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Medical marijuana could help treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, scientists say.
Spanish researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 17 existing clinical trials involving 3,161 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and taking products containing a form of cannabinoid, one of various cannabis compounds. They published their results in the journal JAMA Network open now.
A number of drugs containing cannabinoids have been evaluated, including nabiximols, dronabinol and nabilone. The study suggests that the substance was safe and more effective in patients with pain, spasticity (where muscles are continuously contracted) and bladder dysfunction compared to patients taking a placebo. But the clinical benefits can be limited, they wrote.
Read more: CBD cannabis extract used to successfully treat psychosis
Because there is no cure for MS, clinicians help patients manage their symptoms, recover from serious episodes, and slow the progression of the disease. Until now, evidence in favor of medical cannabis as a treatment option is fragmentary.
As in all studies, the document had a number of limitations. The authors wrote that they had evaluated a small number of studies because a limited number were available. In addition, patients took the drugs for a different period of time, which might make the results less accurate.
The researchers hope, however, that their article encourages further work on how cannabis products could be used in combination with existing MS therapies, which could be a double attack on debilitating disease.
Marijuana for medical purposes is legal in more than half of the United States and the District of Columbia. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has refused to help as a treatment, citing the lack of scientific evidence to prove its effectiveness.
Conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and Crohn's disease are treated with some form of substance, but Dr. Marcel Bonn-Miller, addiction expert at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told WebMD the use of cannabis to treat chronic pain, nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and spasticity due to MS.
The authors of the study declined to comment on their findings.
Talk to NewsweekIan Hamilton, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at York University in the UK, said that if one examines existing studies, the negative result of the analysis is that it is as good as the original work on which it is based.
He added that the size of the groups' samples was also small, making it more difficult to generalize the results.
However, Hamilton commended the authors for pointing out that some of the trials were funded by pharmaceutical companies and included in their analysis. "They did not notice any difference between the studies funded by the industry and those that were not," he said.
Citing the fact that most of the US allows cannabis for medical purposes, he concludes: "If you were a US citizen, it would reassure you and hope that these types of drugs provide relief to certain symptoms if you are afflicted. from SEP. "
A spokesman for the charity The Multiple Sclerosis Trust said Newsweek: "The review and editorial confirm the effectiveness of cannabis-based drugs in treating some of the symptoms of MS, but also highlight the need for more well-designed studies to test the different components of cannabis. "
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