Epilepsy, MS Patients Swear by Marijuana - Study
 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Close to half of all epilepsy and multiple sclerosis patients in Canada have tried using marijuana although few of them believe it helped their symptoms, researchers reported on Monday.

About one in four epilepsy patients and one in six multiple sclerosis patients surveyed said marijuana was an effective treatment for their disease symptoms, according to the surveys published in the journal Neurology.

Marijuana can be legally prescribed by a doctor in Canada and is provided to patients by Canada's health service.

Dr. Donald Gross of the University of Alberta in Edmonton and colleagues surveyed 135 epilepsy patients and found nearly half had used marijuana in their lifetime and that one in five had used marijuana in the past year.

And Dr. Mark Ware of McGill University in Montreal and colleagues surveyed 205 multiple sclerosis patients and found 34 of them, or 16.5 percent, were using medical marijuana but just half of them thought it worked effectively.

"We have learned several things from these patients," Ware said in a statement.

"Firstly, that pain and spasms are not the only reasons for use, and the effects of marijuana on mood, sleep and stress are important areas of therapeutic need and should be addressed in clinical trials. Secondly, there is a wide variance in doses used, ranging from single puffs to more than a gram at a time."

Gross said marijuana could be considered an alternative or complementary therapy.

"Studies suggest one-third of the general population use alternative health care on a yearly basis," Gross said in a statement.

"Not surprisingly, patients tend to look to alternative therapies in situations where conventional medicine has been unsuccessful, in particular, for chronic medical conditions."

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im half retarded. i swear by the sticky icky:Graucho

They just want an excuse to use drugs. Damn reeferheads.

Ok you get the chance to smoke pot legally ... what are you gonna say ... HELL YEAH IT HELPS ME

Uhmm.. chronic medical conditions including chronic pain, spams, bad mood, sleep and stress require medical treatment anyway.. i.e. med.s which have their side effects too.

man, pot is a gift to man.... never ever remain ignorant and judge.... I spent time researching cannabis, how it became illegal, how it works on the body, and why people feel guilty (US drug policy propaganda)... oh and not to mention over 800,000 ruin lives because they had some refer in their pocket... Why don't you imagine having a joint in your pocket and getting arrested... bye bye ;-) now the tax payer will pay I think around $20,000 for you to rot in jail... seems like they could spend half that and put you into therapy... anyways I got plenty of reasons why pot should be decrimilized... try going to pottv.com and check out some of their videos.

I feel an epileptic seizure coming on... hurry pass the joint this way :Graucho

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

point there :glugglug

well , the smoking weed part is definately not true.

My brother who is now 34, has struggled with Epilepsy since he was 5 years old. He has undergone 6 brain surgeries as well as every other "new miracle" procedure that comes out. Nothing has helped.

Weed might make him not really care that he's having a seizure , but it won't stop them :winkwink:

Ivy

Sorry to hear that Ivy... it is not a miracle for sure and the study says it helps one in four patients only. :(

Whats the difference between that and some other prescription drugs?

I'm all for it myself..

lol @ people who say they smoke weed because they can.



PEOPLE SMOKE WEED BECAUSE WEED WORKS.


If weed were to be legalized, who would need prozac/valium/xanax or any of that bullshit?

I have many friends, with MS, breast Cancer, and stuff like that,

Weed help A LOT in the daily life...makes you appetite come back even though you'r ponded with nasty medecins, relax the muscular tensioon for ppl with spastic problems (like me) , stops the nausea from other drugs...etc

and put you in a good mood...

and for people who have epatitis C...it's a good way to get high without dammaging your liver more.

The Pasteur institute is sitting on a study that says that actually ganga PROTECT the liver from epatitis...


it indirectly protect from malaria ...but for that you have to keep a constant cloud of smoke around you...to repell mosquitos...
:Graucho




GANJA IS GOOD FOR YOU

Other prescription drugs may be way more harmful imo.

Nothing to be happy about, but just the phrase itself made me smile ;)