As a medical cannabis patient, would you say that your quality of life (QOL) has improved since beginning your cannabis regimen? If so, you are not alone. We have heard from plenty of patients at both our locations who report the same thing. And now, a recently released study backs up what so many of our customers say.
The study in question is out of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. It was published in the Journal of Cannabis Research in mid-September. Its data clearly shows an improvement in QOL over the first few months of medical cannabis consumption. As for long term QOL improvements, the study did not go that far.
How the Research Was Done
Researchers enrolled nearly 400 adults who were brand new to the medical cannabis environment. There were more than 20 qualifying conditions represented among them. The average age of the participants was 46, and most were using medical cannabis to treat either anxiety disorders or severe chronic pain.
The study was a survey-based study which asked participants to report on a number of QOL issues over a 3-month period. The interviews were semi-structured and relied on ratings of physical health, emotional wellbeing, and social functioning. Here are the results based on participant reports:
- A 20% improvement in pain levels.
- A 20% improvement in social functioning.
- A 15% improvement in emotional wellbeing.
Researchers say that the largest gains in physical function and pain level were observed among the younger participants. Older participants still showed gains, but their gains were not as pronounced.
A Practical Application of the Data
Reading studies of this nature for informational purposes is fine. But finding a practical application of the data is more to the point of why research is being done. Practically speaking, this particular study tells us something important about medical cannabis efficacy.
Beehive Farmacy operates two medical cannabis pharmacies in Utah. One is in Salt Lake City and the other in Brigham City. When customers walk out the door, we have no way of knowing how the medications they purchased from us will make them feel. So when a customer returns at a later date with positive feedback, that’s a good thing.
Sometimes their feedback is directly related to QOL issues. That says something important. Scientists can argue all day long about the mechanisms behind how medical cannabis does what it does. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that patients are enjoying a better QOL.
Two Approaches to Medicine
Patients reporting a better QOL matters a lot when you consider that there are two basic approaches to medicine. The first approach is curative. When a doctor can do something to either cure a patient or promote natural healing, that is the goal. A doctor sets a broken bone knowing that doing so will help it heal properly.
The other approach is symptom management. Take something like osteoarthritis. There is no cure for the disease. Therefore, any therapies a doctor might recommend are designed to alleviate pain and improve function. In essence, the treatments are QOL oriented.
Medical cannabis is a QOL-oriented approach to treating more than a dozen qualifying conditions. If patients are indeed experiencing improved QOL, then cannabis is doing its job. The previously mentioned study is proof to that effect, with the reports of some 400 participants providing the evidence.
It is clear that medical cannabis is doing something for patients. From our point of view, studies like this one only prove that we need more research into cannabis’s mechanisms of symptom relief.
