One of the most commonly cited reasons why suffering patients turn to medical cannabis for relief is to help treat chronic pain. Chronic pain is typically defined as a persistent pain that lasts for an extended period of time.

Chronic pain is one of the biggest public health issues globally, with international researchers estimating that as many as 2 billion people around the world suffer from chronic pain, although many cases go undiagnosed for various reasons.

Common treatments for chronic pain range from over-the-counter medications to prescription pharmaceutical drugs. In severe cases, patients could undergo nerve blocks, steroid injections, or significant medical procedures. Many commonly prescribed treatments for chronic pain result in patients experiencing undesirable side effects.

A team of researchers in Germany recently conducted a study that explored the use of cannabis extracts as a treatment for chronic pain. The study’s findings were published in the journal Advances in Therapy.

“Chronic pain remains a challenge, with standard therapies often providing inadequate pain relief and causing undesirable side effects. Medicinal cannabis has emerged as promising (sic) alternative.” the researchers wrote about the focus of their study. “This study assessed the impact of a cannabis hybrid extract on pain intensity and quality of life in daily clinical use.”

The observational study involved 64 German chronic pain patients, all over the age of 18. The cohort included 35 ‘cannabis-naïve’ patients. The study’s subjects were provided with a proprietary cannabis extract product that contained equal parts of THC and CBD.

“Pain intensity was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) questionnaire. Pain interference was evaluated with the BPI pain interference subscore, and quality of life-particularly physical and mental health-was assessed with the Short Form-12 (SF-12) questionnaire.” the researchers stated about their methodology.

“Mean (± SD) NRS-assessed pain intensity decreased during the study, in both the ITT (5.46 ± 1.73 at V1 vs. 3.37 ± 2.43 at V4) and in the cannabis-naïve subgroup (5.92 ± 1.34 at V1 vs. 2.37 ± 1.69 at V4). Mean pain interference subscore decreased between V1 and V4 for the ITT (5.39 ± 1.92 vs. 3.38 ± 2.46) and the cannabis-naïve group (5.68 ± 1.46 vs. 2.54 ± 1.99).” the researchers found.

“Physical and mental health improved in both groups and high satisfaction with the hybrid cannabis extract was reported by patients and physicians.” the researchers concluded.