Marijuana may relieve nerve pain when other drugs don't

[lequebecfume]

Marijuana may relieve nerve pain when other drugs don't

Posted 9/5/2010 10:00 AM



By Jessica Brandi Lifland, for USA TODAY

Marijuana plants grow in a horticulture lab in Oakland, Calif., in February 2010.



By Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay

Smoking cannabis, also known as marijuana, reduced pain in patients with nerve pain stemming from injuries or surgical complications, new research shows.

Twenty-one adults with chronic nerve pain were taught to take a single inhalation of 25 milligrams of cannabis through a pipe, three times a day, for five days. The cannabis contained one of three levels of potency of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, as well as a placebo dosage containing no THC.

TOO POOR FOR POT? Not in D.C. (if it's medical, that is)
All of the patients rotated through each of the four dosages, with nine days of no smoking in between.

Patients smoking the highest potency marijuana (9.4%) reported less pain than those smoking samples containing no THC. Patients also reported better sleep and less anxiety, according to the Canadian study.

On an 11-point scale, the average daily pain intensity was 6.1 for those smoking 9.4% THC concentration, compared to 5.4 for those smoking cannabis containing no THC.

"Patients have repeatedly made claims that smoked cannabis helps to treat pain, but the issue for me had always been the lack of clinical research to support that claim," said Dr. Mark Ware, director of clinical research at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. In this small but randomized, controlled trial, "the pain reductions were modest, but significant," he said. "And it was in people for whom nothing else worked."

The study is published in the Aug. 30 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Persistent nerve pain, clinically known as neuropathy, can be very difficult to treat, Ware said. These patients had tried other treatments for neuropathy, such as opioids, anticonvulsants, antidepressants and local anesthetics, with little relief, Ware said.

In addition, the THC potency levels used in the study were kept at 2.5%, 6% and 9% — considerably less than the 12% to 15% often found in marijuana sold on the street, Ware said.

Researchers kept the levels low for two reasons, Ware explained. One was to minimize the psychoactive effects, such as feeling lightheaded, dizzy, detached, nauseous or euphoric. Secondly, because this was a randomized, controlled clinical trial, minimizing the obvious signs of being "high" helped keep participants in the dark about what potency they were smoking.

In an accompanying commentary, Dr. Henry McQuay, a professor in the chronic pain unit at Oxford University in England, called the study well-designed, adding that it provides more evidence cannabis can help relieve pain.

But the unwanted side effects of cannabis can be significant, McQuay said.

"If you regard each paper like a brick in a wall, we have a number of studies, including this one, that suggest some pain patients are helped by cannabis," McQuay said. "The usual caveat is, 'Do the side effects to the nervous system outweigh the benefits, if they have to push the dose?'"

In his experience working with pain patients, few have seen long-term benefits of smoked cannabis, he said. Most find morphine and other painkillers more effective.

Side effects are a real problem with using smoked cannabis, Ware said. While recreational users are seeking an altered state of mind, research shows that legitimate medical marijuana users are not looking to get high. Instead, they only want to smoke what they need to reduce their pain so they can work and function more normally.

Efforts to legalize marijuana for medical purposes has been controversial in the United States. While federal law prohibits marijuana use, in 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana usage with a prescription from a doctor. More than a dozen states have followed suit.

Yet under the Bush administration, dispensaries continued to be raided under federal law. After President Barack Obama took office, in March, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would no longer conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, as long as the dispensaries were abiding by their own state laws.

Medical marijuana is legal in Canada.

To minimize the risks of smoke to the lungs, THC could be delivered through a vaporizer, in which the plant resin containing THC is heated to the point that the oils are released in a mist, Ware said. Oral THC is another possibility, though getting dosages right has proved problematic.



http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/hea...ana-pain_N.htm

[BCEmerald]

I want a say a huge THANKS. This is the exact kind of info that I could print out and use to help me with the doc. All of these medical stories are also a great, informative read.
I'll help others in return if I get the chance.

[paddyk]

But the unwanted side effects of cannabis can be significant, McQuay said

are you serious??? what a joke. as someone who suffers from chronic pain i can assure you the side effects of cannabis is not even a consideration compared to the side effects of chemicals (opiates)!!! some people just can't get past the misinformation and outright lies (while smoking a cigarette which kills you, and having a drink which kills you and possibly others) they have to spin a negative about cannabis. this stigma attached to cannabis just blows my mind. how is this shit so ingrained in our society? i often wonder if it is the original racist propaganda still lingering and keeping the public ignorant of this awesome plant.
another thing i have noticed lately, the lack of research is cited as a reason to not prescribe cannabis, yet it is impossible to do any research because the dea control it and their survival depends on it's criminalization.
peace

[BCEmerald]

Cannabis has very insignificant, almost barely noticeable side effects. They say it as a rheotoric, without any evidence to support these claims. If all these tests were so successful and provided them with facts, why are they withheld from the public?
Most of these studies reported in the news are the first of their kind.

