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Analysis: Medical Cannabis Associated With Reduced Healthcare Utilization in Chronic Pain Patients
Miami, FL: The sustained use of state-authorized medical cannabis products is associated with improved quality of life and reduced healthcare utilization among chronic pain patients, according to data published in the journal Pharmacy.
A team of researchers affiliated with the medical cannabis telehealth company Leafwell and George Mason University in Virginia assessed healthcare utilization trends in chronic pain patients with and without prior medical cannabis experience. An estimated one in three pain patients residing in medical cannabis access states report using marijuana as an analgesic agent.
Investigators determined that patients who had used medical cannabis products during the prior year reported fewer urgent care visits, fewer emergency department visits, and fewer “unhealthy days per month” than did those with no prior cannabis use history.
“The findings of this study suggest … that medical cannabis is likely an effective treatment option for patients with chronic pain,” the study’s authors concluded. “Moreover, we found that, in addition to an increase in QoL [patients’ quality of life], medical cannabis exposure is associated with lower risk of urgent care and ED visits, when comparing patients who used medical cannabis for at least one year to cannabis-naïve patients. This underscores the potential for not only QoL gains associated with medical cannabis use, but also positive downstream effects on the healthcare system resulting from treatment.”
A prior analysis by Leafwell researchers concluded that state-level access to medical cannabis is associated with significant reductions in healthcare premiums.
Full text of the study, “Medical cannabis use and healthcare utilization among patients with chronic pain: A causal inference analysis using TMLE,” appears in Pharmacy.
Study: Cannabis Consumption Not Associated With Elevated Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Older Adults
San Francisco, CA: Older adults who consume cannabis are no more likely to suffer from adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, as compared to non-users, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Circulation.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco assessed cannabis use and cardiovascular health in a cohort of 4,285 older veterans (mean age: 67.5) with a history of coronary artery disease. Approximately 25 percent of study participants (1,015 veterans) reported current cannabis use, while the remaining 3,122 participants did not. Subjects were followed for an average of 3.3 years.
Contrary to investigators’ expectations, current cannabis use was not independently associated with elevated rates of heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular death, or all-cause mortality once researchers adjusted for covariates.
“To our knowledge, the current study is the only study to examine the association of cannabis use with longitudinal cardiovascular disease outcomes among persons with established CAD [coronary artery disease],” the study’s authors concluded. “In this older cohort of veterans with CAD, smoking cannabis was not associated with the composite outcome of AMI [acute myocardial infarction], stroke, and cardiovascular death, a finding that was consistent across multiple measures of cannabis exposure.”
Although individual studies assessing cannabis use and cardiovascular health have yielded inconsistent results, a literature review of 67 papers published in The American Journal of Medicine concluded, “[M]arijuana itself does not appear to be independently associated with excessive cardiovascular risk factors.” Most recently, an analysis of over 720,000 adults published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) Focus concluded that current cannabis consumers do not possess a greater risk of heart attack as compared to non-users.
Full text of the study, “Association of smoking cannabis with cardiovascular events among veterans with coronary artery disease,” appears in Circulation.
Pilot Study: Cannabis Extracts Show Promise in Adolescents With Tourette Syndrome
Sydney, Australia: The administration of plant-derived cannabis extracts containing standardized percentages of THC and CBD is associated with symptomatic improvements in adolescent patients with Tourette syndrome (TS), according to data published in the journal BJPsych Open.
Australian investigators assessed the efficacy of standardized cannabis extracts in ten teenagers (mean age: 14) with refractory TS. Study participants consumed cannabis oil once daily in the evening.
“There was positive signal of efficacy with a statistically significant improvement in parent and self-reported tics and quality of life, as well as behavioral/emotional issues,” researchers reported. “Commonly reported adverse events were tiredness and drowsiness, followed by dry mouth.”
The study’s authors concluded: “Although there is emerging evidence supporting the use of cannabis-based interventions in the management of Tourette syndrome in adults, this study uniquely contributes to the evidence on the benefits and safety of medicinal cannabis in adolescents with Tourette syndrome. … A larger scale, randomized controlled trial is needed to validate these findings.”
Separate data involving adults with TS reports that the sustained use of cannabis reduces tic frequency by as much as 75 percent, while also improving patients’ mood, anxiety, and sleep.
Full text of the study, “Medicinal cannabis for tics in adolescents with Tourette syndrome,” appears in BJPsych Open.
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