disease.

According to the report, current medicines for the condition are efficacious for 50%-60% of patients. The study found that 62% of respondents saw bowel activity improvement; 54% saw a decrease in the severity of their illness; and 27% reported a “life quality” increase compared to the placebo group. The study included 32 patients.

Lihi Bar-Lev Schleider, head of research and development at Tikun Olam, told the Jerusalem Post that the condition “harms the quality of life drastically.”

“It causes patients to have to avoid parties, avoid long flights and public transportation and avoid any prolonged social event where they wouldn’t have immediate access to a bathroom if necessary.” – Schleider to the Post

She said the company’s Erez strain provided the most relief to the patients in the study.

“Erez has a few specific strengths, namely, an improved appetite and a reduction of both pain and nausea,” she explained to the Post. “It was a symptomatic bingo.”

Schleider said 17 of the patients reported their results for an additional year and “found their endoscopic scores drop dramatically over time,” adding that it would have been “unethical to keep someone using a placebo for an entire year while they have a condition like this.”

A 2018 study found a regimen of cannabis oil made a significant improvement on the symptoms of Crohn’s Disease.

The Tikum Olam study was published last month in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal.