Cannabis Found Effective To Treat Sickle Cell Disease Pain

Cannabis has been found as a safe treatment for chronic pain that’s associated with sickle cell disease. According to research led by the University of California Irvine, cannabis shows promising ramifications in the treatment of those affected by sickle cell disease. The only current treatment for this condition often comes in the form of opioids, finding a natural treatment for this chronic and acute pain to help people that regularly suffer from the disease to find some relief.

The only current cure for sickle cell comes down to a stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant. As these can often take years to qualify for, many people are forced to take opioids for years before their treatment can take place. With the rising rates of opioid related deaths and addiction, there are more physicians that are reaching out attempting to prescribe alternative medications such as cannabis because of the lesser risks associated with side effects.

Sickle Cell And Cannabis

Early trial results of people vaporizing cannabis through the California Irvine study have shown that medical cannabis is extremely effective in treating chronic pain. The trials would suggest that patients affected by sickle cell were able to mitigate their pain by using cannabis regularly. Ongoing and larger studies are required to determine what the long-term effects of cannabis use may be and how it could continue to benefit people with chronic pain suffering from the disease.

In the placebo-controlled experiment, cannabis showed incredible results for pain alleviation especially with sickle cell disease. Patients that were in the cannabis group were experiencing the same effects as the group regularly taking opioids.

The cannabis strain that was used within the study included an equal part of THC and CBD. Patients would often take some time to find the dose that would work best for their pain medication but would experience excellent results after a few days of finding an ideal dose.

Acute Pain

Acute pain is one of the main symptoms of SCD, people that are diagnosed with SCD often experience ongoing acute pain with no relief until they are able to access a transplant. Patients are seeking ongoing support for pain management often grow dependent on opioids and other pain relievers. As their dependence and tolerance continues to grow this can only increase the problems associated with taking pain medication over the long term. Patients that take opioids over a long period of time off to experience negative side effects and these can be mitigated with a treatment like cannabis which comes with very little side effects from treatment.

In the long term studies associated with regular marijuana use for acute pain, nearly 80% of the patients over the course of two years reported taking less of any other pain medication after they started their regular marijuana use. Marijuana served as an excellent treatment plan for managing acute pain, inflammation and it helps with regulating sleep and mood. Other types of pain medications do not offer all of these other benefits.

Restrictions continue to loosen on the use of medical marijuana and prescriptions for SCD, we will have to continue studying its benefits and the long-term effects of this medication for people that are living with sickle cell disease. As more education and scientific findings are brought to the table we could see medical marijuana as a viable prescription option for more people across the United States suffering with SCD. As cannabis can be an effective treatment with very little side effects, we can only hope that this treatment grows more wide spread for patients that desperately need it to avoid addictions issues and more with opioids. contact us to learn more!