Tag: insomnia

Insomnia is a condition in which people have a hard time falling asleep and/or staying asleep, and it is one of the most common health conditions found around the globe.

The condition can have a tremendously negative impact on a person’s life, making nearly every aspect of life harder, especially among people with severe cases of insomnia.

Various medications exist to help treat insomnia, including prescription medications. Many of them can yield horrible side effects and the ones that don’t are often ineffective at treating insomnia.

Researchers in Canada recently explored the relationship between the cannabis plant and insomnia, and the results of the study are encouraging. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Ottawa, Canada: Patients with insomnia and other sleep disorders report subjective improvements following the use of cannabis and a significant percentage of them report being able to either reduce or discontinue their use of prescription medications, according to data published in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal.

Canadian investigators assessed the impact of marijuana on sleep disorders in a cohort of 38 patients authorized to access medical cannabis products. Patients were assessed at baseline and then three months after initiating cannabis.

Investigators reported that 71 percent of patients experienced subjective improvement in their sleep. Thirty-nine percent of the study’s subjects were able to either “completely discontinue [their use of] insomnia medications or reduce their use from nightly administration to as-needed administration with the use of medical cannabis.”

The study’s results are consistent with other observational studies, such as those here and here, finding that patients with sleep disorders typically experience improvements in their symptoms from cannabis.

Authors concluded, “[O]ngoing clinical trials of cannabinoids in patients living with insomnia are integral to ensuring evidence-based decisions on the role of cannabinoid therapies in the treatment of sleep disorders.”

Full text of the study, “Cannabis use in patients with insomnia and sleep disorders: Retrospective chart review,” appears in theCanadian Pharmacists Journal.

Insomnia is one of the most prevalent health conditions around the world. It is estimated that as many as 60% of the world’s population suffers from insomnia to some degree.

The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, which is the essential definition of insomnia, can be caused by a number of factors, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, lack of exercise, a different health condition, and/or side effects from various medications.

For most sufferers of insomnia, the main negative impact on their life is that they are constantly tired. However, it can also contribute to major health issues such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

A team of researchers in Canada recently conducted a study involving depression and anxiety patients that suffer from insomnia to see if cannabis helped treat their condition(s). Below is more information about it via a NORML news release:

Ontario, Canada: The use of cannabis products is associated with perceived improvements in insomnia in patients suffering from either anxiety or depression, according to data published in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

A team of Canadian researchers assessed the effectiveness of cannabis in managing insomnia in a cohort of 677 subjects. Study participants suffered from either anxiety, depression, or from both conditions simultaneously. Subjects self-administered cannabis products at home and reported symptom changes in real time on a mobile software application. Investigators analyzed reports from over 8,400 cannabis-use sessions recorded over a three-year period.

Consistent with prior reports, subjects from all three groups reported significant benefits from cannabis. Participants perceived CBD-dominant products to be less effective than others.

“This naturalistic investigation of cannabis use for insomnia suggests that individuals with depression, anxiety, and comorbid depression and anxiety perceive benefits from using cannabis for sleep,” authors concluded. “In addition, compared to other cannabis strains, CBD-dominant products may be less helpful for sleep, specifically in individuals with depression. The current study highlights the need for placebo-controlled trials investigating the efficacy and safety of cannabinoids for sleep in individuals with mood and anxiety disorders.”

Full text of the study, “An investigation of cannabis use for insomnia in depression and anxiety in a naturalistic sample,” appears in BMC Psychiatry.