New research shows that medical marijuana can help 91 percent of older people improve their pain and insomnia as well as mood or behavioral problems.
The study involved 124 patients over 65 years of age who were treated with medical cannabis in Colombia. Their symptoms were assessed at the baseline and 44 people had a three-month follow-up.
Most of the participants had not previously used marijuana, and the most frequent diagnoses they presented with were pain-related and musculoskeletal disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative and non-degenerative neurological disorders—with their top therapeutic objectives being relief of pain, mood/behavioral issues, insomnia and motor symptoms.
Patients’ symptoms were recorded by treating physicians and then coded by researchers on a four-point scale (0 = absent, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, and 3 = severe), “classified according to its documented impact on patients’ autonomy, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, and participation in meaningful daily activities,” the paper said.
The severity of symptoms decreased across all three major symptom domains. Approximately 90% of patients showed improvement.
The study has yet to appear in a journal, but it has been released as a preprint.
Researchers reported that “the first documented improvement happened at visit 2 for 67.7% with pain, 65.4% insomniacs, and 73.9% those with mood, behavioral, or emotional symptoms. Median times from first improvement were three, two and one month respectively.”
The symptom evolution between baseline and last follow-up showed a consistent decrease in symptom intensity across the three most common clinical domains. The median severity scores for pain and insomnia as well as mood or behavioral symptoms have decreased significantly between baseline and the last assessment. No patient has shown worsening symptom severity.
Analyses also showed that there were “strong effect sizes” for descriptive improvements in digestive and motor symptoms, appetite, well-being and physical strength—though those were not statistically significant.
It was noted that “symptom severity for pain, insomnia, mood or behavioral symptoms, decreased over time.”
A small number of patients who had pain, insomnia, or mood/behavioral problems reported complete relief.
Notably, the researchers said that the clinically effective doses of cannabis, which was most commonly administered in oral oil-based formulations, was “low”—typically using just a few milligrams per day of THC, CBD and/or CBG.
The study was funded by the European Union. It also looked at the ongoing use of medications for patients after they started using cannabis. While the “overall burden of medication remained stable”, there were dose reductions and discontinuations in concomitant medications among a quarter.
Overall, there was a “favorable longitudinal evolution of the three most prevalent symptom domains—pain, insomnia, and mood or behavioral symptoms—during routine treatment with supervised medical cannabis,” the paper said.
The severity of the principal symptom was reduced by at least one point for most patients during follow-up. In addition, longitudinal analyses showed that the severity of symptoms improved over time. This suggests that these improvements are a part of a clinical trajectory as opposed to a single difference between baseline and final assessment.
Researchers conclude that in this retrospective study of real-world use, older adults treated with medical cannabis showed favorable symptoms during the follow-up period. Treatment was also characterized by a low dose documented as clinically effective and a safety profile.
They said that the findings “add to growing evidence” that cannabis could be a therapeutic choice for older adults who are under expert supervision.
The researchers warned that due to the nature of their study, they could not infer causality. They do, however, plan to continue the research with larger groups of patients from Colombia, Argentina and Chile.
A separate recent federally funded study published by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that “older adults are increasingly turning to cannabis for symptom management”—with many motivated to try marijuana “as an alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals due to concerns about adverse effects.”
The research showed that older adults were increasingly using cannabis to treat symptoms related to aging. These included pain, sleep problems, and mental concerns.
AMA adopted a separate resolution in this year, which acknowledges both the potential risks and therapeutic benefits of marijuana usage among older adults.
Max Pixel is the photographer.
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