Cannabis and Inflammation: Mechanisms of Action

Inflammation gets talked about like it’s always the enemy, but that’s not really how the body works. In the short term, inflammation is protective. It helps you respond to injury, infection, and stress. The problem starts when that response becomes chronic, excessive, or poorly regulated. That’s when inflammation can begin to overlap with pain, stiffness, swelling, immune dysfunction, sleep disruption, and the kind of “always on” discomfort that wears people down over time. The endocannabinoid system, or ECS, is one of the body’s key homeostasis networks, and researchers describe it as a regulator of immune response, pain signaling, and tissue balance. (MDPI)