Multiple Sclerosis

Studies Show Marijuana Extracts May Have Therapeutic Value for Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

By Bill Hendrick, WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 4, 2009 -- Marijuana extracts may reduce spasticity symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis, a new study shows.

The review, by Shaheen Lakhan, PhD, and Marie Rowland, PhD, of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation in Los Angeles, found that five of six published studies they analyzed reported a reduction in spasticity and an improvement in mobility in MS patients treated with marijuana extracts.

In lieu of curing a debilitating disease, the next best thing scientists can do is slow its progression and create better treatments.

Armed with a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, Temple researchers are studying more effective ways to treat multiple sclerosis. And their research utilizes synthetic cannabinoids based on chemicals derived from the marijuana plant.

“A marijuana plant has about 96 different chemicals in it and you might immediately think about those that cause psychological effects,” says researcher Ron F. Tuma, Stewart professor of physiology and associate professor of neurosurgery. “Instead, we’re focusing on a chemical that doesn’t cause psychoactive effects but does affect the immune system.”

Researchers investigating the role of cannabinoids - chemical substances contained within cannabis - in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), have found they could significantly enhance therapy, not only by reducing nerve damage and erratic nerve impulses, but perhaps even by hindering development of the condition.

The findings, published online (1 April, 2007) in Nature Medicine demonstrates for the first time how cannabis might actually slow down the progression of MS and could have major implications for the estimated 2.5 million sufferers worldwide.