Tag Archives: effective

Medical Cannabis for the Management of Pain and Quality of Life in Chronic Pain Patients: A Prospective Observational Study

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Pain Medicine (Journal) by Oxford University Press

“Objective: To evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of plant-based medical cannabis in a chronic pain population over the course of one year.

Results: Medical cannabis treatment was associated with improvements in pain severity and interference (P < 0.001) observed at one month and maintained over the 12-month observation period. Significant improvements were also observed in the SF-12 physical and mental health domains (P < 0.002) starting at three months. Significant decreases in headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and nausea were observed after initiation of treatment (P ≤ 0.002). In patients who reported opioid medication use at baseline, there were significant reductions in oral morphine equivalent doses (P < 0.0001), while correlates of pain were significantly improved by the end of the study observation period.

Conclusions: Taken together, the findings of this study add to the cumulative evidence in support of plant-based medical cannabis as a safe and effective treatment option and potential opioid medication substitute or augmentation therapy for the management of symptoms and quality of life in chronic pain patients.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32556203/

https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pm/pnaa163/5859722?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Medicinal Cannabis Effective for Chronic Insomnia in Clinical Trial

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April 2020 cover“A randomized double-blind clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a medicinal cannabis formulation (ZTL-101; Zelira Therapeutics Ltd, Perth, Australia) for treating chronic insomnia showed that the therapy is effective and safe.

Participants treated with medicinal cannabis went to sleep faster, slept significantly longer, and went back to sleep sooner after waking. Those participants reported significant improvements in quality of life, including feeling rested after sleep, feeling less stressed and less fatigued, and overall improved functioning.

For the trial, 23 participants were treated with the therapy for 14 nights, and after a 1-week washout period, received a placebo for 14 nights. Each participant took a single dose (.5 ml of 11.5 mg total cannabinoids) or a double dose (1 ml of 23 mg total cannabinoids) of the therapy, delivered sublingually, according to their symptoms.

“The fact that ZTL-101 treatment achieved statistically significant, dose-responsive improvements across a broad range of key insomnia indices is impressive, particularly given the relatively short 2-week dosing window,” said Peter Eastwood, director, Centre for Sleep Science, University of Western Australia.”

https://practicalneurology.com/news/medicinal-cannabis-effective-for-chronic-insomnia-in-clinical-trial

Safety and Efficacy of Medical Cannabis in Fibromyalgia

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jcm-logo“Chronic pain may be treated by medical cannabis. Yet, there is scarce evidence to support the role of medical cannabis in the treatment of fibromyalgia. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics, safety, and effectiveness of medical cannabis therapy for fibromyalgia.

Results: Among the 367 fibromyalgia patients, the mean age was 52.9 ± 15.1, of whom 301 (82.0%) were women. Twenty eight patients (7.6%) stopped the treatment prior to the six months follow-up. The six months response rate was 70.8%. Pain intensity (scale 0–10) reduced from a median of 9.0 at baseline to 5.0 (p < 0.001), and 194 patients (81.1%) achieved treatment response. In a multivariate analysis, age above 60 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.34, 95% C.I 0.16–0.72), concerns about cannabis treatment (OR 0.36, 95% C.I 0.16–0.80), spasticity (OR 2.26, 95% C.I 1.08–4.72), and previous use of cannabis (OR 2.46 95% C.I 1.06–5.74) were associated with treatment outcome. The most common adverse effects were mild and included dizziness (7.9%), dry mouth (6.7%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (5.4%).

Conclusion: Medical cannabis appears to be a safe and effective alternative for the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms. Standardization of treatment compounds and regimens are required.”

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/6/807

“Medical cannabis appears to be a safe and effective alternative for the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31195754

Cannabis sativa L. and Nonpsychoactive Cannabinoids: Their Chemistry and Role against Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Cancer.

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 Related image“In the last decades, a lot of attention has been paid to the compounds present in medicinal Cannabis sativa L., such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), and their effects on inflammation and cancer-related pain.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) currently recognizes medicinal C. sativa as an effective treatment for providing relief in a number of symptoms associated with cancer, including pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and anxiety.

Several studies have described CBD as a multitarget molecule, acting as an adaptogen, and as a modulator, in different ways, depending on the type and location of disequilibrium both in the brain and in the body, mainly interacting with specific receptor proteins CB1 and CB2.

