Cannabis relieves pain, seizures and 25 other symptoms

Work-up of 16,000 patients showed that marijuana and its drugs quickly and effectively relieve symptoms of a wide range of diseases, including pain and insomnia.

Studies at the New Mexico University have shown that the use of marijuana quickly alleviates symptoms of a range of diseases, mainly pain and anxiety and other manifestations of depression. To do this, scientists used the Releaf App, a mobile application specifically designed to allow patients to document their use of marijuana and its drugs.

“If we extrapolate our results to the rest of the population, it would appear that marijuana and its drugs could replace the multi-billion dollar drug market. Moreover, this replacement is already happening,” explains Jacob Vigil, one of the authors of both articles.

The Releaf App allows you to keep a record of your consumption and assess the intensity of symptoms before and after taking marijuana. According to the creators, Releaf App differs favorably from other methods of data collection (diaries, communication with specialists) in that, firstly, its use does not take much time, and secondly, it is anonymous and therefore more comfortable for those who do not like to talk about their treatment and/or use of cannabis.

Besides, the authors of the study note that the study of data collected by patients themselves in the usual environment (outside the hospital and in the absence of doctors) has its advantages, especially because it is used in this way – not under the control of doctors, but at home. The environment can have an impact on both the effect and preferred form of medicine and frequency of use, so application research is one of the best ways to obtain reliable data, said Vigil and his colleagues.

2830 patients with 27 different diagnoses and symptoms ranging from anxiety to seizures were considered in the first study. The average result of subjective symptom relief from 13,638 cannabis intakes was four points on a scale of ten (all drug forms were considered): extractions, tinctures, hemp extract food, wax suppository, ointments and toothpaste). In the second study, only the effect of smoking hemp inflorescences on insomnia patients was considered; 409 people reported a total of 1,056 doses of the drug. The data processing showed the efficacy of the active substance of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), when relieving ten types of pain and symptoms such as seizures, nausea, weakness, increased and reduced appetite, anxiety and 11 other items.

The ability of THC to relieve pain, including chronic pain and cancer, and to alleviate symptoms of epilepsy and cerebral palsy, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder has long been proven. There is reason to believe that THC can also help patients with other diagnoses. The work of Vigil and his colleagues, however, was the first major study of cannabis efficacy based on subjective patient assessments.

The authors note that no other known drug has such a wide range of effects as cannabis: According to the data collected by the application, the use of THC-containing medications alleviates 27 symptoms, with positive side effects (relaxation, pacification, general wellbeing) occurring much more frequently and more strongly than negative ones (anxiety, headache).

Two articles about the results of the study were published in Medicines and Frontiers in Pharmacology.