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In this article, we’ll discuss the causes and symptoms of arthritis as well as explain how medical cannabis could potentially help.<\/em><\/h4>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Did you know that 80% of all people will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives? Other major chronic pain diseases, such as osteoarthritis, are prevalent in people ages 65 and older.<\/p>\n
\n
Have you been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis or another type of arthritis?<\/li>\n
Are you taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory like Advil or an opioid such as Percocet?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Then medical cannabis may help you.<\/span><\/p>\n
Quick Facts about Arthritis<\/h2>\n
\n
There are 6 million Canadians that are living with arthritis^{1<\/sup>.<\/li>\n}
With over 240 million people affected worldwide, osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis.<\/li>\n
OA develops after repetitive wear-and-tear to the cartilage in the joints.<\/li>\n
The most commonly affected joints are the hands, shoulders, spine, hips, knees, and feet.<\/li>\n
One-third of adults over 65 have arthritis.<\/li>\n
Women have a 1.7x higher likelihood of developing arthritis than men.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
People have a 1 in 5 chance of developing arthritis in their lifetime.^{1<\/sup><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n}
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/strong>Never-Ending Cycle of Pain<\/h2>\n
The most significant risk of developing arthritis is age.<\/strong> The pain from arthritis can become so severe that it disrupts sleep. Patients often find themselves tossing and turning in bed at night from the pain.<\/p>\n
Also, having any form of arthritis can harm your mental health.\u00a0Depression and anxiety are often byproducts of arthritis.<\/strong>\u00a0Studies have also indicated that depression and anxiety can decrease your pain tolerance, making your chronic pain feel more heightened.<\/p>\n
In a cruel twist, having mental health problems can make your arthritis worse because pain incites, depression and depression makes the pain worse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/em><\/h3>\n
What are Arthritis Patients Doing Currently?<\/h2>\n
In short, patients are living with pain. Some are taking harmful anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications like Advil or Naproxen that cause stomach ulcers and may result in life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding.<\/p>\n
Some are taking more dangerous and addictive opioids like Percocet to take the edge off the pain.<\/p>\n
For most Canadians, once your orthopedic surgeon approves patients for surgery, it\u2019s a 6-12 month waiting list. It’s important to remember that surgery carries the risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots (deep vein thrombosis) and is not risk-free.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ How Medical Cannabis May Help with Arthritis<\/h2>\n
Did you know that naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors can be found in your joints and bones?<\/p>\n
When medical cannabis cannabinoids like CBD (cannabidiol) binds to these receptors, it’s been known to help to reduce joint pain, stiffness, and swelling.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ Are Arthritis Patients Using Medical Cannabis?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Yes.<\/strong>\u00a0In a survey of 2,600 patients by the Arthritis Foundation,\u00a029%<\/strong>\u00a0of these patients are using medical cannabis to manage their arthritis^{2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n}
Almost unanimously, medical cannabis is being used to relieve pain (94%).\u00a089% are using CBD daily or several times per week.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ Additional Patient Benefits<\/h2>\n
Two-thirds reported improvement in their physical function.\u00a071% of patients had a better sleep. <\/strong>Other patient benefits reported by patients include:<\/p>\n
\n
Reduced anxiety<\/li>\n
Decreased morning stiffness<\/li>\n
Improvement with depression<\/li>\n
Increased energy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/h3>\n
Do Doctors Support It?<\/h2>\n
Yes.<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0Arthritis Foundation<\/strong>\u00a0recommends a few milligrams of CBD under the tongue (sublingual) twice a day^{2<\/sup>.\u00a0 The Canadian Rheumatology Association prefers medical cannabis with a lower THC and higher CBD content in the treatment of arthritis^{3<\/sup>.<\/p>\n}}
<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ Does Insurance Cover It?<\/h2>\n
Yes.<\/strong> Health Canada authorized medical cannabis products are eligible for reimbursement from your healthcare spending account.<\/p>\n
This is the same plan that reimburses your eye-glasses, orthotics, massages, physiotherapy appointments, and other expenses.<\/p>\n
Please speak with your insurance provider to see if medical cannabis is covered under your healthcare spending account.<\/p>\n
The Final Word<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s time patients try something new.<\/p>\n
Instead of pharmaceutical medication, patients should strongly consider trying a Health Canada-approved herbal medication that has been used for thousands of years to relieve pain and inflammation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this article, we’ll discuss the causes and symptoms of arthritis as well as explain how medical cannabis could potentially help. Did you know that 80% of all people will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives? Other major chronic pain diseases, such as osteoarthritis, are prevalent in people ages 65 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[76,75,35,16,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-2413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-arthritis","9":"tag-back-pain","10":"tag-chronic-pain","11":"tag-medical-cannabis","12":"tag-medical-cannabis-and-insurance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3151,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions\/3151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}