Arthritis: Best treatment to increase ‘cannabis-type’ substances reducing inflammation

Arthritis is an incredibly common condition in the UK, that affects more than 10 million people. A new study has found one of the best treatments to help reduce pain due to its increased ‘cannabis-type’ substances.

Exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-like substances, which in turn helps reduce inflammation and could potentially help treat certain conditions such as arthritis, cancer and heart disease.

In the study, published in Gut Microbes, experts from the University of Nottingham found that exercise intervention in people with arthritis did not just reduce their pain, but it also lowered the levels of inflammatory substances (called cytokines).

Exercise was also shown to increase levels of cannabis-like substances produced by their own bodies, called endocannabinoids.

Interestingly, the way exercise resulted in these changes was by altering the gut microbes.

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Researchers found that exercise decreased chronic inflammation, which in turn causes many diseases including cancer, arthritis and heart disease, but little is known as to how it reduces inflammation.

Doctor Amrita Vijay, a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine and first author of the paper, said: “Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-type substances which can have a positive impact on many conditions.

“As interest in cannabidiol oil and other supplements increases, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions like exercise can modulate endocannabinoids.”

In the study, 78 people with arthritis were analysed.

Thirty-eight of them carried out 15 minutes of muscle strengthening exercises every day for six weeks, and 40 did nothing.

At the end of the study, participants who did the exercise intervention had not only reduced their pain, but they also had more microbes in their guts of the kind that produce anti-inflammatory substances, lower levels of cytokines and higher levels of endocannabinoids.

The increase in endocannabinoids was strongly linked to changes in the gut microbes and anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes called SCFAS.

In fact, at least one third of the anti-inflammatory effects of the gut microbiome was due to the increase in endocannabinoids.

Previous research has found the more weight a person puts on, the more inflammatory cytokines there are which can destroy the joints in the body.

In the same vein, the more exercise you do, the less likely you’ll be overweight, and there’ll be less damage to your joints.

As well as keeping joints healthy (by reducing the likelihood of cytokines attacking the area), exercise is the “best treatment for osteoarthritis”.

Exercising for 30 minutes, five times weekly, can help joints “stay limber and strengthens the muscles that support and stabilise your hips and knees”.

According to Versus Arthritis, low-impact exercise is the type recommended for people with all types of arthritis.

This includes exercises like swimming and cycling, and other similar activities that don’t put a lot of stress on the joints.

Low-impact exercise allows people with arthritis to get a vigorous workout without hurting or injuring themselves.

Swimming, for example, is a great all-round exercise. The water supports the joints, which makes it easier to move them and reduces strain.

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