|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: No miracle, but cannabis does ease MS patients' pain Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor The Times Friday 07 Nov 2003 CANNABIS has no measurable effect on muscle stiffness or jerkiness in multiple sclerosis patients but most of them feel as if it does, according to a medical trial. The first big trial of cannabis-based pills for MS patients ended with a mixed message. Objectively, it seems to have no effect on muscle spasticity, but subjectively, patients said that it had reduced their symptoms and improved their mobility. The results of a major British trial of 630 patients, supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and published in The Lancet, showed that cannabis-based medicines were no miracle- pill for MS. But Dr John Zajicek of the University of Plymouth, who led the study, said that the results provide some evidence that cannabinoids could be clinically useful in treatment of symptoms of MS. More research was needed to prove this, he said. The Multiple Sclerosis Society said that on the evidence now available those who might benefit from the drug should be able to have the treatment provided for them on the NHS. Two independent scientists, Luanne Metz and Stacey Page from the University of Calgary, commenting on the results in Lancet, said that they provided as much evidence of benefit as many standard therapies for MS, including the drug baclofen. However, because we do not know how these cannabinoids compare to other anti-spasticity treatments, they should generally only be considered when other therapy has failedthey say. There has long been a campaign by some MS sufferers to be allowed to use cannabis to relieve their symptoms, based largely upon the benefits claimed by those that have tried it. Some have run the risk of criminal prosecution by using it. The three-year trial was designed to show if it really does work. The main measurement was the degree of muscle spasticity or stiffness, rated by trained assessors on a one-to-five scale, the Ashworth Scale. The patients, from 33 neurology and rehabilitation centres across Britain, were divided into three groups and given either harmless placebos, pills containing cannabis extract or pills containing one of the active ingredients in cannabis, tetrahydrocannibinol. They were assessed after 15 weeks. The researchers found that there was no overall change in muscle stiffness or jerky movements in the patients taking cannabis. In interviews, however, around two thirds of patients on the cannabis treatments said that they felt their spasticity had improved. But half the patients taking the placebo also believed that their condition got better. Dr Zajicek said: The results of this study present an interesting and complex picture of the value of cannabis-derived medicines for treating MS. The primary aim of the trial was to measure, as objectively as possible, the actual physical changes in limb spasticity in MS patients, and we found no evidence of this. Dr Zajicek said that they had also wanted to capture treatment effects among the other important symptoms. When patients were asked to describe how they felt their symptoms, including spasticity, had been affected, the picture was very different. They felt some of the impact of their painful and distressing symptoms had been eased. Patients experienced very few side-effects from the treatments and, given that how a patient feels is an important part of improving health, cannabis-based treatments may be of benefit to some patients. Unfortunately, although the trial was supposed to be double-blind with neither doctors nor patients aware of what was being taken many patients realised that they were on active pills because of side-effects. This means that the trial was unblinded and reduces the value to be placed on the patients' subjective impressions. Professor Colin Blakemore, MRC chief executive, said: Science isnt always black and white and this work underlines the importance of funding large-scale clinical trials of possible treatments so the evidence can be weighed up. Mike ODonovan, chief executive of the MS Society, said that the results showed the difficulty in assessing treatments for a variable and fluctuating condition like MS. Current methods of measurement do not always detect significant benefits patients may feel. Around two thirds of those on the cannabis-derived drugs felt their spasticity was improved by them, even though that could not be shown clinically. More people on the drugs found relief from other very distressing symptoms like pain, spasm and sleeping problems than those taking a placebo. These improvements to quality of life can make a significant difference to people with MS, whose choice of treatments is very limited,Mr ODonovan said.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!