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Tag: chronic pain

  • "No Evidence" That Medical Marijuana Works For Chronic Pain, Study Finds

    "No Evidence" That Medical Marijuana Works For Chronic Pain, Study Finds

    The study also found “no evidence” that marijuana use reduced prescription opioid use. 

    For those experiencing non-cancer chronic pain, medical marijuana may not be as effective as initially thought, according to a new study.

    According to Medical Xpress, researchers at UNSW Sydney, who led one of the longest community studies of its kind, discovered no obvious role when it comes to cannabis for the treatment of non-cancer chronic pain.

    The Pain and Opioids In Treatment (POINT) study, which took place over four years, discovered that participants who used marijuana for chronic pain reported they were “experiencing greater pain and anxiety, were coping less well with their pain, and reported that pain was interfering more in their life,” when compared to those not using medical marijuana. 

    “At four-year follow-up, compared with people with no cannabis use, we found that participants who used cannabis had a greater pain severity score, for less frequent cannabis use, greater pain interference score, lower pain self-efficacy scores and greater generalized anxiety disorder severity scores,” authors wrote. “We found no evidence of a temporal relationship between cannabis use and pain severity or pain interference, and no evidence that cannabis use reduced prescribed opioid use or increased rates of opioid discontinuation.”

    Researchers did not find any clear evidence that medical marijuana reduced severity of pain or had participants decrease opioid use or dosage. When it comes to medical marijuana, chronic non-cancer pain is the most common reason for use. 

    The length of this study sets it apart from others, Medical Xpress points out. The POINT study recruited participants through community pharmacies, then completed an overall assessment of their level of pain, physical and mental health, and medication and marijuana use each year. 

    Of the 1,514 participants, about 80% completed all the assessments, Medical Xpress states. The median number of years of chronic pain was about 10 and the number of years having taken opioids for the pain was about four. Rates of physical and mental health issues among participants were high, Medical Xpress says.

    The results of the study were published in Lancet Public Health and imply there may not be as many benefits to medical marijuana as previously thought.

    “Chronic non-cancer pain is a complex problem,” said lead author Dr. Gabrielle Campbell. “For most people, there is unlikely to be a single effective treatment… In our study of people living with chronic non-cancer pain who were prescribed pharmaceutical opioids, despite reporting perceived benefits from cannabis use, we found no strong evidence that cannabis use reduced participants’ pain or opioid use over time.”

    This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and led by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW Sydney.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kratom Supporters Converge on Washington to Fight Potential Ban

    Kratom Supporters Converge on Washington to Fight Potential Ban

    Kratom advocates met at the U.S. Capitol in early June to begin a week of lobbying in favor of the substance.

    With a federal ban on kratom gaining traction in Washington, D.C, advocates of the plant’s pain management and potential opioid withdrawal properties traveled to the nation’s capital to lobby support for the Southeast Asian plant.

    Participants hoped to correct legislators’ misconceptions about the plant, which has been labeled as an equivalent to prescription opioids with no medical benefit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    But as the Huffington Post noted, supporters found that their efforts generated a mixed response from the House and Senate, where legislative aides reportedly said that if the FDA followed through with the ban, it would most likely receive backing from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

    Surveys have suggested that between three and five million Americans use kratom, which is consumed as a supplement made from the dried or powdered leaves of the kratom tree.

    Users claim that kratom can serve as a stimulant or sedative, and it has been touted as an alternative to prescription opioids for pain management, and in some cases, as a potential tool for withdrawal from opioids. It is currently unregulated in America, though some states have enacted a ban on the substance within their own borders.

    Kratom’s interaction with opioid receptors in the body has placed it in the crosshairs of the FDA, which has claimed that it can impact the user in the same manner as opioids, and has the same potential for abuse and dependency.

    The agency’s negative press eventually spurred the DEA’s decision to temporarily add kratom to its list of Schedule I drugs in 2016, though public outcry from users who relied on the substance for their quality of life forced it to rescind its order that same year.

    The FDA has since renewed its efforts to take kratom off the market, this time with computer analysis that suggested the most prevalent compounds in the substance share “structural similarities” to opioids. It also officially recommended that the DEA move forward with its rescheduling, a decision which, according to sources within the agency, may happen as early as summer 2018.

    In hopes of heading off such measures, kratom advocates met at the U.S. Capitol on June 5 to begin a week of lobbying in favor of the substance. Proponents testified to the positive impact of kratom use on their chronic pain, which they claimed to have treated unsuccessfully with prescription opioids.

    As the HuffPost article noted, one individual spoke about her anxiety that had driven her to consider suicide, and how she had found relief through kratom use.

    But attendees also reported that meetings with legislative aides at the House and Senate could not generate a concrete statement of support. Most appeared to hear and support the advocates’ aims, but could not assure the visitors that they would work on their behalf; others stated that if the FDA wanted to reassign kratom, there would be little they could do to stave off or reverse that decision.

    “They were pretty much letting us know that this isn’t looking too great,” said Melanie Victor, a volunteer from Tennessee. “This is probably going to be a pretty big fight.”

    View the original article at thefix.com