Cannabis & Migraines: A Review Study
Published in the journal Cureus in December 2022, this study collected and summarized published human studies and clinical trials between 2016 and 2022 that specifically looked at the effects of cannabis medicine on migraine headaches. They found nine studies that were deemed to be of appropriate quality and focus.
The studies included men and women ages 18 to 60. Here's a quick summary of some key conclusions cited in a few of the included studies:
- 85% of 121 patients in Colorado experienced a reduction in migraine frequency over an average of 21.8 months
- 88.1% of patients from a Canadian study reported a reduction in migraine severity with inhaled cannabis over the course of 16 months. Regardless of dosage or type of cannabis preparation, migraine severity was reduced.
- 94% of 699 participants that used inhaled dried cannabis flower reported symptom relief within two hours.
- Even after controlling for migraine severity, a study of 123 migraine patients reported considerably higher migraine relief with cannabis than users of non-cannabis products
- 88.3% (279) of migraine patients with an average medical cannabis exposure of 22.4 weeks said that using medical cannabis had improved their condition
Quotes from the authors:
The studies demonstrated that medical marijuana has a significant clinical response by reducing the length and frequency of migraines.
All the studies showed encouraging findings on the therapeutic effects of medicinal marijuana in migraine treatment.
Additionally, medical marijuana is well-tolerated with fewer side effects and is safe to use in migraine patients.
No severe adverse effects were noted.
For more details, the full text article is here at Cureus.com.