Clinical Trials
Cannabis for PTSD: New study says sleep improves dramatically
PTSD patients who use medical cannabis products report better sleep, according to a new study.
Researchers in Israel have specifically explored the impact of medical marijuana on sleep as a means of gathering more evidence for its efficacy in treating PTSD symptoms.
Sleep impairments are reported by 80-90 percent of patients with PTSD, with nightmares and insomnia being the most common.
Two weeks of cannabis consumption and sleep disturbances were recorded by 80 medical cannabis patients with PTSD.
About half of the participants were male and the average age was 40 years old.
Although not every participant had been granted a license for medical cannabis for PTSD, all reported having been diagnosed with the condition.
According to the survey, 82% of respondents had received PTSD licenses, 14% had chronic pain licenses, 3% had gastrointestinal disease licenses, and 1% had other licenses.
Study participants were asked how long it took them to start sleeping after they consumed medical cannabis, as well as how many times they woke during the night, and how often they experienced nightmares.
Shorter intervals between the previous night’s medical cannabis use and sleep start time were associated with fewer nightmares throughout the night, but were not associated with nightly awakenings.
Medical cannabis products with higher CBD concentrations were associated with fewer early awakenings among individuals.
The authors of the study finished by saying: “Results revealed that a shorter time gap between medical cannabis (MC) use and sleep start times was associated with lower likelihood of experiencing nightmares but it was not associated with waking up too early or nightly awakenings.”
“Cannabis and its constituent parts, THC and CBD, interact with the endocannabinoid system and sleep regulation in important ways. This may be the mechanism by which MC is related to improvements in both nighttime and daytime PTSD symptoms.”
