Cannabis helps reduce muscle stiffness in multiple sclerosis

Cannabis can ease the pain that MS patients experience due to muscle stiffness, according to a major study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
144 patients were daily administered tetrahydrocannabinol (a psychoactive substance found in cannabis) for 12 weeks. In the same period there were 135 other patients who received placebo. The participants began with a dose of 2.5 mg, which was gradually increased to a maximum of 25 milligrams.

Softening
At the end of the study, said 29.4 percent of the people in the cannabis group experienced the ease the pain caused by muscle contractions, against 15.7 percent in the placebo group. They could also sleep better. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system in which the myelin sheath of nerve fibers in a random pattern is affected by immune cells of the immune system.

Spasms
About 90 percent of MS patients will suffer from pain caused by stiff muscles at some point, which often leads to sleep deprivation and less freedom. Lead researcher John Peter Zajicek said tetrahydrocannabinol may help reduce pain and spasms in this disease. Previous research on cannabis and MS led to conflicting results. This was partly because the change in symptoms was assessed in different ways, according to the scientists.