Conducted in Germany and Austria and published in Medicine naturethis study marks a major step. For the first time, a treatment from cannabis scientifically proves its effectiveness against one of the most widespread evils, often badly relieved by opioids.
Chronic back pain: beware of the abuse of opioids!
Lost working days, chopped nights, a suffering that settles down: chronic low background affects millions of Europeans and remains one of the main reasons for medical consultation. Too often, patients have no choice but opioids, effective at first but quickly trapping, with their procession of outbuildings and overdoses.
It is in this context that German researchers launched an ambitious project: testing medical cannabis in the form of oral tablet. Sylvia Bruns, doctor in the neurology department of the Hanover School of Medicine (MHH), explains: “With this study, we wanted to obtain significant data on the efficiency and safety of cannabis extract for patients with non -cancerous chronic pain “.
With Ver-01, low backgrounds starts up in smoke!
The treatment tested has a code name: Ver-01. For 12 weeks, 820 volunteers suffering from chronic low back pain received, blindly, either this new standardized cannabis extract, or a placebo. The protocol was strict, led in 66 centers in Germany and Austria, to eliminate any bias.
And the results are striking: patients under Ver-01 have seen their pain drop on average 1.9 point on a scale of 0 to 10, against 1.4 point with placebo. The effect is even more marked in those who suffered from intense pain or neuropathic pain. The latter reported a significant decrease in their neurological symptoms.
But the benefit does not stop there: a significant proportion of patients has reached a reduction in 30 % or more From their pain, a threshold considered really clinical. Their sleep has improved, their physical capacity too, and they have used half as much back -to -id drugs such as ibuprofen.
Encouraging sign, in the prolonged phase of up to one year, patients continued to benefit from treatment without it being necessary to increase the doses. No sign of tolerance, no abuse, no withdrawal symptoms has been noted. Admittedly, side effects exist – dizziness, fatigue, headache, nausea, dry mouth – but they are most often passenger and moderate, concentrated in the first weeks. A reassuring observation, in particular compared to the well -known risks of opioids.
The authors of the study estimate that in the face of “Solid evidence of the effectiveness and safety of Ver-01 in the treatment of chronic low back pain (…); Ver-01 could play an important role in modern pain management“.
Not an incitement to smoke cannabis!
On Science Media Center, David Nutt, professor at Imperial College in London, believes that the advance is historic: “This is the first time that a controlled randomized trial has demonstrated in such a clear way the benefits of a standardized cannabis extract on chronic low back pain “. But be careful not to extrapolate the results beyond reason! Jan Vollet insists on a crucial point: “It is by no means comparable to smoking cannabis … This study does not plead in favor of the consumption of cannabis, because smoking cannabis and taking ver-01 are probably as similar as eating hazelnuts and nutella: they may share a similar base, but they are simply not comparable “.
In France, access to medical cannabis remains very limited
This study opens a new chapter, but certain limits remain. The researchers recognize that they did not directly compare the ver-01 to the opioids, a current reference of treatments. A complementary study is already envisaged. Likewise, the effects on cognitive functions have not yet been explored and will have to be.
Beyond the expectations of these results, the French situation still restricts access to medical cannabis. Since 2021, France has experienced medical cannabis, but the experiment has been extended until March 31, 2026. And above all, it is reserved for three indications: refractory neuropathic pain, certain severe epilepsies and cancer symptoms. Chronic low back pain, however at the heart of this new European research, are not part of it …