Cannabis provides instant nausea relief, studies show

By Javier Hasse

Scientific evidence on the therapeutic benefits of cannabis continues to mount, confirming what many had discovered through years of experimentation and the accumulation of anecdotal evidence.

A new study by a team of researchers from the University of New Mexico has now found that cannabis flowers and concentrates are effective at reducing symptoms of nausea. The study reviewed the data collected through the Releaf app and found that more than 96% of people in the study reported relief from symptoms. In fact, within an hour of consumption, the subjects reported a decrease in nausea severity of nearly 4 points on the visual analog scale of 0-10.

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Interestingly, symptom relief became statistically significant after just 5 minutes and continued to increase over time.

“Our results show that cannabis is used with high potency to treat nausea,” said Sarah See Stith, assistant professor of economics at UNM who co-led the study with Jacob Vigil, associate professor of psychology at UNM.

However, she warned, “There are concerns that its effectiveness compared to traditional options could induce high-risk groups such as pregnant women and children to use cannabis.”

Understand nausea

Nausea is a relatively common condition. Still, it is often difficult to treat with conventional methods such as herbal remedies and prescription medicines.

Most conventional antiemetics have relatively mild side effects, but they also provide limited relief in the treatment of nausea and are not effective in all patients. Alternative therapies such as acupuncture and acupressure show little evidence of dangerous side effects, but offer limited effectiveness.

RELATED: Why Does Cannabis Work So Well for Fighting Nausea?

Prior to this study, the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) had already included cannabinoids in their list of the most potent drugs available for chemotherapy-induced nausea. The UNM study confirmed that cannabis is an effective and fast-acting treatment for nausea.

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The study in detail

The study, entitled “The Effectiveness of Common Cannabis Products for Treatment of Nausea,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.

It observed 2,220 cannabis self-administration sessions reported anonymously by 866 people who tracked their cannabis use for nausea treatment on the Releaf app.

RELATED: Here’s How Marijuana Can Put Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea On The Edge

The results suggest that the vast majority of patients who use cannabis to treat nausea are likely to experience relief within a relatively short period of time.

However, it should be noted that the effectiveness varies depending on the characteristics of the products consumed.

• The most effective products for immediate relief appear to be cannabis flowers and concentrates known as C. sativa or “hybrid”.
• Joints were associated with greater symptom relief when compared to whistling or vaporizers, although the distance decreased over time.
• High THC / low CBD ratios were generally associated with greater symptom relief in a short period of time, say 5 minutes.
• These features were less relevant closer to the hour mark.

“It’s great to provide data that will help validate anecdotal claims about the effectiveness of cannabis in treating and controlling nausea,” said Keenan Keeling, CEO of MoreBetter Ltd., the company behind Releaf App. “However, given the wide variety of conditions that can cause nausea, it is clear that more studies and data are needed and we look forward to contributing to this effort.”

This article appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.