[brainpain]

cannabis has done more for me than any man made pill or device
brain surgery was done on 9-12-2006 no help
cannabis kicks ass on all mans thought up plans!
i do believe i would be in a much different place if it were not for the cannabis
thank the lord
peace
bp

[Mentor]

the only side effect I noticed from cannabis was stress relief

[JaySun]

the only side effect I noticed from cannabis was stress relief

hehe,, ii get hungry from it... but betterr than 24/7 nerve pain i live with..no pills work...it burns, hurts,bad, even now, but mmj takes my mind off it and gimmie munchies..
most important mmj lets me medicate and still function <--see that smile? thank the mmj.....

[dabbin]

* snip *
In an accompanying commentary, Dr. Henry McQuay, a professor in the chronic pain unit at Oxford University in England, called the study well-designed, adding that it provides more evidence cannabis can help relieve pain.

But the unwanted side effects of cannabis can be significant, McQuay said.

"If you regard each paper like a brick in a wall, we have a number of studies, including this one, that suggest some pain patients are helped by cannabis," McQuay said. "The usual caveat is, 'Do the side effects to the nervous system outweigh the benefits, if they have to push the dose?'"

In his experience working with pain patients, few have seen long-term benefits of smoked cannabis, he said. Most find morphine and other painkillers more effective.

Side effects are a real problem with using smoked cannabis, Ware said. While recreational users are seeking an altered state of mind, research shows that legitimate medical marijuana users are not looking to get high. Instead, they only want to smoke what they need to reduce their pain so they can work and function more normally.
*snip*

Just wanted to add my .02

I suffer from high levels of neuropathic pain, and the prescribed medication was crazy. 18 pills a day. Pages of side effects, some potentially fatal, chance of seizure when changing dosages. All of which was alleviated, by switching to Cannabis. The effect on the pain was greater, and it was instant. Where 3 different classes of prescription drugs barely managed to offer relief, cannabis could the moment it was ingested.

Everything has side effects. And I would take the known ill effects of smoking (and what we can do to mitigate those risks i.e baking/vaporizing) or the pages of side effects, and permanent organ damage prescribed pharmaceuticals can cause.

[hollowpoint]

have you ever seen a comment by any authority figure who knew both sides of the coin?
they are never patients, they have never tried it for pain related issues, and yet they discount our testimony as bogus because we smoke dope lol.
i was taking 1000mg/day of slow release morphine, anticonvulsive drugs, and three others drugs for advanced osteoarthritis. after doing my own research into mj i have cut the morphine by 80%, and completely cut out 4 other life ending prescriptions and thier myriad of side effects that are all ok for me to experience because after all its medicine and approved by the gov't, hah! take your pills and put em where they will do some good, up a politicians orifice.
show me the science or legalize it already

[Nazgule]

Now that MN has Med Pot. I might try to register for my neuropathy. Thanks for the info.

[gelu65]

Some say they just get abuzz only as a side effect but when some people use pot for the first time they can get some very bad effects. The ones who get a bad experience sometime are using edibles but are getting laced product. Usually when you have a laced product you may end up in emergency.

[nohibition]

On an 11-point scale, the average daily pain intensity was 6.1 for those smoking 9.4% THC concentration, compared to 5.4 for those smoking cannabis containing no THC.

Is this a misprint? More relief with no THC? Tell ya what, I have a sealer sitting in front of me and it isn't 9.4%. If you want to do a "taste test" I'll send you some real meds. I had to get up at 04:00 because of my osteo-arthritis. My back, neck, wrists, hip, knees, ankles and feet, thankfully my hands are not hurting...full on flair up because yesterday I was out working around the place. At 05:00 I was enjoying a coffee and in considerably less discomfort. "Yes sir. yes sir, two bowls full!"
If you're going to do a clinical study, bring in some one who knows how to use the meds effectively. Say...Tommy Chong lol. These clinical tests are being done without the benefit of long term experienced people who can explain how to apply meds effectively.
As for side effects...
How about short term memory loss, "Geeze I can't remember where I put that Demerol. Oh well."
It seems to me most politicians suffer from serious memory loss, maybe leo should look in their basements.
My wife just went through months and months of chemo and RT with almost no nausea, pain or weight loss and is now stable.
When pharma-king lets my daughter down and her depression and anxiety are ruining her life she comes over to visit...1/2 hour later she's happy and talking about what she's going to do tomorrow.
Here's some more of those side effects...increased appetite, creativity, heightened awareness, peacefulness etc. and let's not forget full prisons, DEA, body armor.


But don't worry folks the governments are slowly coming to realize that if they legalize pot they can make more money which means they can build a bigger war machine, more death and destruction to innocent peoples lives. All the people in prison can go back to work and pay taxes on a weed that grows almost anywhere.

In the final analysis it's about money not our health and this will never change. Why are more and more states legalizing? They admit it's about tax revenues...money.

They will control it all. As for us...ashes to ashes.

Sorry sometimes I just get carried away...


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