Cannabinoid

During a 6-year retrospective, single-institution study, investigators found a 60% increase in cannabinoid use and a 30% decrease in opioid use among patients who underwent total joint arthroplasty.

The Healio editors have compiled a list of the most-read COPD news published in 2020.

Older adults with COPD who were new users of oral cannabinoids had increased risk for all-cause mortality and those using higher doses had increased risk for hospitalization for COPD or pneumonia, according to data published in Thorax.

Lenabasum, an experimental cannabinoid receptor type 2 agonist, was associated with inhibition of interleukin-1beta and interleukin-18 activation, according to data presented at the EULAR 2020 E-Congress.

Tetra Bio-Pharma received orphan drug designation from the FDA for the cannabinoid drug PPP003 to prevent proliferative vitreoretinopathy, according to a press release.

Researchers found that cannabinoids did not appear to reduce cancer-related pain in adults. It was the week’s top story in hematology/oncology.

Cannabinoids did not appear to reduce cancer-associated pain among adults with cancer, according to results of a systemic review and meta-analysis published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.

Most patients with electronic cigarette- or vaping-associated lung injuries, or EVALI, who used products with THC acquired the products from informal sources like family and friends or dealers, according to findings published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

CBD is one of the most recognized, and certainly one of the most heavily marketed, cannabinoids or cannabis-derived compounds. It is non-psychotropic. In other words, it does not produce a “high” and is reported to have anti-inflammatory and anxiolytic properties. The only current FDA-approved CBD formulation is Epidiolex (Greenwich Biosciences), which is for treatment of epilepsy associated with Lennox-Gastaut or Dravet syndrome. Most patients, however, come into our offices asking about the use of unregulated CBD-containing products that are available on the open market, such as topical oils. I counsel my patients firstly by informing them these unregulated products are exactly that—unregulated by the FDA and not generally held to any federal testing standards to ensure products contain what the labels claim. Furthermore, there is little scientific data at this point to support the myriad claims of CBD’s anxiolytic and anti-inflammatory properties that are advertised in the lay press. The FDA, in fact, has issued dozens of warning letters to various American manufacturers regarding false advertising and illegal interstate marketing of CBD as an unapproved drug.

Current research is lacking to support claims that cannabinoids improve depressive disorders and symptoms, anxiety disorders or ADHD, according to results of a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Lancet Psychiatry.