Cannabis-based treatments could be more effective at treating multiple sclerosis (MS) than originally thought. Patients who participated in a 15-week study — published last year in The Lancet — reported that cannabinoid compounds provided relief from some of the painful symptoms of MS, but independent physiotherapists failed to find hard evidence of reduced muscle stiffness and disability. However, new data presented at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Exeter, UK, indicates that this assessment might have been premature. Of the patients in the initial trial, 80% opted to continue cannabinoid treatment for up to 1 year, and Dr John Zajicek of the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, who headed the study, now says that “In the longer term, there is a suggestion of a more useful beneficial effect, which was not clear at the initial stage” (The Guardian). The extended study indicates that patients who took capsules containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis, showed some improvements in stiffness and mobility compared with those who took a placebo.
Animal studies have indicated that cannabinoids slow nerve-cell death; when asked whether this might be responsible for beneficial effects of cannabinoids in patients with MS, Zajicek answered, “Our results are certainly consistent with that hypothesis.” (BBC News.) He also hopes that “...these results will encourage support of further studies of cannabinoids in MS”. In agreement, Dr Philip Robson, Director of the Cannabinoid Research Institute, UK, says that “This is very exciting news and certainly emphasizes the need to assess the potential of cannabis-based products in disease modification as well as symptom relief”.
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