Tag: United Kingdom

Cancer is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a person. Anyone who has survived a battle with cancer or had a friend or family battle cancer knows that unfortunate fact firsthand.

According to estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, “in 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths” and “about 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their lifetime, approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease.”

One of the ongoing symptoms of cancer is chronic pain. A recent study conducted in the United Kingdom found that cannabis therapies may offer sustained relief for cancer-related pain. Below is more information about the study and its findings via a news release from NORML:

London, United Kingdom: Cancer patients report less pain and improved sleep following their use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs), according to observational data published in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

British researchers assessed the use of botanical cannabis or oil extracts in 168 cancer patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British specialists are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes at one, three, and six months.

Patients’ use of cannabis products was “associated with improvements in all pain-specific PROMs [patient-reported outcome measures] at all follow-up periods,” investigators reported. Study participants also reported improved sleep and less anxiety. No significant adverse effects from cannabis were reported.

The study’s authors concluded: “Initiation of CBMPs is associated with improvements in pain-specific and general health-related quality of life outcomes in CP [cancer pain] patients over six months, with a relatively low incidence of mild-to-moderate AEs [adverse events] and no life-threatening AEs. … RCTs [randomized controlled trials] and longer observational case series are warranted, but this study can help inform their rollout, serving as a valuable pharmacovigilance tool for the use of CBMPs in CP, either as an alternative therapeutic option or as one part of multimodal treatment.”

Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products among patients enrolled in the UK Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those diagnosed with anxiety, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.

Full text of the study, “UK Medical Cannabis Registry: An analysis of clinical outcomes of medicinal cannabis therapy for cancer pain,” appears in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

International health researchers estimate that as many as 4.9 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. The highest rates of inflammatory bowel disease are found in China and the United States.

Inflammatory bowel disease is a wider health term used to describe a group of health conditions that cause swelling and inflammation of the tissues in the sufferer’s digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are examples of inflammatory bowel disease.

A team of researchers in the United Kingdom recently conducted a study involving the use of medical cannabis by patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. Below is more information about the study and its results via a news release from NORML:

London, United Kingdom: Patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) report sustained improvements in their health-related quality of life following their use of cannabis, according to observational data published in the journal Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

British researchers assessed the use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) consisting of either botanicals or oil extracts in 116 IBD patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British specialists are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes at 18 months.

Consistent with prior research, investigators reported, “CBMP treatment was associated with improvement in IBD-specific outcomes in patients and general HRQoL [health-related quality of life] over 18-months.”

According to a literature review published in October in the scientific journal Cureus, “Many IBD patients use cannabis to control disease symptoms, and there is emerging evidence that it may play a role in disease management.”

Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products in patients enrolled in the UK Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those suffering from anxiety, fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.

Full text of the study, “UK medical cannabis registry: An updated analysis of clinical outcomes of cannabis-based medicinal products for inflammatory bowel disease,” appears in Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Additional information on cannabis and inflammatory bowel disease is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.

A team of researchers affiliated with several different healthcare and academic institutions in the United Kingdom found that chronic pain patients reported sustained improvements in their symptoms after medical cannabis use. The researchers published their observational data  in the journal Pain Practice.

“Chronic pain (CP) affects 35.0%–51.3% of the UK population, with 67%–88% reporting sleep disturbances. Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have shown therapeutic potential in managing CP. Evidence suggests poor sleep worsens pain perception; therefore, this study aimed to assess patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) following CBMP treatment in CP patients with and without co-morbid sleep impairment.” the researchers stated about their study.

“The sleep impaired cohort showed improvements in all PROMs at each follow-up (p < 0.010). The sleep unimpaired cohort showed similar results (p < 0.050), except in SQS and ED-5Q-5L: self-care and anxiety/depression scores (p > 0.050). However, the sleep impaired cohort observed greater improvements in BPI pain severity (p < 0.050) and SQS (p < 0.001) than the sleep unimpaired cohort at all follow-ups.” they reported about the results of the study.

“Whilst these results show promise for the effects of CBMPs on CP, they must be examined within the limitations of the study design. These findings provide further evidence to support the design of subsequent randomized controlled trials to verify causality between CBMPs and pain outcomes.” the authors concluded.

Starting in 2018, health specialists in Britain are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to suffering patients unresponsive to conventional medications.

A separate study conducted earlier this year in the United Kingdom found that older patients reported experiencing better general health and well-being following their use of medical cannabis products.

“There were consistent improvements across measures of general health and well-being after three months of treatment. … These findings accord with a growing body of observational and real-world evidence from jurisdictions that have legalized medicinal cannabis that cannabis is effective for improving sleep, mood and quality of health across multiple primary conditions.” the authors of that particular study reported.

