No ‘Sound Evidence’ to Support Use of Cannabinoids for rheumatic diseases”
Diedtra Henderson November 10, 2015
There is “no sound evidence” for clinicians to recommend that patients with rheumatic diseases take cannabinoid treatments, according to a review published online November 9 in Arthritis Care & Research. However, the authors suggest there is merit to further research on cannabinoids’ effect on pain and sleep in these conditions.
A systematic review of research since 1940 uncovered few studies examining the effects of cannabinoids in rheumatic diseases, according to Mary-Ann Fitzcharles, MD, from the Division of Rheumatology and Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit, McGill University Health Centre, Quebec, Canada, and colleagues. “Amongst a vast array of rheumatic conditions, cannabinoid effects have only been studied in [rheumatoid arthritis], [fibromyalgia,] and [osteoarthritis], with the latter study prematurely terminated due to lack of efficacy,” they write.
Moreover, the authors judged all of the studies included in the analysis as having a high risk of bias, and all had extremely low numbers of participants, suggesting “the possibility that results may be completely random.”
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