UK Study Finds Cannabis Provides Quality Of Life Improvements In Pain Patients
A team of researchers affiliated with several different healthcare and academic institutions in the United Kingdom found that chronic pain patients reported sustained improvements in their symptoms after medical cannabis use. The researchers published their observational data in the journal Pain Practice.
“Chronic pain (CP) affects 35.0%–51.3% of the UK population, with 67%–88% reporting sleep disturbances. Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have shown therapeutic potential in managing CP. Evidence suggests poor sleep worsens pain perception; therefore, this study aimed to assess patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) following CBMP treatment in CP patients with and without co-morbid sleep impairment.” the researchers stated about their study.
“The sleep impaired cohort showed improvements in all PROMs at each follow-up (p < 0.010). The sleep unimpaired cohort showed similar results (p < 0.050), except in SQS and ED-5Q-5L: self-care and anxiety/depression scores (p > 0.050). However, the sleep impaired cohort observed greater improvements in BPI pain severity (p < 0.050) and SQS (p < 0.001) than the sleep unimpaired cohort at all follow-ups.” they reported about the results of the study.
“Whilst these results show promise for the effects of CBMPs on CP, they must be examined within the limitations of the study design. These findings provide further evidence to support the design of subsequent randomized controlled trials to verify causality between CBMPs and pain outcomes.” the authors concluded.
Starting in 2018, health specialists in Britain are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to suffering patients unresponsive to conventional medications.
A separate study conducted earlier this year in the United Kingdom found that older patients reported experiencing better general health and well-being following their use of medical cannabis products.
“There were consistent improvements across measures of general health and well-being after three months of treatment. … These findings accord with a growing body of observational and real-world evidence from jurisdictions that have legalized medicinal cannabis that cannabis is effective for improving sleep, mood and quality of health across multiple primary conditions.” the authors of that particular study reported.
