Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jun 2014
Source: Minnesota Daily (U of MN,  Minneapolis, MN Edu)
Copyright: 2014 Minnesota Daily
Contact:  http://www.mndaily.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1280
Author: Lyra Fontaine
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD TREAT PAIN CAUSED BY SICKLE CELL DISEASE

The health condition isn't specified in Minnesota's new law, but it 
could be added in the future.

A group of University of Minnesota researchers is testing to see if 
medical marijuana can help treat chronic pain caused by sickle cell 
disease, but state law is putting a hitch in their study.

As researchers continue with the study's next step - conducting human 
trials - they're heading to California, as Minnesota doesn't allow 
testing cannabis on people. The state's recently passed medical 
marijuana law also doesn't include sickle cell disease as a 
qualifying medical condition, but the University's current research 
could play a role in how that law changes in the future.

"We find that cannabinoids have good outcomes in treating pain [in 
mice with sickle cell disease]," said chief researcher and associate 
professor of medicine Kalpna Gupta.

Gupta said the researchers are now ready to expand their study to 
patients. And in doing so, they will move to California, where 
medical marijuana became legal nearly two decades ago. Minnesota's 
stricter version of that law will take effect next summer.

Right now, the Minnesota Department of Health is working to appoint 
members to a task force that will oversee medical cannabis 
therapeutic research in the coming months. The department is also 
fine-tuning the rules that outline patient access and qualifications.

Qualifying health conditions to receive medical cannabis in the 
Minnesota law include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and seizures. 
Patients also qualify for the drug if they have chronic pain caused 
by cancer or a terminal illness.

Department of Health spokesman Mike Schommer said symptoms of sickle 
cell disease could potentially be added to the list of medical 
conditions in the future.

The main symptoms of sickle cell disease are fatigue and pain, and 
according to the state's law, the commissioner of health may 
eventually add intractable pain to the list of qualifying medical 
conditions, making patients of sickle cell disease included.

Sickle cell patients have crescent-shaped blood cells instead of 
healthy, disc-shaped ones. Sickle cells block blood flow and cause 
pain and organ damage, according to the National Heart, Lung and 
Blood Institute.

Former University student Brianna Wilson has sickle cell anemia that 
gives her bone and muscle pain.

"Some people describe it as nails poking you, but for me, it's 
pressure in my veins and upper body," she said.

Physicians usually prescribe opiates, like morphine, to treat the 
pain, but researchers and patients agree that there are better ways 
to treat the disease. Wilson said the drugs are addictive and usually 
don't offer good results.

School of Dentistry professor and pain expert Donald Simone, who is 
also working on the research project, said opiates sometimes have 
"problematic" side effects, such as depression. And Gupta said 
patients sometimes receive incorrect dosages of the drugs because 
their exact amount of pain is unknown.

Developing a means to measure the severe pain could be useful for 
doctors while making prescriptions, said biomedical engineering 
professor Bin He, another researcher who is involved in the project.

Medical marijuana is promising for sickle cell patients because it 
has a pain-relieving effect without as many severe side effects as 
morphine, Simone said.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the researchers $9.5 
million in January to pursue studies on mice and patients. With that 
money, the research is expanding to California to test the effects of 
vaporized cannabis on 35 sickle cell disease patients beginning in July.

So far, the researchers' study has found that mice with sickle cell 
disease are more sensitive to pain, especially when experiencing 
pressure, heat or cold, Simone said. By examining how neurons in the 
peripheral nerves and the spinal cord become overactive, the 
researchers are able to identify new ways to reduce pain, he said.

University of California-San Francisco professor Donald Abrams, who 
will lead the clinical trials in partnership with the Minnesota 
researchers, said there were many "hoops to jump through" in going 
forward with the study, like gaining approval from numerous 
government agencies.

Currently, 22 states and the District of Columbia allow medical 
marijuana programs, all varying in levels of strictness.

Minnesota's law is among the nation's strictest, and it prohibits 
patients from smoking or growing their own marijuana plants. The law 
mandates that two manufacturers operate four distribution centers 
each and that medical marijuana identification cards be available 
beginning July 2015 through a state-monitored registry.

"I can see [medical marijuana] helping," Wilson said. "It's chronic 
pain, so it should help, especially if it's relaxing the muscles and 
things like that."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom