Marijuana As Medicine? The Science Beyond the Controversy (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Marijuana and Muscle Spasticity
Marijuana and Muscle Spasticity
Pages 106-114
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From page 106... ...
Likewise, in a 1982 survey of people with spinal cord injuries, 21 of 43 respondents reported that marijuana reduced muscle spasticity~ (a condition in which muscles tense reflexively and resist stretching) , while nearly every participant in a 1997 survey of 112 regular marijuana users with multiple sclerosis replied that the drug lessened both pain and spasticity.2 This is not to say that most people with multiple sclerosis find relief with marijuana but only that the marijuana users among them do.
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From page 107... ...
Approximately 90 percent of MS patients develop spasticity. Some people experience this condition merely as muscle stiffness; others endure constant ache, cramps, or involuntary muscle contractions (spasms)
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From page 108... ...
While the fact that every MS patient in the previous study experienced relief is intriguing, it does not constitute strong evidence that marijuana relieves spasticity because marijuana-induced euphoria or pain relief might decrease patients' perceptions of muscle stiffness or spasticity. The same is true of respondents to the surveys described earlier.
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From page 109... ...
Neither possibility can be ruled out due to the small size of these studies. In addition to these experiments on THC, a single patient who tested the THC analog nabilone a synthetic compound that activates the same cellular receptors as THC also reported an improvement in spasticity as well as in other MS symptoms (see Figure 7.2~.7 These clinical results are considerably less dramatic than survey and anecdotal reports of marijuana's effectiveness in relieving muscle spasms.
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From page 110... ...
; and placebo. Clinical trials usually require preliminary experiments on animal models of a disease, which enable researchers to predict its effects on humans.
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From page 111... ...
Second, instead of measuring spasticity, the researchers measured the patient's perception of pain, which may have been relieved without any improvement in spasticity. Because nighttime urination is not governed by conscious control, improvement in this symptom appears to provide stronger evidence that THC reduced spasticity.
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From page 112... ...
TOWARD BE 1~1 FR TREATMENTS While the same physiological process causes spasticity in both MS and spinal cord injury, it produces quite different symptoms in the two diseases. People with MS tend to experience occasional "attacks" of intense pain, stiffness, or muscle spasms at unpredictable intervals, while people with spinal cord injuries experience only minor fluctuations and persistent discomfort.
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From page 113... ...
People with spinal cord injury, whose symptoms vary little throughout the day, could get extended relief from a pill taken at bedtime or in the morning. On the other hand, MS patients might find more use for an inhaled form of THC to relieve their more intermittent symptoms.
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From page 114... ...
1994. "Short-term effects of smoking marijuana on balance in patients with multiple sclerosis and normal volunteers." Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 55:324-328.
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