Smoking marijuana can relieve muscle tightness, spasticity (contractions) and pain often experienced by those with multiple sclerosis, says research out of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
The
findings, just published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included a controlled
trial with 30 participants to understand whether inhaled cannabis would help
complicated cases where existing pharmaceuticals are ineffective or trigger
adverse side effects.
MS
is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system,
which is made up of the brain and spinal cord.
The
disease attacks the myelin, the protective covering wrapped around the nerves
of the central nervous system, and — among other symptoms — can cause loss of
balance, impaired speech, extreme fatigue, double vision and paralysis.
The
average age of the research participants was 50 years with 63 per cent of the
study population female.
More
than half the participants needed walking aids and 20 per cent used
wheelchairs.
Rather
than rely on self-reporting by patients regarding their muscle spasticity — a
subjective measure — health professionals rated each patient’s joints on the
modified Ashworth scale, a common objective tool to evaluate intensity of
muscle tone.
The
researchers found that the individuals in the group that smoked cannabis
experienced an almost one-third decrease on the Ashworth scale — 2.74 points
from a baseline score of 9.3 — meaning spasticity improved, compared to the
placebo group.
As
well, pain scores decreased by about 50 per cent.
“We
saw a beneficial effect of smoked cannabis on treatment-resistant spasticity
and pain associated with multiple sclerosis among our participants,” says Dr. Jody
Corey-Bloom of the university’s department of neuroscience.
Researchers
found that, although generally well-tolerated, the cannabis had the expected
short-term but acute cognitive effects.
Corey-Bloom
says larger, long-term studies are needed to confirm findings and determine
whether lower doses can result in beneficial effects with less cognitive
impact.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada says
Canadians have one of the highest rates of the disease in the world. The
disease is the most common neurological diseases affecting young adults in this
country and every day three more people in Canada are diagnosed with MS.
No comments:
Post a Comment