Dr. Guy Fiocco, of NHRMC Physician Group – Rheumatology, discusses the impact of weather on joint pain and arthritis on Fox Wilmington’s Carolina in the Morning.

A comprehensive assessment of the benefits of medical cannabis for cancer-related pain found that for most oncology patients, pain measures improved significantly, other cancer-related symptoms also decreased, the consumption of painkillers was reduced, and the side effects were minimal. Published in Frontiers in Pain Research, these findings suggest that medicinal cannabis can be carefully considered as an alternative to the pain relief medicines that are usually prescribed to cancer patients.

Pain, along with depression, anxiety, and insomnia, are some of the most fundamental causes of oncology patient’s disability and suffering while undergoing treatment therapies, and may even lead to worsened prognosis.

“Traditionally, cancer-related pain is mainly treated by opioid analgesics, but most oncologists perceive opioid treatment as hazardous, so alternative therapies are required,” explained author David Meiri, assistant professor at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

“Our study is the first to assess the possible benefits of medical cannabis for cancer-related pain in oncology patients; gathering information from the start of treatment, and with repeated follow-ups for an extended period of time, to get a thorough analysis of its effectiveness.”

Need for alternative treatment

After talking to several cancer patients, who were looking for alternative options for pain and symptom relief, the researchers were keen to thoroughly test the potential benefits of medicinal cannabis.

“We encountered numerous cancer patients who asked us whether medical cannabis treatment can benefit their health,” said co-author Gil Bar-Sela, associate professor at the Ha’Emek Medical Center Afula. “Our initial review of existing research revealed that actually not much was known regarding its effectiveness, particularly for the treatment of cancer-related pain, and of what was known, most findings were inconclusive.”

The researchers recruited certified oncologists who were able to issue a medical cannabis license to their cancer patients. These oncologists referred interested patients to the study and reported on their disease characteristics.

“Patients completed anonymous questionnaires before starting treatment, and again at several time points during the following six months. We gathered data on a number of factors, including pain measures, analgesics consumption, cancer symptom burden, sexual problems, and side effects,” said Bar-Sela.

Improved symptoms

An analysis of the data revealed that many of the outcome measures improved, with less pain and cancer symptoms. Importantly, the use of opioid and other pain analgesics reduced. In fact, almost half of the patients studied stopped all analgesic medications following six months of medicinal cannabis treatment.

“Medical cannabis has been suggested as a possible remedy for appetite loss, however, most patients in this study still lost weight. As a substantial portion were diagnosed with progressive cancer, a weight decline is expected with disease progression,” reported Meiri.

He continued: “Interestingly, we found that sexual function improved for most men but worsened for most women.”

Meiri would like future studies to dig deeper and look at the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in in different groups of cancer patients.

“Although our study was very comprehensive and presented additional perspectives on medical cannabis, the sex, age, and ethnicity, as well as cancer types and the stage of the cancer meant the variety of patients in our study was wide-ranging. Therefore, future studies should investigate the level of effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in specific subgroups of cancer patients with more shared characteristics.”

Using virtual reality (VR) to treat pain has delivered exciting results, thanks to research conducted by Dr. Sam Sharar. A professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington, Sam explains how “pain is all in our heads”: our physical, cognitive, and emotional reactions in the brain combine to tell us we are experiencing pain. The reality of pain is entirely variable, unpredictable, and different for each person, making it hard to manage. Hearing the success of VR in other fields, Sam is now exploring the impact of applying VR to burn patients in an effort to alleviate the excruciating pain of their necessary treatments.

The results of his studies are compelling. Getting relief from pain could come from leveraging the brain’s ability to leave the reality of pain for another reality that encourages healing—a promising concept across the field of medicine. Sam Sharar, MD, refers to himself as “an academic anesthesiologist.” He is a board-certified anesthesiologist and cares for seriously injured children and adults at Harborview Medical Center. He is also a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at The University of Washington. Dr. Sharar teaches and advises medical students as a College Faculty Mentor and is Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Development of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. Additionally, he is the Associate Medical Director for King County Medic 1, where he provides training to paramedics.

Kate Nicholson was working as a civil rights attorney for the Justice Department when a surgical error left her unable to sit or stand, largely bedridden, and in severe pain for almost 20 years. Using opioids as an appropriate pain management tool, she continued to function as a high-level federal prosecutor. In this talk, Kate pivots from her inspiring and excruciating story to examine the under-treatment of pain, showing how our approach to opioid abuse by 2.5 million Americans is hurting 50 million people in severe or persistent pain.

Curtin researchers will develop a system that uses artificial intelligence to provide fast and personalised care for young people living with chronic musculoskeletal pain, as part of a new Curtin-led project that has been supported by the Federal Government.

Chief Investigator Professor Helen Slater, from the Curtin School of Allied Health, said the aim was to support young Australians aged 16-21 years with chronic musculoskeletal pain to take their health into their own hands and improve their health and wellbeing.

“Despite the significant burden of chronic musculoskeletal pain in young Australians, an enduring service gap remains,” Professor Slater said.

“While primary care services are available to young people with chronic conditions, age-appropriate, accessible, affordable and effective resources to support high-value musculoskeletal pain care across Australia are lacking.”

Professor Slater said an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Curtin, Flinders University and the Department of Health WA in collaboration with international researchers from New Zealand, Canada and USA would develop, implement and evaluate myPATH.

“MyPATH will function as a ‘virtual clinician and coach’ care model to provide personalised pain care directly to young people,” Professor Slater said.

“This dynamic, interactive system will rapidly learn from young people what pain care they need, when they need it and what works best for them, helping them to understand and better manage their individual care needs by supporting them and prompting healthy habits.”