Patients reported a significant reduction in pain scores in the months after starting the cannabis extract, which is not the same as smoking cannabis.
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An experimental cannabis extract could help people manage chronic lower back pain without risking addiction or serious side effects, a new study has found.
The findings from a late-stage clinical trial could offer hope to the estimated 619 million people worldwide who have chronic lower back pain, which is the most common form of disability globally.
While lower back pain is fairly common and can be caused by several issues, chronic pain that keeps coming back can be debilitating.
Despite its prevalence, adequate treatments for chronic pain remain scarce. Existing options include opioids, which are highly addictive, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, which can come with long-term heart and gastrointestinal risks.
About the study
The trial included 820 adults with chronic lower back pain who had not gotten sufficient pain relief from non-opioid medicines. Participants were split into two groups, with about half receiving VER-01 – the cannabis extract, which is made by the German company Vertanical – and the rest receiving a placebo, or dummy treatment.
They were asked to record their pain levels on a 0 to 10 scale, with 10 being the worst pain imaginable.
After three months, people who got the cannabis extract treatment reported a 1.9-point reduction on the pain rating scale, compared with a 0.6-point reduction among those who received a placebo.
In a six-month extension, patients taking VER-01 experienced an additional 1.1-point decline on the pain scale, as well as improvements in sleep quality and physical function.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine on Monday.
“The pain relief was clinically significant and would be meaningful to the many people living with chronic pain out there,” Jan Vollert, a neuroscience lecturer at the University of Exeter who was not involved with the study, said in a statement.
“It is only one trial, and we will need further studies to confirm the findings, but this is a good signal that the compound could help patients,” Vollert added.
The most common side effects among people taking VER-01 were short-term dizziness, nausea, and excessive sleepiness. There were no signs of drug abuse or dependence on the cannabis extract, the researchers said.
The study authors plan to publish additional research testing VER-01 against standard opioid treatments for chronic back pain.
‘No way comparable to smoking cannabis’
VER-01 is derived from a strain of Cannabis sativa, which is a type of cannabis plant. Each dose of the medication contains 2.5 milligrams of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive element in marijuana that makes people feel “high” – as well as other compounds.
But Vollert cautioned that people should not turn to cannabis to self-manage their chronic pain. The new findings apply specifically to the cannabis extract found in VER-01, he said, which is “in no way comparable to smoking cannabis”.
“Smoking cannabis and taking VER-01 are probably as similar as eating hazelnuts and eating Nutella: they might share a similar basis, but they just are not comparable,” Vollert said.
