A study conducted by British researchers found that patients with fibromyalgia (FM) reported improved quality of life following use of medical cannabis products. The researchers assessed the change in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and incidence of adverse events (AEs) in patients with fibromyalgia. The findings published in Clinical Rheumatology highlighted how patients attributed sustained improvements in quality of life to medical cannabis use.
Some symptoms of fibromyalgia include chronic pain associated with comorbid mental health disorders and reduced quality of life. Approximately 2% of American adults suffer from fibromyalgia.
The researchers assessed the adjunctive use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) in a cohort of 497 patients with fibromyalgia. The mean age was 44 years, and a majority of the participants were female (68.61%). The patients were enrolled in the United Kingdom Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR), a database compiling patients with a legal prescription for cannabis-based medicinal products if they were unresponsive to conventional medications. The primary outcome was change in PROMs (Fibromyalgia Symptom Severity, Fibromyalgia Widespread Pain Index, EQ-5D-5L, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale) from baseline to follow-up at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. Study participants consumed either flower cannabis or oil extracts containing standardized concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
The findings pointed to short to medium-term improvements in pain, anxiety, sleep, and general quality of life following sustained use of cannabis. Participants who consumed formulations containing greater concentrations of CBD were most likely to report symptom relief.
The study emphasizes the need for more randomized controlled trials to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CBMPs as a treatment for fibromyalgia.
Sources: Clinical Rheumatology, NORML, United Kingdom Medical Cannabis Registry