University Puts Millions into CBD Research
Spinal cord damage can leave patients crippled by pain and stiffness with nowhere to turn. Many living like this have been known to manage their symptoms with medical cannabis. Despite the prevalence of this diagnosis, few clinical trials have investigated the performance of this cannabis treatment.
Enter the University of Sydney. There, a research team has been granted AUD$1.7 million (USD$1.23 million) in funding for a clinical trial to evaluate CBD as a treatment for patients with spinal cord injury induced chronic pain (or SPI).
“While there are some studies showing that CBD can reduce pain in other chronic conditions, no one fully understands how it works to reduce pain. Our study can help tease this out,” Luke Henderson, professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Medical Sciences and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
The Study Explained
In the first part of the study, researchers will evaluate patient brain scans, comparing results for patients with SPI with those of healthy individuals. Then, in the second part of the study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will be conducted to investigate CBD’s ability to reduce pain caused by SPI.
A University Dedicated to CBD
The study is the latest installment of the university’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, a research project that has been investigating “the medicinal potential of the cannabis plant” since 2015. The initiative received an initial pledge of AUD$33.7 million – the largest ever given to conduct research at the University of Sydney. Using that money, the university has helped finance studies, investigating cannabis treatments for conditions such as Tourette syndrome, insomnia, epilepsy, anxiety, and cancer.
The initiative contributed AUD$350,000 to research into CBD treatments for SPI. The rest of the funding (AUD$1.45 million) was donated by the New South Wales Ministry of Health.
“We hope this research will be able to make real impacts for patients and their families, paving a path towards an effective treatment for a greater number of patients,” Dr. Elizabeth Cairns, Lambert Initiative Research Fellow, said in a statement.
Trials are expected to begin at the start of 2021 at Neuroscience Research Australia Institute, Sydney, and the University of Sydney. Those looking to participate can find more information on the University of Sydney website.
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