CBD is present in both medicinal and fibre-type C. sativa plants, but, unlike Δ9-THC, it is completely nonpsychoactive. Fibre-type C. sativa (hemp) differs from medicinal C. sativa, since it contains only few levels of Δ9-THC and high levels of CBD and related nonpsychoactive compounds.

In recent years, a number of preclinical researches have been focused on the role of CBD as an anticancer molecule, suggesting CBD (and CBD-like molecules present in the hemp extract) as a possible candidate for future clinical trials.

CBD has been found to possess antioxidant activity in many studies, thus suggesting a possible role in the prevention of both neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. In animal models, CBD has been shown to inhibit the progression of several cancer types. Moreover, it has been found that coadministration of CBD and Δ9-THC, followed by radiation therapy, causes an increase of autophagy and apoptosis in cancer cells. In addition, CBD is able to inhibit cell proliferation and to increase apoptosis in different types of cancer models.

These activities seem to involve also alternative pathways, such as the interactions with TRPV and GRP55 receptor complexes. Moreover, the finding that the acidic precursor of CBD (cannabidiolic acid, CBDA) is able to inhibit the migration of breast cancer cells and to downregulate the proto-oncogene c-fos and the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) highlights the possibility that CBDA might act on a common pathway of inflammation and cancer mechanisms, which might be responsible for its anticancer activity.

In the light of all these findings, in this review we explore the effects and the molecular mechanisms of CBD on inflammation and cancer processes, highlighting also the role of minor cannabinoids and noncannabinoids constituents of Δ9-THC deprived hemp.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30627539

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2018/1691428/

Cannabis in palliative care: current challenges and practical recommendations.

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 “Pain and symptom control challenges are common in palliative care, and the search for other therapeutic strategies is ongoing.

Unfortunately, patients and their caregivers are receiving little information or support from healthcare providers regarding the increasingly popular cannabinoid-based medicines (CBM).

Clinicians, meanwhile, feel understandably perplexed by the discrepancy between the available evidence and the rapid interest in which patients and their families have demonstrated for CBM.

There is an urgent need to address the many challenges that are delaying the appropriate integration of CBM into clinical practice, notwithstanding the obvious need for a solid general knowledge of pharmacology, mechanism of action and available clinical evidence supporting its use.

The authors will address these challenges and provide practical recommendations regarding patient assessment for the use of CBM. The authors will also make suggestions regarding patient expectations in order to define clear objectives, review the necessary precautions prior to initiating treatment, aid in selecting the appropriate strain and route of administration as well as establishing proper titration and monitoring protocols. The authors will also discuss the lesser known but potentially therapeutic psychoactive effects of cannabis.

As this class of therapeutic agents are likely to play a major role in palliative medicine in the near future, clinicians would benefit from familiarizing themselves with CBM and we can expect that patients and their caregivers will appreciate receiving support in their search for safe and effective therapeutic alternatives.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30180728

http://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/20097

Therapeutic Symptomatic Strategies in the Parasomnias.

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Current Treatment Options in Neurology

“The purpose of this review was to discuss the currently available pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment options for parasomnias.

Cannabinoids proved to be effective in some of parasomnias, as in many other neurological disorders.

Prazosin and cannabinoids are effective in nightmare disorder.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29869076
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11940-018-0508-3
“Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep.”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasomnia

Cannabis for Chronic Pain: Challenges and Considerations.

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Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy banner

“The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has found substantial evidence that cannabis (plant) is effective for the treatment of chronic pain in adults, and moderate evidence that oromucosal cannabinoids (extracts, especially nabiximols) improve short-term sleep disturbances in chronic pain. ”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29637590

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/phar.2115

Prospective analysis of safety and efficacy of medical cannabis in large unselected population of patients with cancer

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Cover image volume 49, Issue

“Cancer is a major public health problem as the leading cause of death. Palliative treatment aimed to alleviate pain and nausea in patients with advanced disease is a cornerstone of oncology.

In 2007, the Israeli Ministry of Health began providing approvals for medical cannabis for the palliation of cancer symptoms. The aim of this study is to characterize the epidemiology of cancer patients receiving medical cannabis treatment and describe the safety and efficacy of this therapy.

Methods

We analyzed the data routinely collected as part of the treatment program of 2970 cancer patients treated with medical cannabis between 2015 and 2017.

