Marijuana-based Medicine Helps Arthritis
Reported November 9, 2005

 

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Doctors who tested a medicine made from a marijuana plant on people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found it helps ease pain and may also suppress the progression of the disease.

While noting the cannabis-based medicine (CBM) produced only small and variable benefits in this small study of 58 patients with RA, the investigators believe the treatment holds promise.

"The results from the first controlled study of CBM in rheumatoid arthritis are encouraging, with overall improvements in pain on movement and at rest, improvement in the quality of sleep and improvement in the overall condition of the patients' arthritis," says Dr. Ronald Jubb, from the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in England.

People in the study self-administered the drug via a mouth spray and were instructed to use it only in the evening to avoid any intoxication effect. Researchers mention, however, it's unlikely medicinal users of cannabis would actually get high from using the medication on a regular basis, noting there has never been a documented case of abuse for this particular drug.

Researchers say cannabis was first proposed as a treatment for rheumatic diseases as long ago as 2800 BC. More studies are planned to determine the effects of the medication.

SOURCE: Rheumatology, published online Nov. 9, 2005