cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Kills Pain in Medical Trials










  Cannabis Kills Pain in Medical Trials

Posted by CN Staff on September 30, 2002 at 08:16:50 PT
Cannabis has pain-relieving qualities 
Source: BBC News  

A large trial of cannabis-based medicines has produced compelling evidence that they can help to reduce pain, say scientists. GW Pharmaceuticals has been given a licence by the UK government to test a range of cannabis-based prescription medicines. Its latest work focused on 34 patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and other conditions causing severe pain. 
None of the patients had responded well to current medications, but 28 said that using cannabis-based treatments reduced their pain and helped them to sleep more soundly. Each patient was given three different types of medication which contained different levels of the active ingredients of cannabis. All out-performed a dummy medication. Remarkable findings The research was conducted by Dr Willy Notcutt, at his pain clinic at the James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth. He said: "Patients in this trial are suffering from severe pain - it dominates their lives. "Given the previously intractable nature of their pain symptoms, the improvements provided by cannabis-based medicines are all the more remarkable. "Many of those with chronic pain also suffer from a poor quality of sleep, which - over time - can have profoundly negative effects on them and their families. "By bringing about improvements in their sleep regime, as well their pain, we can have a major positive impact on their quality of life." The number of patients who took part in the trial is still relatively small, and further research is required before cannabis-based medicines are made widely available. However, Dr Geoffrey Guy, GW executive chairman, said: "We are delighted with the results of this study in patients with severe pain. "The data shows improvements with all three of our cannabis-based medicines and we therefore believe that there will be a market for all three medicines in pain treatment in due course." GW plans to release data about more advanced clinical trials later this year. Quote: There will be a market for all three medicines in pain treatment in due course. -- Dr Geoffrey GuySource: BBC News (UK Web) Published: Monday, September 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/Contact: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/Related Articles & Web Site:UK Medicinal Cannabis Projecthttp://www.medicinal-cannabis.org/Further Trials of Cannabis Medicineshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12515.shtmlGW Pharma Doubles Cannabis Drug Trials http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12506.shtmlPot Pain-Killer Under Consideration for Britons http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12041.shtml

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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on September 30, 2002 at 21:52:58 PT
this is really interesting
From the GW press release:"All the products were very well tolerated. The adverse event profile across all GW’s Phase II trials, including patients from this study, shows a significantly lower incidence of side effects for the THC:CBD product compared with the THC product."Again what we've known all along: the active ingredients work better together. I'll stick to my vaporizer, thank you.I commend GW though - most people will probably prefer the sub-lingual spray to vaporizing, and for many very ill people it will be much easier than working with the actual plant material.I hope that some of the trials feature head-to-head comparisons of cannabis vs. NSAIDS, Opiates, etc.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on September 30, 2002 at 11:00:57 PT

Thank You Dr. Russo
I appreciate your comment. That's what they have and they have Muscular Dystrophy too. Not all the children but more then half have been diagnosed so far. They are doing a study on the family. Something to do with having both diseases and being hereditary. 
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on September 30, 2002 at 10:48:26 PT:

Paget
Yes, the hospital is named for James Paget, the discoverer of the bone disease of the same name (an eponym), otherwise known as osteitis deformans. It is a complicated disease, with bone overgrowth or destruction, arteriosclerosis, possible nerve pinches, headaches, seizures, visual loss, etc. It is distinctly likely that cannabis would provide symptomatic relief of neuropathic and musculoskeltal pain in this disorder, and might help associated seizures. Since the metabolic disorder with this disease is unknown, it is not possible to say whether or how cannabis might affect the course of the disease.Dr. Grinspoon recommended it in one case:http://www.rxmarihuana.com/q&a.htm 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 30, 2002 at 10:30:22 PT

A question Dr. Russo
This name James Paget is there a disease by his name? Why I ask is my sister's children almost all of 8 have been diagnosed with a disease named Paget plus most of them have MD now too. If so does Cannabis help with Paget's or isn't enough know at this point?
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Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo MD on September 30, 2002 at 10:30:20 PT:

Press Release
Here's a link to the press release:http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_30_sep_02.html
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo MD on September 30, 2002 at 10:26:17 PT:

You Heard it First
This article resulted from a press release timed to Dr. Notcutt's presentation at the American Academy of Pain Management conference. For more on the GW program results, there is a slide show and audio presentation at:http://www.gwpharm.com/Just press the "Click here" link.
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Comment #1 posted by freddybigbee on September 30, 2002 at 09:04:52 PT:

Pain Reduction
What a shocker, eh? How many decades will it take for scientists to prove what every smoker knows, that cannabis relieves a multitude of conditions with minimal down-side?
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