Preliminary results from a new clinical study suggest that cannabis reduces nausea and vomiting in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. These side effects are often the primary causes of treatment discontinuation. Coping with nausea and vomiting improves patients’ quality of life and allows them to complete their treatment.
The pilot phase of the study lasted 30 months and involved 81 patients. The inclusion criteria in the study were persistent nausea and vomiting, despite the use of medications for them.
Patients took capsules with a balanced ratio of THC and CBD from a Canadian cannabis company. Side effects such as drowsiness and dizziness were rated as mild to severe in about one third of patients. According to the researchers, these side effects were manageable.
These encouraging results indicate medicinal cannabis can help improve quality of life for chemotherapy patients.
Nausea and vomiting are among the most distressing and feared consequences of chemotherapy, said chief investigator Peter Grimison, a medical oncologist and associate professor at the University of Sydney.
“These encouraging results indicate medicinal cannabis can help improve quality of life for chemotherapy patients. The trial will now move to a larger phase to determine with much more certainty how effective medicinal cannabis is and whether it should be considered for use in routine cancer care,” Grimison said.
Author: Tibor Béres
Source: Cannabis Therapy Vol. 2
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