"Marijuana use at the onset of his headaches consistently brought complete relief within five minutes of inhalation for each attack"
BRONX, NY --- Inhaling cannabis completely relieved the pain associated with cluster headaches, according to a
case study published in the journal
Headache.
Neurologists
from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York reported that
a 19-year-old patient with a cyclical pattern of cluster headaches
responded favorably to smoked cannabis. The patient lacked
responsiveness to numerous traditional treatments – including
prednisone, sumatriptan (trade name: Imitrex), and oxycodone – but did
report, "Marijuana use at the onset of his headaches consistently
brought complete relief within five minutes of inhalation for each
attack."
Investigators
reported that the patient also received relief from the administration
of five-milligram doses of synthetic oral THC (dronanabinol). They
wrote, "[D]ronabinol was substituted for marijuana for acute treatment
of his cluster headaches; dronabinol consistently provided dramatic
relief within five to fifteen minutes of ingestion."
Researchers
concluded, "We present a patient with cluster headache who was
refractory to multiple acute and preventive medications, but
successfully aborted his attacks with recreational marijuana use. ...
The beneficial effect may be related to the high concentration of
cannabinoid receptors in the hypothalamus, which has been implicated as
a site of dysfunction in neuroimaging studies of patients with cluster
headache."
In 2007, investigators at Italy’s University of Perugia, Department of Public Health,
reported that patients with chronic migraines possessed "significantly lower" levels of the endogenous cannabinoids
anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) in their platelets compared to age-matched controls."
These
data support the potential involvement of a dysfunctioning of the
endocannabinoid and serotonergic systems in the pathology of chronic
migraine and medication-overuse headaches," they concluded.
POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW
Please select the category that most closely reflects your concern about this content, so that we can review it and determine whether it violates Civility 101 or isn't appropriate for some other reason.
Abusing this feature is also a violation of Civility 101.
Explanation:
RESEARCH: Inhaled Marijuana Kills Headaches, Journal Reports
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Not marijuana, but...
On cluster headache discussion boards, ( www.clusterheadaches.com ) the majority of "clusterheads" say it seems to trigger cluster headache attacks. Many others say it has no effect. Only very rarely has someone reported relief from smoking marijuana.
The young person in the case study may well have found relief, but he is very likely one of these rare exceptions.
Other illegal substances may be very effective, however. Clinical trial are under development regarding the use of indole-ring hallucinogens such as psilocybin, LSA and LSD. Anecdotal reports seem to show 75 percent or more of sufferers finding significant or complete relief from small, barely-psychoactive doses of these substances, and this was borne out in a case study review published in Neurology in 2006. Clinical trials are under development. See www.clusterbusters.com .
- tommyD
March 6, 2009 6:02AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
One person.......
A trial on one person? I have to agree with Tommy. I also know of many sufferers of Cluster Headache who have tried marijuana with very little success. Indeed I would suggest the person in question probably had come to the end of his attack and without the marijuana his pain would have gone anyway.
- MikeP
March 6, 2009 4:31PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.