Amid controversies, cannabis has medical properties. (Image via: myDr)

Cannabis: An Antidote for Fibromyalgia

While it is known as one of the infamous illegal drugs, cannabis has its own medicinal properties. Traditionally, cannabis is known to be used by people during ancient times to treat chronic pain disorder. Uniquely, the modern medics also use this plant, generally known as “weed”.

The latest research, published by Israeli scientists later included in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, pointed out that cannabis is effective to treat fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia shows symptoms of muscle pain, excessive fatigue, and sleeping disorder. It also leads to depression.

Israeli themselves have been using cannabis since the early 1990s when it was legalized for medicinal activities. In 2018, nearly 27% of adults used cannabis as their therapy, making Israeli as one of the most frequent cannabis-using nations in the world.

About 300 patients applied to the research at a clinic in Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel. These patients had various levels of fibromyalgia, from constant daily muscle pain to other symptoms for approximately 7 years. Then, those patients were given a low dose amount of cannabis every 3-4 hours for 6 months. The dosage increased until it showed therapeutic signs. There are 2 kinds of cannabis used in this experiment was sponsored by Tikun Olam, a local Israeli cannabis producer and cultivator, a high Tetrahydrocannabinol (TLC) “Alaska” cannabis strain & a high Cannabidiol (CBD) “Avidekel” cannabis strain.

After 6 months had passed, the patients testified that the pain was alleviated a bit. In the beginning, the median pain level was at 9, from 1-10 scale. After the length was over, the scale went down to 5. In addition, about 93% of the patients said that they experienced improvement in their mental state, 80% said that they were less depressed. Food appetite and sexual activity were also improved. By the result of the 6-month experiment, it is almost evident that fibromyalgia could be treated with a certain dosage of cannabis.

However, there are side effects to the usage of cannabis such as dry mouth, gastrointestinal syndrome, and of course, dizziness. The scientists concluded the experiment by stating that cannabis therapy for fibromyalgia should be applied to ease the symptoms if the standard care does not work for the sufferers.

Source: https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2019/7/7/cannabis-effective-in-treating-fibromyalgia