London, United Kingdom: The sustained use of medical cannabis preparations provides safe and effective relief for endometriosis patients, according to observational data published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
British researchers assessed the use of botanical cannabis, oil extracts, and topical ointments in 101 women with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British healthcare specialists may prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes from baseline in patient-reported outcomes at one, three, six, 12, 18 months, and 24 months.
Consistent with prior studies, participants experienced decreased pain and improvements in their health-related quality of life following cannabis treatment. Over one-quarter of patients significantly reduced their use of prescription opioids during the study – a finding that is also consistent with prior research. Adverse events associated with cannabis were described as either mild or moderate.
“This prospective registry study demonstrated improvements in pain, health-related quality of life, sleep quality, and anxiety following CBMP [cannabis-based medicinal products] initiation in patients with endometriosis, with benefits sustained to 24 months and a favorable adverse event profile,” the study’s authors concluded. “These findings provide real-world evidence supporting the potential utility of CBMPs in endometriosis-associated pain.”
Endometriosis is a chronic condition that affects up to 10 percent of females of reproductive age. Endometriosis patients frequently acknowledge consuming cannabis and many find it to be more effective at treating their symptoms than traditional pharmaceuticals.
Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products among patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry have reported them to be beneficial for those diagnosed with treatment-resistant epilepsy, cancer-related pain, anxiety, hypermobility disorders/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, insomnia, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, substance use disorders, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.
Full text of the study, “Cannabis-based medicinal products for endometriosis: A 2-year prospective analysis from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry,” appears in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.