The study, “Impact of Medical Cannabis on Patient-Reported Symptoms for Patients With Cancer Enrolled in Minnesota‘s Medical Cannabis Program,” published in 2019 in the Journal of Oncology Practice, focuses on changes in symptom severity reported by patients with cancer during their first four months of participation.
Does Cannabis Relieve Cancer Symptoms?
The proportion of patients achieving 30 percent or greater symptom reduction within the first four months varied from fatigue reduction (27 percent) to vomiting reduction (50 percent), with a smaller proportion achieving and maintaining both of those improvements, the study finds. However, 10.5 percent of patients reported adverse effects.
“Medical cannabis was well tolerated, and some patients attained clinically meaningful and lasting levels of improvement,” the study concluded.
Dr. Bonni Goldstein, medical director of the Canna-Centers Wellness & Education and a medical adviser for Weedmaps, has been recommending cannabis to cancer patients since 2008.
“This study backs up what I see in my medical practice,” Goldstein said. “I have found that cancer patients using cannabis for symptomatic relief of the symptoms of cancer and for the side effects of cancer treatment find great success, especially when medically supervised by a physician who understands cannabis medicine.”
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