Results

The average age was 59.5 ± 16.3 years, 54.6% women and 26.7% of the patients reported previous experience with cannabis. The most frequent types of cancer were: breast (20.7%), lung (13.6%), pancreatic (8.1%) and colorectal (7.9%) with 51.2% being at stage 4. The main symptoms requiring therapy were: sleep problems (78.4%), pain (77.7%, median intensity 8/10), weakness (72.7%), nausea (64.6%) and lack of appetite (48.9%). After six months of follow up, 902 patients (24.9%) died and 682 (18.8%) stopped the treatment. Of the remaining, 1211 (60.6%) responded; 95.9% reported an improvement in their condition, 45 patients (3.7%) reported no change and four patients (0.3%) reported deterioration in their medical condition.

Conclusions

Cannabis as a palliative treatment for cancer patients seems to be well tolerated, effective and safe option to help patients cope with the malignancy related symptoms.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29482741

http://www.ejinme.com/article/S0953-6205(18)30023-2/pdf

“Cannabis to be a “Safe,” “Effective” Medical Treatment in First-of-its-Kind, Peer-Reviewed Study of Thousands of Cancer Patients Using Tikun Olam™ Strains”  http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/cannabis-to-be-a-safe-effective-medical-treatment-in-first-of-its-kind-peer-reviewed-study-of-thousands-of-cancer-patients-using-tikun-olam-strains-1017297749

“For the first time, a major scientific study has confirmed what cannabis advocates have known for decades: that cannabis can be a safe and effective palliative treatment in patients suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer.”  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cannabis-to-be-a-safe-effective-medical-treatment-in-first-of-its-kind-peer-reviewed-study-of-thousands-of-cancer-patients-using-tikun-olam-strains-300604361.html

Cannabidiol inhibits pathogenic T cells, decreases spinal microglial activation and ameliorates multiple sclerosis-like disease in C57BL/6 mice.

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British Journal of Pharmacology

“Cannabis extracts and several cannabinoids have been shown to exert broad anti-inflammatory activities in experimental models of inflammatory CNS degenerative diseases.

Clinical use of many cannabinoids is limited by their psychotropic effects. However, phytocannabinoids like cannabidiol (CBD), devoid of psychoactive activity, are, potentially, safe and effective alternatives for alleviating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.

Treatment with CBD during disease onset ameliorated the severity of the clinical signs of EAE.

CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, ameliorates clinical signs of EAE in mice, immunized against MOG. Suppression of microglial activity and T-cell proliferation by CBD appeared to contribute to these beneficial effects.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21449980

“In summary, we have shown that CBD administered to MOG-immunized C57BL/6 mice, at the onset of EAE disease, reduced the severity of the clinical signs of EAE. CBD treatment was accompanied by diminished axonal loss and inflammation (infiltration of T cells and microglial activation). Moreover, CBD prevented proliferation of myelin-specific T cells in vitro. These observations suggest that CBD may have potential for alleviating MS-like pathology.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01379.x/full

“Study Shows Cannabidiol (CBD) Improves MS-Like Symptoms”  http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=31211

Cannabidiol in patients with seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (GWPCARE4): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.

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The Lancet logo

“Patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare, severe form of epileptic encephalopathy, are frequently treatment resistant to available medications.

No controlled studies have investigated the use of cannabidiol for patients with seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

We therefore assessed the efficacy and safety of cannabidiol as an add-on anticonvulsant therapy in this population of patients.

Add-on cannabidiol is efficacious for the treatment of patients with drop seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and is generally well tolerated.“

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29395273

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30136-3/fulltext

“This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02224690.”

“Cannabidiol for drop seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome”  http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30135-1/fulltext

“Cannabidiol Reduces Drop Seizures in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome”  https://www.neurologyadvisor.com/epilepsy/cannabidiol-reduces-drop-seizures-in-lennox-gastaut-syndrome/article/739544/

“Cannabidiol helps reduce drop attacks in people with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, study shows” https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/news/news/cannabidiol-helps-reduce-drop-attacks-people-lennox-gastaut-syndrome-study-shows-68090

“‘Pharma Grade’ CBD Effective in Lennox-Gastaut”  https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/891810

“Cannabidiol Efficacious for Lennox-Gastaut Drop Seizures”  https://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/78004