As people continue to look into the potential benefits of medical marijuana, many researchers are performing studies to prove these benefits. In fact, there have been many studies already that have shown how the application of cannabis can treat a number of different ailments. These ailments include pain, fibromyalgia, menopause, and cancer cells. However, some studies decided to focus on its ability to potentially heal damage to organs. This is specifically focusing on one of the most important organs: the brain. A literature review examined other studies to see if there was an overarching pattern connected with this possibility of treating traumatic brain injury.

Study

To accomplish this literature review, the researchers conducted a systematic search of published studies found on PubMed and Cochran’s library. They focused on information regarding the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis as a therapeutic agent. Specifically, the researchers focused on articles evaluating medical marijuana and its use to treat traumatic brain injury. They also used articles that summarized the effects of marijuana in general. The researchers used articles from the years 2000 to 2020.

Results

The researchers found a total of 37 articles that met their inclusion criteria with an additional three articles chosen from reference lists. After going through the review, the researchers found that the studies demonstrated that medical marijuana could potentially aid recovery of traumatic brain injury. They found that this occurred because the medical marijuana modulated the endocannabinoid system, reducing inflammation and secondary injury. The researchers pointed out that they need to conduct more studies. This was specifically to examine the potential adverse cognitive and physiological effects. The additional studies would also need to be conducted in order to answer the concern of drug interactions.

Discussion

The fact that medical marijuana could potentially treat traumatic brain injury is certainly not something people should ignore. Past studies have already shown that some cannabis products can treat organ damage when in connection to the lungs. As such, it could conceivably be possible to do the same with the brain. However, as the researchers admit, other researchers would need to continue studying the effects to definitively prove one way or the other if it can be used in such a way.

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