MS Patients Reported Cannabis Improved Spasticity, Pain, Tremor, and Up to 11 Other Symptoms | Research

The takeaway

In the first survey of cannabis use among people with multiple sclerosis, 112 respondents from the UK and USA reported improvement in up to 14 symptoms, with spasticity and chronic pain ranked as the most commonly improved.

Read this if you have MS and want to know what other MS patients have reported about cannabis for symptom management.

Up to 97% of respondents reported symptom improvement from cannabis

What the researchers found

This was the first survey specifically asking people with MS about their cannabis use. One hundred twelve respondents (53 from the UK, 59 from the USA) reported using cannabis for symptom management.

The percentage reporting improvement ranged from 97% for the top-ranked symptom down to 30% for the lowest. In descending order, respondents reported cannabis improved: spasticity, chronic pain of extremities, acute paroxysmal phenomenon, tremor, emotional dysfunction, anorexia/weight loss, fatigue, double vision, sexual dysfunction, bowel and bladder dysfunction, vision dimness, walking and balance dysfunction, and memory loss.

The researchers noted that MS patients had specific, identifiable therapeutic reasons for using cannabis and recommended the findings be used to guide the design of controlled clinical trials.

Why it matters

This survey provided systematic patient-reported evidence that cannabis helped multiple MS symptoms, not just the spasticity that had been the focus of earlier case reports. The breadth of symptoms reportedly improved suggested cannabinoids might have multiple therapeutic mechanisms in MS.

The numbers in context

112 respondents (53 UK, 59 USA). 14 symptoms assessed. Improvement rates ranged from 97% to 30%. Top-ranked: spasticity and chronic pain.

How the study worked

Anonymous questionnaire survey of 112 people with MS (53 UK, 59 USA) who used cannabis. Respondents rated whether cannabis improved various MS symptoms. This was described as the first questionnaire specifically on cannabis use and MS.

What this study cannot tell us

Self-selected respondents who chose to use cannabis and believed it helped. No placebo control or blinding. Survey responses are subjective and subject to recall bias. Sample size was small and self-selected.

How to read the evidence

An anonymous survey of self-selected cannabis users with MS. Valuable for identifying patterns but cannot establish efficacy due to lack of controls.

When this study was published

Published in 1997. Nabiximols (Sativex) was later developed and approved for MS spasticity, building partly on this kind of patient-reported evidence.

The bigger picture

This survey helped justify the clinical trials that eventually led to nabiximols (Sativex) being approved for MS spasticity. The range of symptoms reportedly improved, from pain to bladder dysfunction to fatigue, has been partially confirmed by subsequent controlled research.

Questions still open

Which of these self-reported benefits would be confirmed in controlled trials? Do the benefits reflect genuine pharmacological effects or placebo response? Are there MS subtypes that respond better to cannabis?

Common questions

What MS symptoms did patients say cannabis helped?

In order: spasticity, chronic pain, acute paroxysmal phenomena, tremor, emotional dysfunction, appetite/weight, fatigue, double vision, sexual dysfunction, bowel/bladder, vision, walking/balance, and memory.

Did this lead to clinical trials?

Yes. The researchers explicitly recommended using these findings to design controlled clinical trials, which eventually led to nabiximols development.

Read the original research

The perceived effects of smoked cannabis on patients with multiple sclerosis.

European neurology, 38(1), 44-8

View on PubMed ↗

Citation

Consroe, P; Musty, R; Rein, J; Tillery, W; Pertwee, R. (1997). The perceived effects of smoked cannabis on patients with multiple sclerosis.. European neurology, 38(1), 44-8.