SynthesisEating and weight disorders : EWD2021
Treatment studies with cannabinoids in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of olanzapine in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Liquisolids as a platform for the formulation of cannabis tablets.International journal of pharmaceutics: X · 2026Article
- Meta-analysis of Cannabis Use Identifies Shared Genetic Loci with Sleep and Circadian Rhythms.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Recent developments in treatments for eating disorders.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Review
- Perioperative Repercussions of Cannabis Use-Implications for GI Endoscopy Sedation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Evidence synthesis of medical cannabis research: current challenges and opportunities.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- The Diagnosis and Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in Childhood and Adolescence.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2024Review
- The relationship between cannabis and anorexia nervosa: a scoping review.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Pharmacotherapy, alternative and adjunctive therapies for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Review
- Concomitant medications, functional foods, and supplements: An Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) Clinical Practice Statement (CPS) 2022.Obesity pillars · 2022Article
- The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The prevalence of substance use disorders and substance use in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of eating disorders · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder with a high mortality and unknown etiology, and effective treatment is lacking. For decades, cannabis has been known to cause physical effects on the human body, including increasing appetite, which may be beneficial in the treatment of AN.
objectiveTo systematically review the literature for evidence of an effect of cannabinoids on (1) weight gain, and (2) other outcomes, in AN.
methodA systematic review was done using three databases Embase, PubMed and Psychinfo. The review was registered in PROSPERO with ID number CRD42019141293 and was done according to PRISMA guidelines.
resultsThere were 1288 studies identified and after thorough review and exclusion of copies, 4 studies met the inclusion criteria. Three studies used the same AN population and utilized data from one original study, leaving only two original studies. Both of these were Randomized Controlled Trials that explored the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) or dronabinol in AN, whereof one study was properly designed and powered and showed a weight increase of an added 1 kg over 4 weeks over placebo. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionThere are few studies and the level of evidence is low. The only properly designed, low bias and highly powered study found a weight increasing effect of dronabinol in AN, while the other, using Δ9-THC at a high dose, found no effect and where the dose may have counteracted the weight gaining effects due to adverse events. More research on cannabinoids in anorexia nervosa is warranted, especially its effects on psychopathology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, systematic review.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.