Israeli Study Finds That Aerosolized Cannabis Is Beneficial For Neuropathy Patients
Neuropathy, also known as nerve damage, can occur from several conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and HIV. It refers to a group of conditions all associated with damaged peripheral nerves and the corresponding symptoms of this issue.
The symptoms of neuropathy can vary depending on its cause, though they generally include a permanent or temporary numbness, high sensitivity to touch, prickling or tingling sensations, paralysis, muscle weakness, impairment to sexual function, and many others. Neuropathy may be treatable depending on how severe it is, though treatments are focused on helping nerves regenerate or recover. Depending on the case, neuropathy may be reversible but other times it isn’t, and it can be notoriously difficult and painful to treat. Patients are often left struggling with chronic pain and uncomfortable tingling.
However, finding effective treatment is critical because this condition robs people of living a normal life.
How Cannabis Can Help
There is increasing evidence that cannabis in various forms can be successful in greatly reducing the symptoms of neuropathy. The latest study has been conducted by Israeli researchers in Haifa, who sought out to assess how aerosolized cannabis delivered through a novel selective dose inhaler worked among patients with chronic pain and neuropathy. The patients took an average of 1.5 mg delta 9 THC for several months.
The researchers found that this treatment was beneficial in reducing pain while also improving quality of life. “Medical cannabis treatment with the Syqe Inhaler demonstrated overall long-term pain reductions, quality of life improvements, and opioid-sparing effects in a cohort of patients with chronic pain, using just a fraction of the amount of MC [medical cannabis] compared with other modes of delivery by inhalation. These outcomes were accompanied by a lower rate of AEs [adverse events] and almost no AE reports during a long-term steady-state follow-up. Additional follow-ups in a larger population is warranted to corroborate our findings,” the authors concluded.
Syqe Medical is an Israeli medical company that is responsible for developing the first selective-dose pharmaceutical-grade inhaler for plant medicine in the world.
Another recent study which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal investigated the efficacy of cannabis-related products for chronic pain. Researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University used FDA-approved synthetic cannabis products containing 100% THC: dronabinol and nabilone. They also tested a product called nabiximols, which is a sublingual spray containing equal ratios of THC and CBD, which has had some success in treating neuropathic pain, though it isn’t available in the United States yet.
In another study from 2018, published in the American Journal of Neurology, researchers focused on radicular pain, a form of nerve pain that affects the spine and the legs. They also analyzed the impact of THC on radicular pain on a cohort of 15 men suffering from chronic radicular nerve pain. Women were not included in the study since pain sensitivity in females fluctuates around the time of their menstruation. All men reported medium to high pain levels for more than 6 months.
They were first given 15mg of THC oil on the first visit, which was taken sublingually while 6 were administered with placebo oil. After a week, they returned for a second visit then those who were given placebo were then given THC, and vice versa. The researchers found that THC was effective in reducing pain when compared with the placebo. Pain levels were rated at 53 on average before taking THC which was reduced to an average of 35 after THC, while those in the placebo rated it at 43.
“Pain is a complex experience that involves both the senses and emotions,” explains study’s author Haggai Sharon, MD, of the Tel Aviv Medical Center’s Sagol Brain Institute. “Our study results link pain relief from THC with a reduction in the connections between areas of the brain otherwise heavily connected, suggesting that THC may alleviate pain by disrupting signals between these pain processing pathways.”
“Interestingly, our results also show that the more connected the areas of the brain that process emotion and sensory prior to treatment, the greater the pain relief experienced when taking THC,” Sharon explains. “Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings.”
Cannabidiol (CBD) may also be beneficial for neuropathy. A 2021 study conducted by Pure Green Pharmaceuticals Inc. analyzed the effect of water-soluble CBD sublingual tablets among diabetic patients who had moderate to severe neuropathic pain. These 54 patients suffered from painful peripheral neuropathy on their feet, and they were randomly given either the Pure Green tablets with 20mg of CBD, or a placebo, which they were to take daily for 28 days.
They found that the patients who were given the CBD tablets reported significant reductions in pain levels, compared to the pain group. Additionally, those given CBD also reported improvements in quality of life as well as reductions in anxiety and improvements in sleep quality.
“Achieving clinical and statistical pain relief for these patients in just a few weeks is very gratifying and frankly unexpected. Interestingly, the results of this placebo-controlled trial mirrored those of Pure Green Pharmaceuticals’ open-label pDPN trial where both studies revealed a significant drop in pain scores by approximately 50 percent. Patient safety always comes first and was our primary marker. There were no adverse events in either clinical trial to patients on treatment medication,” explained Dr. Debra Kimless, Pure Green’s Chief Medical Officer and a Board-Certified anesthesiologist.
“A collaborative drug development meeting with the FDA set us on this path and we look forward to returning to FDA and share this data. FDA is keen to relieve patients suffering in this very large patient population, especially since COVID-19 appears to have increased the number of diabetic patients,” added Stephen Goldner, Pure Green Pharmaceuticals CEO, and an FDA expert.
Conclusion
With these promising results, patients with neuropathy are encouraged to speak to their doctors on the possibility of adding cannabis products to their treatment plans.
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