Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jan 2016
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2016 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Kristen Skovira, Denver7

MEDICAL MARIJUANA EASES MIGRAINE PAIN

Migraines can hamper productivity when they strike, but for the first 
time, Colorado researchers have proof that medical marijuana can help 
ease that dreadful pain.

"We were not expecting the decrease in frequency in migraine that we 
saw. It was pretty dramatic," said Dr. Sarah Anderson with Skaggs 
School of Pharmacy at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Researchers at CU Anschutz looked at dozens of charts from patients 
treated at Gedde Whole Health, a private Colorado clinic that 
prescribes medical marijuana for a variety of ailments.

Patients can be hesitant to either report that they are using medical 
marijuana or even inquire about using it in the first place.

Of the 121 patients studied, 103 reported a decrease in their monthly 
migraines. To put it another way, the frequency of migraines dropped 
from about 10 per month to less than five.

"I really feel like they will find those actual numbers and stats 
that can back up the medical attributes of marijuana," said Dustin Weddle.

Weddle said he got his medical "red" cardas away to manage his 
frequent, debilitating migraines.

"(They) started when I was a teenager. Once I really got older, I 
just noticed a severe sensitivity to light and sound," he said.

Researchers believe it is the serotonin that plays a role in migraine 
headaches but want to study how cannabinoids ease the pain.

"This made us think about a lot more questions that we want answered, 
and so it would be ideal if we could design those prospective big, 
randomized clinical trials to look at this in more detail," Anderson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom