Medical cannabis has a more ‘holistic effect’ on pain than opioids – study

A recent study highlights how medical cannabis has a broader and more ‘holistic effect’ on pain relief than opioid medications. 

Previous research has suggested that medical cannabis works as a tool for pain relief by altering the patient’s experience of pain, instead of only targeting pain intensity. Now a new study appears to confirm this.

Researchers studying a group of patients in Finland found that while medical cannabis and opioids were perceived to be equally efficacious in reducing pain levels, medical cannabis demonstrated more broader ‘holistic effects’.

A retrospective internet survey was carried out on over 200 chronic pain patients, 40 of whom were using medical cannabis and 161 using opioids. 

Participants answered 45 experience-based questions to assess the overall perceived effects of the medicine. This included items tapping into emotional factors; ‘The medicine makes me more relaxed”, functional aspects; “helps me to take care of myself”; mindfulness-related questions; “enables me to feel the pain without reacting to it’, and holistic factors; “has improved my life quality”.

The researchers also assessed chronic pain levels, psychiatric conditions and levels of dependence using standardised scales. 

When comparing the two groups, the findings indicated that medical cannabis and opioids were both perceived to reduce pain intensity equally well and did not differ in negative side-effects. However, medical cannabis was rated as more positive in terms of emotional and holistic effects. 

Medical cannabis was found to be more effective in aiding relaxation, improved sleep, improved mood, and being able to feel pain without reacting to it.

This is consistent with previous data that has shown medical cannabis alleviates pain-related negative emotion and increases pain tolerance, as well as findings that the treatment improves physical and social functionality and overall quality of life. 

The authors conclude: “The results of the present study support the hypothesis that the effects of MC [medical cannabis] on pain experience are more holistic than those of opioids. 

“MC may alleviate pain through affecting a broad range of pain-related experience experiential factors such as relaxation, improved sleep and mood, being able not to react to the pain, as well as a sense of control. These holistic effects of MC could explain the inconsistencies in clinical trials, where focus has mainly been on pain intensity instead of broader pain phenomenology. 

“The results highlight the importance of taking these holistic effects into account in treating patients with MC, considering them as part of the therapeutic process.”