Analgesic Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids

Donald Abrams, MD, UCSF School of Integrative Medicine,
Dr. Abram's study was published in February of 2007, as "Cannabis in Painful HIV-associated Sensory Neuropathy", in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology:
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/...
Conclusion: Smoked cannabis was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy. The findings are comparable to oral drugs used for chronic neuropathic pain.

Video - Introducing his study on smoked "Cannabis in Pain and Palliative Care", Dr. Abrams presents methodology to the Fourth Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, Santa Barbara, CA - April, 2006. Featured on our You Tube channel, Dr. Abram's presentation is divided into two parts: Cannabis & Neuropathic Pain, pt 1- in which Dr. Abrams stresses the importance of botanicals and examines the endocannabinoid system's role in pain modulation; & Cannabis & Neuropathic Pain, pt 2- where he points out that conventional opiate treatments fail to treat neuropathy, with conclusions of the study.

 Suggested Reading:

Abrams, D. I., Jay, C. A., Shade, S. B., Vizoso, H., Reda, H., Press, S., et al. (2007). Cannabis in painful HIV-associated sensory neuropathy: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Neurology, 68(7), 515-521.

Ellis, R. J., Toperoff, W., Vaida, F., van den Brande, G., Gonzales, J., Gouaux, B., et al. (2008). Smoked medicinal cannabis for neuropathic pain in HIV: a randomized, crossover clinical trial. Neuropsychopharmacology, 34(3), 672-680.

Karsak, M., Gaffal, E., Date, R., Wang-Eckhardt, L., Rehnelt, J., Petrosino, S., et al. (2007). Attenuation of allergic contact dermatitis through the endocannabinoid system. Science, 316(5830), 1494-1497.

Lynch, M. E., & Clark, A. J. (2003). Cannabis reduces opioid dose in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain. J Pain Symptom Manage, 25(6), 496-498.

Lynch, M. E., Young, J., & Clark, A. J. (2006). A case series of patients using medicinal marihuana for management of chronic pain under the Canadian Marihuana Medical Access Regulations. J Pain Symptom Manage, 32(5), 497-501.

Neff, G. W., O'Brien, C. B., Reddy, K. R., Bergasa, N. V., Regev, A., Molina, E., et al. (2002). Preliminary observation with dronabinol in patients with intractable pruritus secondary to cholestatic liver disease. Am J Gastroenterol, 97(8), 2117-2119.

Notcutt, W., Price, M., Miller, R., Newport, S., Phillips, C., Simmonds, S., et al. (2004). Initial experiences with medicinal extracts of cannabis for chronic pain: results from 34 "N of 1" studies. Anaesthesia, 59, 440-452.

Notcutt, W. G., Sharief, M., Mutiboko, I., Hawkes, C., Bolt, J., & Sarantis, N. (2006). Cannabis based medicine (Sativex) for chronic pain due to multiple sclerosis or other neurological dysfunction: a randomised controlled trial. European Journal of Pain, (in press).

Nurmikko, T. J., Serpell, M. G., Hoggart, B., Toomey, P. J., & Morlion, B. J. (2005). A multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of oro-mucosal cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of neuropathic pain characterized by allodynia. Neurology, 64(6, Suppl. 1), A374.

Pertwee, R. G. (2001a). Cannabinoid receptors and pain. Prog Neurobiol, 63(5), 569-611.

Rog, D. J., Nurmiko, T., Friede, T., & Young, C. (2005). Randomized controlled trial of cannabis based medicine in central neuropathic pain due to multiple sclerosis. Neurology, 65(6), 812-819.

Russo, E. B. (2004). Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD): Can this concept explain therapeutic benefits of cannabis in migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and other treatment-resistant conditions? Neuroendocrinol Lett, 25(1-2), 31-39.

Russo, E. B. (2006). The role of cannabis and cannabinoids in pain management. In B. E. Cole & M. Boswell (Eds.), Weiner’s Pain Management: A Practical Guide for Clinicians. (7th ed., pp. 823-844). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.