Sativex Can Improve Driving Ability of MS Patients, Study Says
Sativex, a cannabis-based anti-spasticity medicine commercialized as oromucosal spray by GW Pharmaceuticals, improves the driving ability of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to researchers.
The findings were published in the journal Brain and Behavior, in a study titled “The influence of THC:CBD oromucosal spray on driving ability in patients with multiple sclerosis-related spasticity.”
Driving is an important task to help MS patients maintain the activities of daily living, including their independence, social interactions and access to work, healthcare, family and shopping.
However, MS is associated with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, like muscle spasticity or visual and auditory impairment, that may affect the daily living functions of patients.
Some MS treatments also are known to negatively affect the driving ability of patients. Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs), corticosteroids, and other medicines used to manage symptoms like depression, anxiety, pain and muscle spasticity, affect patients’ driving performance, including wakefulness, coordination, reaction times, and concentration.
In the study, researchers reviewed the effects of using Sativex on the driving performance of MS patients. Sativex is an oromucosal spray combining two of the most common types of cannabinoids — tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
Sativex is approved across the European Union and in other countries as a second-line therapy for adult patients with moderate-to-severe MS-related spasticity that is resistant to first-line anti-spasticity medications, such as Lioseral.
Researchers consulted published research articles, from January 2000 to June 2017, that focused on this theme.
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Not available in the USA. They'd rather pump us up on drugs like Zanaflex for this particular symptom.
They gave me Zanaflex and I had a frightening symptom and almost fell through the sliding glass doors at my home two weeks ago. The pharmacist called it a "side effect". I call it a severe allergic reaction.
If cannabis is legal in many places throughout the USA, why can we not legalize Sativex for patients with MS? Given the results of this "study", I don't get it other than BIG PHARMA wins again pushing their $7,000/mo. pills/shots that have no proven efficacy! Nope, NONE!!!
Kick it up!!!!!!
Thank you!!!