1 In 8 Patients With Fibromyalgia Use Medical Marijuana To Ease The Pain

According to a new Canadian study, one in eight patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia uses medical marijuana to medicate and ease their pain. Fibromyalgia affects 2% of the population in the U.S. The illness strikes patients mostly with chronic widespread pain, but can also cause fatigue, sleep difficulties, joint stiffness, depression and anxiety. Doctors are still mystified by the condition. It is typically treated with antidepressants, pain pills, and physical therapy, however there is no cure.

Dr. Igor Grant, head of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California commented on fibromyalgia patients’ use of medical marijuana to Reuters Health, saying, "that is not unusual behavior, in general, for people with chronic medical illnesses for which we don't have great treatments… People start looking around, they look for other types of remedies, because they need the help."

There are some questions about whether or not medical marijuana actually helps patients with fibromyalgia. While studies have proved that medical marijuana does indeed reduce pain in HIV patients, and patients with various other conditions, no study has yet to prove the same results with fibromyalgia patients. In addition to these concerns, the question has also been raised as to whether or not the use of medical marijuana actually does harm to fibromyalgia patients daily functionality or not.

Peter Ste-Marie is a pain researcher at McGill University in Montreal, and worked on this new study. "There really is no miracle drug for fibromyalgia. We definitely understand that patients would try to find something else…. (However) before saying herbal cannabis has a future in fibromyalgia, there are multiple things that need to be looked at,” he said.

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1 In 8 Patients With Fibromyalgia Use Medical Marijuana To Ease The Pain
Thursday, 19 July 2012

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