A new study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concludes that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.
“Most patients experienced clinically significant improvements in pain, sleep, and quality of life and reductions in co-medication,” the paper says.
Published late last month in the journal Cannabis, the study evaluated 229 participants in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada, with an average age of 66.7 years. The bulk of participants—around 90 percent—used medical marijuana to treat pain-related conditions, including chronic pain and arthritis. About two thirds (66.2 percent) were female.
Nearly all patients used products consumed orally, such as edibles and extracts, as opposed to smoked or vaporized cannabis, and most preferred products high in CBD and relatively low in THC. “Cannabis is a relatively safe and cost-effective therapeutic option for adults dealing with age-related health conditions.” The study involved use of medical marijuana by patients under the care of a health care provider, with the treating physician reporting data around the use of cannabis and other medications as well as impacts on pain, sleep, quality of life and any adverse effects.
“Over the six-month study period, significant improvements were noted in pain, sleep, and quality of life measures,” the report says, “with 45% experiencing a clinically meaningful improvement in pain interference and in sleep quality scores.”
“Additionally, nearly 50% of patients taking co-medications at baseline had reduced their use by the end of the study period,” it adds, “and quality of life improved significantly from baseline to [month three] and from baseline to [month six].”
Notably, no serious side effects were reported. Of all participants, fewer than 5 percent reported any adverse effects, and most involved nausea and feeling “too high.”
Beyond improving patient outcomes, the use of medical marijuana also appeared to reduce costs.
“Among patients with medication costs at baseline,” authors wrote, “mean monthly medication costs dropped from $74.10 at baseline (SD=$193.30) down to $28.70 at M6 (SD=$69.50), representing a $45.40 mean monthly savings, and a 61.3% decline in prescription medication costs.”Authors, from Greenly Medical Consulting, the medical cannabis company Tilray and the University […]
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