Cannabis for multiple sclerosis

Abstract

For a drug that has been used for such a long time, we still know remarkably little about cannabis. Although the active chemicals within it have been isolated, their receptors cloned, and endogenous equivalents discovered, we still do not know what the endogenous cannabinoid system does, and are only just beginning to learn how we can best modulate it for therapeutic benefit. Nonetheless, it is becoming clear that cannabis may possess a variety of therapeutic effects, on spasticity, pain, bladder hyperreflexia, and tremor, which may make it particularly well-suited to patients with MS, in whom this group of symptoms frequently coexist. Ongoing studies will hopefully provide proof of this, and open the way for its return to the physician's armoury. © 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd.