Fibromyalgia Patients Experience Symptom Improvements, Reduce Prescription Use Following THC Treatment
Fibromyalgia is a serious health condition creating problems across the globe. It’s a condition that affects people of all ages. It is estimated that as many as one out of every twenty people on the planet suffers from the condition to some degree.
According to Mayo Clinic, “Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.”
Unfortunately, there is currently no known cure for fibromyalgia, however, researchers in Germany have found evidence that THC can be an effective treatment for some patients, and for some, lower their reliance on prescription drugs. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:
Burghausen, Germany: Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) respond favorably to the administration of oral THC, according to observational data published in the German medical journal Schmerz.
German researchers assessed the efficacy of oral THC capsules (dronabinol) in 62 patients hospitalized with fibromyalgia.
Compared to untreated patients, those consuming oral THC suffered from fewer bouts of depression and experienced “significant improvements” in their quality of life. Patients taking THC were also far more likely than others to either reduce or discontinue their use of pain medications – a finding that is consistent with numerous other studies of patient populations.
Authors concluded: “The results of the present analysis indicate, similar to other studies, that THC could be a medicinal alternative to the substances previously recommended in various guidelines.”
Their conclusions are consistent with those of prior studies finding that FM patients who begin using cannabis products report greater quality of life and reduce their levels of opioid consumption.
Full text of the study, “Tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with fibromyalgia: A retrospective study of changes in pain, psychometric variables, and analgesic consumption during inpatient and interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy,” appears in Schmerz. Additional information on cannabis and FM is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.