German Endometriosis Patients Report Quality Of Life Improvements Following Cannabis Use
Endometriosis is a serious health condition involving tissue similar to the lining of the uterus growing outside the patient’s uterus. Endometriosis can cause severe pain in the patient’s pelvis. The condition can make it difficult for the suffering patient to become pregnant. Patients can start experiencing symptoms of the condition during their first menstrual period and the symptoms can last up until menopause.
International researchers estimate that roughly 5-10% of women of reproductive age around the globe suffer from endometriosis. Unfortunately, very little is known about what causes endometriosis.
A team of researchers in Germany recently conducted a study involving endometriosis patients and reported quality of life improvements following cannabis use. Below is more information about the results of the study via a news release from NORML:
Berlin, Germany: Nearly one in five patients with endometriosis report using cannabis to effectively manage their pain or other related symptoms, according to survey data published in the journal Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
German investigators surveyed over 900 patients with endometriosis. Consistent with prior analyses, a significant percentage of respondents acknowledged using cannabis products and most said that they were highly effective at mitigating their symptoms.
“Seventeen percent of the respondents used cannabis or cannabis-related products as a self-management method,” they determined. “Cannabis was rated as the most effective self-management strategy to reduce symptom intensity (self-rated efficacy 7.6 out of 10). Additionally, ~ 90 percent of the participants were able to decrease their pain medication intake. The greatest improvement was observed in sleep (91 percent), menstrual pain (90 percent), and non-cyclic pain (80 percent). Apart from increased fatigue (17 percent), side effects were infrequent (≤ 5 percent).”
The study’s authors concluded: “The use of cannabis [has] a significant impact on the overall well-being and quality of life of women with endometriosis. … The study indicates that there is a significant interest and demand for additional therapeutic options, and cannabis can potentially become an important part of a multimodal therapy approach for treating endometriosis.”
The study’s findings are consistent with those from Canada and Australia, which have similarly reported that cannabis relieves endometriosis-related pain and other symptoms. According to a recent scientific review, “The use of cannabis for endometriosis-related pain holds promise for addressing the often-debilitating discomfort experienced by those with this condition.”
Full text of the study, “Cannabis use in endometriosis: the patients have their say – An online survey for German-speaking countries,” appears in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
