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Pot Extracts Alleviate Intractable Pain, Study Says

Discussion in 'Medical Marijuana Usage and Applications' started by IndianaToker, Dec 3, 2004.

  1. #1 IndianaToker, Dec 3, 2004
    Pot Extracts Alleviate Intractable Pain, Study Says



    December 2, 2004 - Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Middlesex, United Kingdom: Medicinal cannabis extracts significantly reduce pain and other symptoms compared to placebo in patients suffering from nerve damage (brachial plexus injury), according to clinical trial data published in the December issue of the journal Pain.

    Forty-eight patients participated in the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. All of the patients enrolled in the trial suffered from "intractable symptoms regardless of current analgesic therapy."

    Volunteers were administered one of the following: cannabis extracts containing equal amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), cannabis extracts containing primarily THC, or placebo via an oromucosal spray. Researchers analyzed the effect of the extracts on patients' mean pain severity score during the final seven days of treatment, as well as other pain-related quality of life assessments.

    Authors found that the extracts improved patients' mean pain severity scores in a statistically significant manner, though researchers noted that this improvement was slightly less than they had initially hypothesized. Authors also noted that volunteers experienced significantly improved sleep as a result of the cannabis therapy.

    "Studies of longer duration in neuropathic pain are required to confirm a clinically relevant improvement in the treatment of this condition," authors concluded.

    Earlier this year, clinical results from a pilot study in the United States found that inhaled cannabis significantly relieved pain in patients suffering from HIV-related neuropathy. A 1997 report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) determined that neuropathic pain (pain from nerve damage) is typically unresponsive to standard analgesics, and recommended that cannabinoids "may be useful in this inadequately treated type of pain."

    For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.
     

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