Israeli clinical trial shows the efficacy of microdosing THC to treat chronic pain
Minute doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – essentially the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis – have been shown to reduce pain sensation in a recent clinical experiment, without inducing psychoactive side effects. Israeli pharma-tech company Syqe Medical set out to try to solve the problem of imprecise medical cannabis dosing to treat chronic pain. They came up with the Syqe Selective-Dose Inhaler, a first-of-its-kind product that reportedly enables precise dosing of low-levels of THC.
In a randomised, placebo‐controlled trial of 27 subjects with chronic neuropathic pain, microdoses of THC demonstrated “a significant reduction in pain intensity compared to the placebo and remained stable for at least 150‐min. ”Each subject had received one inhaled dose, containing either 0.5 mg of THC, 1 mg of THC, or a placebo.
As well as showing relevant reductions in subjective pain sensations, there were also no signs of cognitive impairment across either active dose. Reports of a psychoactive “high” sensation were significantly greater after the “larger” dose, despite being around five to 10 times less than what many consider to the low-end of a psychoactive dose of THC.
“The study is the first to show that human sensitivity to THC is significantly greater than previously assumed – if we can treat patients with much higher precision, lower quantities of drug will be needed, resulting in fewer side effects and an overall more effective treatment,” said Perry Davidson, Syqe Medical CEO.
“The introduction of a tool to prescribe medications at such low doses with high resolution may allow us to achieve treatment outcomes that previously were not possible.”
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
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