When you think of a typical medical cannabis user, what general profile comes to mind. Most of us probably think of younger people who are more open to alternative medical treatments. We do not tend to think of seniors. Interestingly, that reality was one of the motivating factors behind a study just published in the Drugs and Aging journal.
The study reveals that senior patients using medical cannabis to manage chronic pain benefit from it just as much as their younger counterparts. Study results demonstrate improvements in pain and general health and wellbeing.
I am not surprised by the results myself. There does not seem to be any logical reason why seniors would derive less of a benefit from medical cannabis compared to younger people. What surprises me is the researcher’s assertion that seniors have largely been left out of medical cannabis studies over the years. In fact, they used the word ‘paucity’ to describe just how much senior data has been lacking thus far.
How They Conducted Their Research
A five-member research team from UK-based Drug Science and Imperial College London’s Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology analyzed data collected from an observational study (a.k.a. T21) originally launched in 2020. That study measured medical cannabis efficacy via self-reported outcomes relating to general health, quality of life, sleep quality, and mood.
Researchers discovered that seniors reported improvements in all four areas from treatment entry through 3-month follow-up. They went on to explain that those who continued with medical cannabis also continue to report better health and wellbeing.
The one downside was that reported improvements in older test subjects were not as dramatic as those reported by younger participants. Nonetheless, the improvements were statistically significant enough to make a difference in patients’ lives.
Cannabis and Chronic Pain
I am guessing the researcher’s decision to look at cannabis prescribed for chronic pain was no accident. Chronic pain is the most commonly cited condition for people seeking access to medical cannabis. That is certainly the case in Utah, where the operators of Zion Medicinal say chronic pain sufferers represent the single largest group of medical cannabis card holders in the Beehive State.
Zion Medicinal provides medical cannabis to patients throughout the Cedar City and St. George areas. As the only rural medical cannabis dispensary in the state, they draw patients from a fairly large region. But like all the other dispensaries in the state, the majority of Zion Medicinal’s customers are chronic pain patients.
It is interesting to note that medical science has not yet determined the mechanism behind cannabis’ ability to relieve pain. A number of studies conducted several years ago suggested that cannabis performed no better than placebo as a pain reliever. I am more inclined to believe that cannabis pain relief is in some way tied to the endocannabinoid system’s ability to regulate nervous system response.
An Alternative to Other Treatments
Regardless of a patient’s age, I am not surprised that so many report adequate relief and better quality of life after using medical cannabis. Consider that chronic pain that does not respond to physical therapy, surgery, etc. is often managed with prescription painkillers. But painkillers come with their own side effects, some of which decrease quality of life substantially. For that reason alone, I would expect patients to feel better about using medical cannabis.
If you are an older chronic pain patient living in a state with a medical cannabis program, consider asking your doctor about cannabis treatment. We have at least one study indicating that you could benefit from cannabis just as much as a younger person.
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