Relief without pills - is medical cannabis a viable alternative for chronic pain in the over 50s?

Collaborative Post | Chronic pain is a hugely prevalent issue among older people in the UK, and worldwide. Conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, lower back pain and neuropathic pain are more common in older women than almost any other demographic group. And quite often, when pain is seemingly incurable, doctors and patients turn to pharmaceutical medications like opioids that can be damaging in the long term. But is there another option? 

There is currently growing medical, scientific and patient interest in medical cannabis to fill this gap. Either a replacement for or an adjunct to long-standing pharmaceutical painkillers for long-term pain management. This article will assess why that is, what the evidence says and what the typical patient journey is for a patient looking to explore this growing sector of the medical field. ​

Source: Bazoom

Conditions cannabis is a proven treatment for a common in older women

​In the UK today, an estimated 8 million people suffer with moderate or severe chronic pain. Prevalence rises in older people, and especially women. When it comes to medical cannabis, which has been fully legal in the UK (with a prescription) since 2018, chronic pain is the reason for more than 50% of reported patients who seek it out. 

If you're interested in doing some more research into how a cannabis prescription could work for you, you may have questions like "is alternaleaf good?" Well, an expert comparison and review site dedicated to helping British patients access the best medical cannabis treatment they can will come in handy. Check expert reviews of all the top UK clinics in one place, to see which is the right option for your needs. 

While by no means a cure all, medical cannabis has been shown through both clinical and real world studies to be an effective painkiller. One that, for a significant number of people, comes with less side effects than opioid-based medications. The following are just some of the chronic pain-causing conditions common in older women that cannabis can be legally prescribed for in the UK today:
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• Neuropathic pain
• Arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Migraines
• Multiple sclerosis–related spasticity
• Insomnia / sleep disorders
• Anxiety
• Menopause-related symptoms

What's the science behind it and how does it work?

Cannabis acts very different to conventional pharmaceutical painkillers developed over the last century or so. The various cannabinoids, mostly THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), interact with the body's inbuilt endocannabinoid system. Which is sort of an internal regulator of various bodily functions, including pain.

In some studies, including one from UK-based scientific think tank Drug Science, medical cannabis and its derived medications improved patients' quality of life more than any other pharmaceutical painkiller. Other studies from the US have shown medical cannabis has significantly lower rates of intense or adverse side effects compared to opioids in a significant majority of cases. 

The NHS doesn't fully agree, citing only modest evidence for cannabis' efficacy as a painkiller when assessing large scale real world datasets. However, advocates for medical cannabis argue that the ability to obtain large amounts of data on this issue from the UK has been stymied by the NHS' reluctance to prescribe it. The overwhelming majority (more than 99%) of prescriptions for cannabis are through private clinics, making data tracking on a unified, comprehensive scale more difficult as patients are spread across different systems and providers. 

Regardless, even the large scale data that is available does not dispute cannabis can be an effective painkiller. It's just, arguably, still debatable exactly how effective and how intense the side effects can be. However, ever day more many patients with chronic pain conditions common in older women are reporting anecdotal and clinically studied improvements in their pain management, and new data is piling up. ​

The legal status and how a patient's journey begins

If you're interested in seeing the possible effects for yourself, the journey to being prescribed it is today not that complex. If you have a certified condition diagnosed by the NHS and you have tried one or more methods of treatment that did not work satisfactorily for you - then you are probably eligible. 
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For many new medical cannabis patients in the UK, and especially the over 50s, prescriptions start with cannabis oil. Registered clinicians know that not everyone will be comfortable having potentially stigmatised cannabis flower sat about the house, or grinding it up for a vaporiser. Oils provide a discrete, simple to dose and just as effective alternative to vaped flower. 

However, you almost certainly won't be getting it through your GP. The NHS, despite it being legal for more than half a decade now, have only prescribed cannabis medications half a dozen times. The 75,000+ other patients have all gone through legally registered private clinics. 

A qualified clinician will guide new patients through every step of the process, to find it out if this emerging field of medication is right for them. That goes from initial consultation and assessment, to construction of a clinical treatment plan, delivery of the prescription and dedicated follow up care.

Once prescribed, patients are free to ask their clinician about other medical cannabis options such as: 
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• Edible gummies or lozenges
• Cannabis strains or oils with different levels of THC and CBD
• Specific strains of cannabis flower that are bred for certain medical properties 

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​Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Medical cannabis may not be suitable for everyone and should only be used under the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional. Always consult your GP or specialist before starting, changing or stopping any medical treatment.