Study researches Cannabis as a Chronic Itch treatment

While "chronic itching" may seem nothing more than a minor annoyance to those who do not suffer from it, it can be debilitating, extremely frustrating, and reduce the quality of life of those who suffer from it. Now new research shows that cannabis may be able to help. Clinically known as chronic pruritus, chronic pruritus is difficult to treat because there aren't many FDA-approved therapies. Many treatment options only help to temporarily relieve itching. Now, a new study from Johns Hopkins Medicine shows that medical cannabis could be a new and promising treatment for chronic itching. The study, published in JAMA Dermatology on April 9, 202, examines exactly how medicinal cannabis can help. "Chronic itching is a debilitating symptom that is associated with numerous dermatological, neurological and systemic diseases," explains the abstract of the study. "It is often resistant to therapy and can severely affect quality of life. To the best of our knowledge, there are currently no US Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies for pruritus, so treatment can be difficult and relies on off-label therapeutics. In this article we report a case of the successful use of medical marijuana to treat chronic pruritus. " "Chronic itching can be a particularly difficult condition to treat, with off-label therapeutics often used," said Shawn Kwatra, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "With the increasing use of medical marijuana and our understanding of the role of the endocannabinoid system \[a complex cell-signaling system that regulates a variety of functions in the body\] in chronic itching, we decided to try medical marijuana with a patient trying where multiple therapies have failed and few options left. " To find out whether cannabis was helpful or not, the study looked at an African American woman in her 60s with chronic itching. She went to the Johns Hopkins Itch Center and complained of extreme problems with her arms, legs, and stomach. Because of all the scratching, she had raised lesions on her body that made her medical problems worse. She was offered various treatment options, including systemic therapy, nasal spray, steroid cream, and phototherapy, to no avail, so she was ready to try something new. According to Kwatra, using medicinal cannabis in smoked or liquid form helped relieve itching very well compared to previous treatments. "We had the patient rate her symptoms using a numerical rating scale, with 10 being the worst itch and zero being no itching at all," Kwatra said. "It started at 10, but dropped to 4 within 10 minutes of the first administration of the medical marijuana. With continued use of the cannabis, the patient's itching disappeared completely." When it comes to why this works, the study's creators believe THC is actually what makes it successful. As THC attaches to receptors in the brain that affect the nervous system, the inflammation and activity of the nervous system actually decrease, which helps with the skin sensations that are bothering the person suffering from chronic itching. Kwatra says that while more studies are needed to confirm these results, he believes that more attempts should be made as the results so far are more than promising and exciting. "Controlled studies are needed to determine the dosage, efficacy and safety of medical marijuana in treating various human pruritus subtypes, and once these are done we will better understand which patients are most likely to benefit from this therapy," he said . While more information is needed to see exactly how effective this treatment is, these results are very exciting for those who have problems with chronic itching.