According to a recent Canadian study, medical marijuana may be able to lessen cancer patients’ dependence on other medications by easing their discomfort. The study, published in “BMF Palliative and Supportive Care,” involved the examination of 358 cancer patients and concluded that cannabis could be safely combined with other medications to help in pain management.
Every three months, the researchers checked on the patients to see how much pain they were in and how many medications they were taking. Patients reported substantially less pain after using the cannabis-based medications and that their pain had less of an impact on their daily lives.
According to the study, one-third of cancer patients — about 38% — experience medium-to-high-level pain even after taking pain medications such as opioids. In particular, 66% of patients with metastatic, advanced or terminal illnesses, as well as 55% of patients receiving anticancer treatment, experience pain.
Additionally, the majority of patients report feeling nauseous, drowsy, constipated and — more seriously — restrained breathing. For these reasons, patients are increasingly asking doctors, including up to 61.5% of general practitioners, to consider medical marijuana for the treatment of pain and other symptoms related to cancer.
In the study, 38% of the patients used THC-CBD-balanced medications, 17% used CBD-dominant medicines, and nearly a quarter of the patients used THC-dominant products. Those who consumed THC-CBD-balanced products experienced less pain compared to patients who only used THC- or CBD-dominant products.
However, the researchers noted that the results need to be confirmed by more thorough studies that compare the effects of cannabis-based medications with those of a placebo in a control group.
There is a lot of interest in cannabis’ ability to relieve pain, particularly in light of the opioid epidemic that has sparked concerns about the long-term dangers of opiate addiction. In support of this, a large body of research has demonstrated a correlation between decreased opioid prescribing and overdose fatalities and legalized marijuana use. A study by the University of Colorado published last month indicated that regular marijuana usage is linked to better cognition and less pain in chemotherapy and cancer patients. Researchers discovered that patients who consumed products with higher CBD levels experienced less pain than those who used high-THC goods.
According to research conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) and released earlier this year, people with chronic pain who used medical cannabis for more than a month had their need for opioids significantly reduced. Late last year, the AMA also published studies showing a link between legalized cannabis in some states and reduced opioid prescriptions for some cancer patients.
This study highlighting the pain-fighting potential of marijuana suggests that companies that are working to develop THC-based medications for chronic pain, such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC), are likely to be successful in their R&D efforts.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC
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