What impact can cannabis have for sleep apnea patients? This is what a recent report from the Office of Cannabis Management hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the pros and cons of using medical cannabis to treat sleep apnea, which is caused from reduced or paused breathing during sleep, resulting in disruptive sleep, waking up fatigued, and an overall negative impact on well-being.
For the study, the researchers evaluated 3,102 sleep apnea patients enrolled in the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2023. The goal of the study was to ascertain patient satisfaction with cannabis treatment for their sleep apnea, along with rating their experience for anxiety, pain, or appetite changes. In the end, the researchers found that 39.4 percent of patients encountered drastic improvements in sleep quality within the first four months of treatment and continued this same sleep quality for another four months.
The report notes, “This report found patients were able to improve their symptoms of sleep disturbance and fatigue after starting medical cannabis. The data used in this report do not speak to whether medical cannabis specifically targets mechanisms that contribute to symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Additionally, as this population does not have a group that does not use medical cannabis, or a control group, this report cannot compare symptom relief to an unexposed population.”
This study comes as legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis across the United States continues to advance while the number of individuals who suffer from sleep apnea is estimated to be approximately 9 percent of the United States population, along with approximately 1 billion people worldwide.
What new connections between cannabis and sleep apnea will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management, Marijuana Moment, cpap.com