Are you or someone you love living with the agony of inflammatory arthritis?
A flagship study from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry gives new hope to those looking for alternative pain management strategies.
Extensive research has turned up very significant evidence that cannabis-based medicinal products could in fact be a game-changer when it comes to the treatment of arthritis.
Game-Changing Results
Researchers analyzed information from 82 patients with inflammatory arthritis who were using cannabis-based medicinal products to treat chronic pain.
The results were quite staggering, mostly improving significantly in the lives of their patients in many respects.
First of all, a marked reduction in the severe nature of pain was noticed in patients. That is to say, this relentless pain, which many times punctuates inflammatory arthritis, was so reduced that patients experienced changes in quality of life
This study also found that pain interference, a measure of the degree to which pain interferes with various daily activities, was significantly reduced.
Improvement in this respect would suggest patients were able to become more fully engaged in day-to-day tasks, social interactions, and hobbies with less pain-related hindrance.
What is particularly exciting about these findings is that these positive effects did not stop there. Pain management improvements were consistently similar over the course of the study, continuing up to 12 months. In a condition like inflammatory arthritis, long-term relief really matters to patients.
Beyond Pain Management
Although the research here was focused solely on pain management, some interesting additional benefits were found that give a more comprehensive picture of how cannabis medicines might improve the lives of those suffering from arthritis.
Probably the most important among other findings, the quality of sleep in patients improved.
Any person who has had to put up with chronic pain knows how it can disrupt sleep patterns and hence cause fatigue, irritability, and decreased ability to cope with pain.
That simply constitutes an enormously important fact pertaining to treatment when patients prefer to sleep more. This Improved sleep then means better mood, greater energy levels, and even improved pain tolerance while awake.
A number of respondents also mentioned anxiolytic effects, besides the improved sleep. Chronic pain is one of the major causes firstly of stress and then axiety.
Stress and anxiety may in turn feed back into pain. Thus, in reducing anxiety, cannabis medicines may well be breaking a noxious circle that enhances the general feeling of well-being beyond simple pain relief.
Quality of life, possibly more importantly, was improved for participants of this study. It included daily activities and emotional state. Patients could engage more in their favorite activities, maintain social contacts, and generally feel more emotionally stable.
These quality-of-life gains are immeasurable to those suffering from chronic conditions and can provide a renewed sense of hope and normalcy.
Well Tolerated Option
First to be thought of in connection with any new treatment must be the risk of side effects, and on this topic, the research has some relatively good news. Researchers said most patients in the study tolerated cannabis based medicines fairly well.
As expected, though some light to moderate adverse side effects were reported, no dangerous adverse events occurred during the study period.
Of all the side effects, dry mouth was the most frequent but was observed in fewer than 7% of patients. Other effects were similarly quite tolerable to most patients.
This very favorable safety profile is critical when considering cannabis medicines as a potential alternative to other pain management strategies, often with much greater risks and complications.
That being said, any medical therapy will require a close touted relationship with medical providers so that patients can monitor for possible side effects and correct treatment accordingly.
What It Means for You
These findings now open new avenues of possibilities and hope for those toiling in pain from inflammatory arthritis.
Treatments that have been established oblige their place, but too often not offering each simple relief teacher and every patient. Promising results like these suggest that cannabis medicines might become a useful addition to the toolbox of pain management for so many people with arthritis.
These results may open a new avenue to follow up with a healthcare provider for the people who have suffered from chronic arthritis pain. Better pain control, better sleep, reduced anxiety, and improvement in quality of life will truly be life-changing for so many patients.
While taking these findings as a general course of action can be done, it is invaluable to note that everyone’s experience with pain and its treatment differs.
What may work well on one person may not be the best solution for another.
This research offers great information that can be of value in informing decisions over pain management strategies, but this should always be done in consideration with the medical professionals who understand your specific situation.
Cannabis May Be the Future of Arthritis Treatment.
Cannabis based medicines can offer not just relief from pain and inflammation but also possibly with the treatment of the very roots of the disease that causes inflammatory arthritis.
The endocannabinoid system that is targeted by these medications does involve joint health and immune regulation. Researchers are also optimistic about what the findings portend for treatments in the future. Cannabis treatments might truly be of symptomatic benefit, and thus actually changing the course of the disease.
While further research in this direction is warranted, the preliminary findings of endocannabinoid system function in joint health and immune function do reveal some brilliant prospects for developing more specific and efficient treatments against inflammatory arthritis.
A study of this nature can help them to concentrate further research on how formulation, dosage mode, or different cannabinoid combinations might best be tailored for arthritis treatment.
