Published Studies Find That Medical Alternative Therapies Helps with MS

By Dr. Julian Reindhurst

People with multiple sclerosis suffer muscle spasms, pain and tremor. Studies find that medical marijuana may be helpful, but controlled studies are few.

An recent meeting, had fifty one people who suffer from multiple sclerosis and had them smoke 0% or 4% THC medical marijuana cigarettes daily for three days.

The level of spasms was reduced by as much as 32% and pain reduced by 50% after smoking medical marijuana, compared with 2% and 22% reductions after pretend cigarettes.

Five of the participants withdrew, saying the side effects made them feeling too high, dizzy or fatigued.

Other studies in patients with multiple sclerosis used a cannabis extract that can be taken orally. In a 2007 European Journal of Neurology study, nearly half of'4 patients experienced at least 30% improvement in muscle spasms.

A Neurology paper published in 2004 contradicted these claims by stating that there was no reduction in measures of arm tremors with the cannabis extract, although five out of- subjects reported feeling improvement.

These reports could have been from the mood altering effects of the drug or from some aspect of tremor not measured.

Subjects did feel high senasation, an effect that varied among individuals. Medical marijuana also affected analytical skills, such instances as problems with tasks of memory and complicated reasoning after the strongest medical marijuana cigarettes were used.

As problematic as this could be, the effects were tolerated by subjects as no one opted out of the study because they couldn't think straight.

it's important to have a choice of treatments because not everyone responds to or can handle the available medications and drugs.

Antidepressants are used for neuropathic pain but cause dry mouth, constipation and urinary problems, and must be avoided by people with conditions such as glaucoma.

Some people cannot handle aspirin-like drugs. Providing an alternative medicine is optimal. The three pain studies all concluded that smoked medical marijuana can bring relief to sufferers of neuropathic pain comparable to other analgesic drugs.

As with all other pain medicines, you have to keep taking it. - 30540

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