Adverse Drug Interactions With Medical Cannabis
In recent years researchers have studied the role of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in modern medicine. While they have discovered that these constituents of cannabis could play a highly effective therapeutic role in the treatment of a vast range of illnesses, diseases and other medical conditions, there are still some concerns about their use as such.
One of the biggest concerns in the medical science community in relation to the use of cannabis and its constituents in pharmaceuticals is how it interacts with other drugs.
How Does Cannabis Interact With Other Drugs?
Drug interactions with antiretrovirals limit the utility of other antiepileptic drugs used for neuropathic pain, such as carbamazepine saicin cream were no more effective than placebo in relieving pain from HIV-SN.Peptide T, mexiletine, acupuncture, and cap.
Similarly, tricyclic antidepressants also were no more beneficial than a placebo in relieving pain in controlled trialsfor HIV-SN. Extensive pre-clinical research has demonstrated analgesic effects of exogenous cannabinoids as well as an endogenous cannabinoid system involved in pain and analgesia.
The need for a greater variety of effective therapeutic options has led to heightened interest in evaluating smoked cannabis as a treatment for chronic neuropathic pain.
Incorporating an experimental pain model into the assessment of smoked cannabis in patients with chronic pain from HIV-SN provides a standardized reference point for each patient’s subjective ratings of ongoing chronic pain.
The NNT for lamotrigine was 5.4 for HIV-related painful DSP. Although one group of investigators reported success with gabapentin, their data analysis does not allow calculation of an NNT. The present study is comparable to that reported in trials of gabapentin for other types of chronic neuropathic pain.
For HIV-SN, tricy opioids have not been systematically evaluated for painful HIV-SN, but studies show efficacy across a broad spectrum of neuropathic pain disorders.
There is certainly enough research to suggest that CBD and THC have much potential in the future of modern medicine. However, the ways that these chemicals interact with other medications must play a central role in research if patient safety is to be prioritized. Hopefully, this research will inform further study in the years to come.
