Medical cannabis linked to significant improvements in quality of life

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

People with chronic health issues prescribed medical cannabis saw "significant" improvements in their overall quality of life and fatigue levels.

Cannabis therapy was also linked to improvements in anxiety, depression and pain levels in the first three months of use, according to a new Australian study.

But scientists say it did not seem to improve insomnia symptoms - and several participants withdrew from the study due to side effects.

Medical cannabis has been approved for prescription in Australia since 2016 to patients with health conditions unresponsive to other treatments.

Margaret-Ann Tait and colleagues at the University of Sydney surveyed a group of Australians with chronic health conditions prescribed medical cannabis.

The team analyzed responses from more than 2,300 patients prescribed THC and CBD dissolved in a carrier oil between November 2020 and December 2021.

Participants were asked about their health-related quality of life, pain, sleep, anxiety, and depression before beginning cannabis therapy, after two weeks of treatment, then once a month for three months. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 97 and were an average of 51 years old. Nearly two-thirds were women.

The most reported conditions being treated were chronic pain (69 percent); insomnia (23 percent); anxiety (22 percent); and anxiety or depression (11 percent). Half of the patients were being treated for more than one condition.

Senior research officer Ms Tait said: “Within the first three months of medicinal cannabis therapy, participants reported improvements in their health-related quality of life, fatigue, and health conditions associated with anxiety, depression, and pain.

"Patients reported significant, clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life and fatigue measurements across the three months surveyed.

"Patients also reported clinically meaningful reductions in pain and significant improvements for moderate-severe anxiety and depression.

"However, though many patients were prescribed cannabis for insomnia, there were no overall improvements in patient-reported sleep disturbance."

The researchers did not measure adverse effects, although 30 patients formally withdrew from the study due to “unwanted side effects”.

But the team said that, regardless, the results published in the journal PLoS One suggest medical cannabis may be "effective" in helping manage previously untreatable chronic conditions.

Ms Tait, a PhD candidate, added: "More research and development of the cannabis oil products used in this study may be needed in order to successfully treat patients with insomnia and sleep disorders."