Deprecated: uasort(): Returning bool from comparison function is deprecated, return an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/google-site-kit/includes/Core/Modules/Modules.php on line 245 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/google-site-kit/includes/Core/Modules/Modules.php:245) in /var/www/html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893 {"id":307,"date":"2019-05-30T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/?p=307"},"modified":"2020-04-13T08:46:30","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T12:46:30","slug":"medical-cannabis-and-treating-chronic-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannalogue.ca\/column\/column\/health\/medical-cannabis-and-treating-chronic-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical cannabis and treating chronic pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PatientsWhat is Chronic Pain?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pain is one of life’s necessary teachers. It shows us how to protect ourselves from things that might cause us discomfort. When there is potential or actual structural damage to the human body, pain is the ever-present and ever-ready messenger that alerts us to dangerous and hurtful stimuli. As such, pain is a vital and useful part of life. However, when the pain becomes chronic pain, that’s when it becomes a serious problem. Sufferers of chronic pain have been using medical cannabis for decades to help alleviate pain symptoms.<\/p>\n

As the number one physical ailment, chronic pain affects 1.5 billion people<\/strong> around the world<\/strong>, with many searching for alternatives to opioid-based treatments. This article examines relevant case studies supporting medical cannabis as a valid form of pain management.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Difference Between General Pain and Chronic\u00a0Pain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Unlike most pain that is generally short-lived, chronic pain lingers and never seems to go away. Chronic pain\u2019s central defining characteristic is that it can persist for long, extended periods, such as months, years, or even a lifetime. Patients suffering from chronic pain often describe it as pain that is aching, burning, shooting, and feeling like electrical shocks.<\/p>\n

Not only does chronic pain take a physical toll on patients but a psychological one as well. People dealing with the difficulties of chronic pain also experience higher degrees of anxiety, depression, obesity, and problems with sleeping. According to a March 2018 report by Statistics Canada, more than 6 million Canadians<\/strong> (19% of the total population) currently report experiencing some form of chronic pain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"What Causes Chronic\u00a0Pain?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are multiple causes of chronic pain. It can be caused by having incorrect posture or sleeping on a poor mattress, as a few examples. Chronic pain can be the result of herniated disks or pinched nerves in the back. Sometimes, it\u2019s a sign of infection or a side effect from post-op surgery. In some cases, doctors are incapable in determining a clear discernible cause for chronic pain.<\/p>\n

Most chronic pain occurs from an injury sustained at the workplace while exercising at the gym or from trauma-related injuries.\u00a0 These could include severe car accidents or bodily harm from falling. Chronic pain can originate from diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer, and cancer-related side effects such as radiation and chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain that is caused by a damaged nervous system. Unlike chronic pain, neuropathic pain is uncontrolled and isn\u2019t caused by outer stimuli. With neuropathic pain, damaged nerves can misfire and transmit faulty pain signals to the brain. Neuropathic pain is associated with spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and fibromyalgia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Medical
Medical cannabis depicted on ancient Greek pottery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Treating Chronic Pain with Medical\u00a0Cannabis\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For over five millennia, cannabis has been extensively used by ancient civilizations for its medicinal properties. Historical examples include cannabis being implemented as an anti-inflammatory<\/strong> in ancient Egypt, as a cure for leprosy in India, as remedies for earache and inflammation in Greece and general healing in ancient China.<\/p>\n

Around the late 1960s, medical cannabis saw a decline in usage due to the growing popularity of synthesized opioid-based drugs. The final death knell came with the arrival of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which effectively outlawed cannabis for use in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"Medical<\/p>\n

Recent decades have seen revived interest in medical cannabis thanks to its effectiveness in helping manage the devastating symptoms brought on by chemotherapy and chronic illnesses like AIDS. Following suit, with California\u2019s medical cannabis legalization in 1996, Canada officially became the first nation to regulate medical cannabis in 2001.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a wide range of medical studies, conducted both in the United States and Canada, researching the impact of medicinal cannabis on chronic pain patients and pain management.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"CaseCase Studies: Medical Cannabis and Chronic Pain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A 2017 mass medical survey, published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, asked 984 medical cannabis patients how medical cannabis was addressing their specific pain-related condition. All participants reported experiencing some chronic pain caused by the following: cancer, abdominal, back\/neck, neuropathic, or trauma-related.<\/p>\n

The most prominent emergent theme coming out of the thousands of participant responses was that medical cannabis was providing pain relief.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Responses included:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n