How can medical cannabis contribute to relieving symptoms for patients suffering from chronic pain? This is what a recent study published in Pharmacy hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how medical cannabis impacted healthcare logistics for patients suffering from chronic pain. This study has the potential to help researchers, medical professionals, legislators, and the public better understand the myriads of benefits of medical cannabis and the steps that can be taken to improve them while addressing challenges.
For the study, the researchers analyzed healthcare data regarding hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, urgent care visits, and overall quality of life (QoL). The data involved 5,242 chronic pain patients, of which 3,943 reported past-year cannabis used while 1,299 reported no past-year cannabis use, which were gathered across 36 states. In the end, the researchers found that patients who reported past-year cannabis experienced a 2 percent decrease for urgent care visits and a 3.2 percent decrease in ED visits. For overall quality of life, these same patients reported a decreased number of “unhealthy days per month.”
The study concluded that, “The findings of this study suggest, in line with existing research, that medical cannabis is likely an effective treatment option for patients with chronic pain. Moreover, we found that, in addition to an increase in QoL, medical cannabis exposure is associated with lower risk of urgent care and ED visits, when comparing patients who used medical cannabis for at least one year to cannabis-naïve patients. This underscores the potential for not only QoL gains associated with medical cannabis use, but also positive downstream effects on the healthcare system resulting from treatment.”
How will cannabis continue to help patients suffering from chronic pain in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Pharmacy, Marijuana Moment
