Purpose

Despite the fact that the risk versus benefit of smoking cannabis has not been extensively studied, many individuals with multiple sclerosis are smoking cannabis to reduce their pain intensity and spasticity. The lack of information about inhaled cannabis might be attributed to the fact that most trials focus on orally administered cannabis. Given the fact that the administration of cannabis via inhalation is known to rapidly deliver cannabinoids with a higher total bioavailability than what can be achieved through oral or buccal routes, it is important to understand the clinical trials conducted using smoked cannabis on patients with multiple sclerosis.

Methods

We sought to discuss the relevant literature about the safety and efficacy of smoked cannabis in multiple sclerosis patients in order to further understand the risks and benefits of this potential therapy for this patient population.

Results

The current knowledge about the potential effects of smoked cannabis on treating neuropathic pain associated with multiple sclerosis is reviewed. In addition, we discuss the possible adverse effects associated with smoking cannabis and we suggest safer as well as new effective inhaled cannabis formulations for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with multiple sclerosis.

中文翻译：

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吸入大麻对多发性硬化症患者疼痛的药理作用：风险与回报

目的

尽管尚未广泛研究吸烟大麻的风险与益处，但许多患有多发性硬化症的人仍在吸烟大麻以减轻其疼痛强度和痉挛。缺乏有关吸入大麻的信息，可能是由于大多数试验都集中于口服大麻这一事实。鉴于已知通过吸入方式给药的大麻可以快速递送具有比通过口服或颊途径获得的总生物利用度更高的总生物利用度的大麻素，因此了解使用烟熏大麻对多发性硬化症患者进行的临床试验非常重要。

方法

我们试图讨论有关抽烟的大麻在多发性硬化症患者中的安全性和有效性的相关文献，以进一步了解这种潜在疗法对该患者人群的风险和益处。

结果

综述了有关吸烟大麻对治疗与多发性硬化症相关的神经性疼痛的潜在作用的当前知识。此外，我们讨论了与吸烟大麻有关的可能的不良反应，并且我们建议使用更安全以及新的有效吸入大麻制剂来治疗与多发性硬化症相关的神经性疼痛。