Cannabis-based Drug Eases Arthritis Pain

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WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- The first-ever study focused

on a cannabis-based medicine aimed at easing the pain of rheumatoid

arthritis (RA) finds it may help suppress the disease.

The results are " encouraging, with overall improvements in pain on

movement and at rest, improvement in the quality of sleep and

improvement in the overall condition of the patients' arthritis, "

researcher Dr. Jubb, a consultant rheumatologist at

University Hospital Birmingham, in England, said in a prepared

statement.

As reported online Wednesday in the journal Rheumatology, the small,

five-week study included 31 RA patients who received the cannabis-

based medicine Sativex and 27 RA patients who received a placebo.

Patients in the study could self-administer Sativex -- an oral

spray -- up to a maximum of six doses a day.

Side effects experienced by those on the cannabis-based medicine

were mostly mild to moderate, including dizziness, light-headedness,

dry mouth and nausea.

The researchers concluded that the findings of this small study

warrant a larger trial to study in more detail the effects of

cannabis-based therapies on RA.