By Dr. Ron Milo, Chairman of the Department of Neurology and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at the Barzilai Medical Center.
What does the research tell us?
People with MS experience various symptoms as a direct or indirect effect of the brain and spinal cord lesions.
Some traditional treatments for treating MS symptoms are ineffective for some people and have unwanted side effects. Therefore, people with MS might seek other alternatives such as medical cannabis to treat spasticity, neuropathic pain, bladder issues, and more.
Clinical trials studying whether medical cannabis can treat spasticity have provided mixed results. However, the accumulated evidence implies that medical cannabis can be an effective treatment for spasticity, reduce the frequency spasms and the pain linked with muscle spasms.
As for neuropathic pain- the scientific evidence is varied. Currently, there is less certainty about medical cannabis for reducing pain in people with MS than there is for spasticity.
A few studies have examined whether medical cannabis can affect urinary or bladder issues in people with MS. These studies demonstrated that medical cannabis improved various urinary problems, including the number of incontinence episodes.