Global researchers estimate that nearly 4% of the planet’s total population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is one of the most common mental health conditions around the world.

Common treatments for PTSD include different types of trauma-focused psychotherapy as well as pharmaceutical medications. Many of the pharmaceutical medications used to treat PTSD can yield undesirable side effects.

A recent study conducted in the United Kingdom examined medical cannabis therapies and PTSD. Below is more information about the study and its results via a news release from NORML:

London, United Kingdom: Patients with post-traumatic stress report symptom improvements following their use of cannabis, according to observational data published in the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

British researchers assessed the use of THC-dominant cannabis flower in 58 patients with post-traumatic stress. (Since 2018, British specialists have been permitted to prescribe either cannabis or cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes measures at three months and at six months.

Participants, on average, attained a 16.8-point reduction in their symptom severity scores following six months of cannabis treatment. Patients also reported significant enhancements in general health, mood, and sleep quality.

The study’s authors concluded: “Results from this observational study suggest an association between treatment with THC-predominant cannabis flowers and symptomatic improvement for up to six months in a cohort of UK civilians diagnosed with PTSD. The treatment was safe and well tolerated and characterized by marked effects on quality of sleep, general mood, and severity of PTSD-associated symptoms. … However, further research is needed to evaluate the long-term safety and outcomes of controlled inhalation of CBMP in patients naïve to cannabis.”

Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products in patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, fibromyalgia, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Full text of the study, “Controlled inhalation of tetrahydrocannabinol-predominant cannabis flowers mitigates severity of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and improves quality of sleep and general mood in cannabis-experienced UK civilians: A real-world, observational study,” appears in Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Additional information on cannabis and post-traumatic stress is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.

Fibromyalgia is a serious health condition involving widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues. Ongoing research has determined that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way the suffering patient’s brain and spinal cord process painful and nonpainful signals.

According to a peer-reviewed study from January 2023, fibromyalgia “affects up to 5.0% of the world population” and “has a high female predominance, between 80 and 96%.” According to a separate study recently conducted in the United Kingdom, cannabis may provide sustained benefits for suffering fibromyalgia patients.

A team of British researchers affiliated with various academic and private entities assessed the use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMP) consisting of cannabis flower or oil extracts in 148 patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. The researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes at one, three, six, and twelve-month timelines.

The findings from the study were published in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

“Improvements in the generalized anxiety disorder-7 questionnaire, single-item sleep quality scale, fibromyalgia symptom severity score and EQ-5D-5L Index values [a descriptive scale assessing mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression] were observed at each follow up period compared to baseline,” the researchers reported.

“Positive associations between initiation of CBMP therapy and decreased fibromyalgia severity were observed at all time points.…These findings are complemented by the wider literature.” the study’s authors concluded.

“Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products in patients enrolled in the UK Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.” NORML stated in a recent news release, adding additional context and resources about the topic.

For many years, cannabis-based research was either outright prohibited in many parts of the world, or at the very least greatly hindered. Meanwhile, a false narrative was pushed by mainstream media and cannabis opponents that cannabis was ‘bad for the human brain in every instance, no exceptions.’

Of course, the truth is that as researchers continue to explore and unlock the wellness benefits of cannabinoids, we are learning that the cannabis plant can be effective at providing relief to suffering patients for a wide array of conditions, including mental health conditions.

A team of researchers recently conducted a clinical trial in the United Kingdom that explored the relationship between cannabidiol (CBD) and symptoms in patients with a high risk of psychosis. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

London, United Kingdom: The daily use of cannabidiol reduces symptom severity in patients at clinically high risk of suffering from psychosis, according to placebo-controlled clinical trial data published in the journal World Psychiatry.

Thirty-one patients completed the study. Subjects received 600 mg of CBD or a placebo daily for three weeks. None of the participants received any prescription medications during the trial. Patients were assessed at baseline, at seven days, and at 21 days.

Compared to the placebo group, those who received CBD had lower total CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At‐Risk Mental States) scores following treatment. CBD dosing was associated with a “reduction in the severity of CHR [clinically high risk] symptoms and the distress associated with psychotic experiences,” investigators reported.

The study’s authors concluded: “Short‐term treatment with CBD can ameliorate the symptoms of CHR state for psychosis and is well tolerated. These results highlight the potential of CBD as a novel treatment for psychosis, and the need for large‐scale efficacy studies to further evaluate its clinical utility.”

Separate studies have demonstrated that the use of CBD reduces psychotic symptoms and the use of antipsychotic medications in patients with schizophrenia.

Full text of the study, “Effects of cannabidiol on symptoms in people at clinical; high risk of psychosis,” appears in World Psychiatry.