Medicinal Cannabis Can Effectively Reduce Cancer Pain

[orthene]

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/medicinal-cannabis-can-effectively-reduce-cancer-pain

Medicinal cannabis can relieve cancer pain and reduce the need for opioids and other medications, a new study suggests.

In addition, products with a balance of the active compounds delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) — versus those dominant in either one — were more effective, the results showed.

“Our data suggest a role for [medicinal cannabis] as a safe and complementary treatment option in patients with cancer [who fail] to reach adequate pain relief through conventional analgesics, such as opioids,” the researchers concluded.

The study was published May 3 in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.

Cannabis use improves pain symptoms
PainTrusted Source is a common symptom among people with cancer. It can be caused by cancer, cancer treatments or other factors.

To help control a person’s pain, a doctor may prescribe acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids or other drugs.

Opioids are used for controlling more severe pain, but they have a number of side effects, such as nausea, drowsiness and constipation.

Even with the availability of opioid medications, researchTrusted Source shows that about one in four people with cancer-related pain don’t receive adequate treatment for the intensity of their pain.

As a result, many people with cancer seek out alternative ways to control their pain, including cannabis.

Study finds THC and CBD products help relieve cancer pain
To better understand if medicinal cannabis can safely and effectively relieve cancer pain, researchers studied the treatment responses of 358 adults with cancer over a period of 3.5 years. Data came from the Quebec Cannabis Registry in Canada.

The average age of the patients was 58, and over half were female. The most common cancer diagnoses were genitourinary, breast, colorectal, lung and blood-related.

Over 72% of patients reported having pain symptoms, with a small number of people reporting nausea, anxiety, insomnia or other symptoms.

Patients were authorized a range of cannabis products — 25% used THC-dominant products, 38% used THC:CBD-balanced products and 17% used CBD-dominant products. Over half of patients took the product by mouth.

Patients’ pain symptoms decreased over the year-long follow-up, researchers found. This included worst and average pain intensity, overall pain severity and a measure of how much the pain interfered with daily life.

Products that had a balance of THC and CBD were associated with stronger pain relief compared to THC-dominant or CBD-dominant products.

Angela Bryan, PhD, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, who was not involved in the study, said the stronger effect of a balanced product makes sense.

Traditionally, people used the whole plant — rather than extracts — which contains not just THC and CBD, but a number of other active compounds.

“There’s something about the whole plant working together that might be the sweet spot for effectiveness,” Bryan told Healthline. “But we need a lot more data and really good plant scientists to help us with that side of things.”

The authors of the new study also found that the total number of medications that patients took decreased at each quarterly check-up. Opioid use was lower at the first three check-ups.

In addition, medicinal cannabis seemed to be safe, the study found, with sleepiness and fatigue the most commonly reported side effects.

Eleven patients reported moderate to severe side effects, and five stopped taking medicinal cannabis due to the side effects.

“The particularly good safety profile of [medicinal cannabis] found in this study can be partly attributed to the close supervision by healthcare professionals who authorized, directed and monitored [the] treatment,” the researchers wrote.

This is an observational study, so it can’t show a direct relationship between cannabis use and lower pain symptoms or medication use. In addition, many patients could not be followed for the entire study, and information on medications used by patients was limited.

[KratomToke]

 

Weed 4 the win


 

[jones]

Ive been using weed for so long that it turned into medicine