Cannabis products ease nausea within 5 minutes

Patients who use cannabis to treat nausea normally experience relief within a relatively short period of time, a recent study has shown. However, the level of antiemetic effect varies with the characteristics of the cannabis products consumed in vivo.

A team of investigators analysed 886 individuals who completed a total of 2,220 cannabis self-administration sessions using the Releaf App with the intention of treating nausea between 6 June 2016 and 8 July 2019. Participants recorded the characteristics of self-administered cannabis products and baseline symptom intensity levels before tracking real-time changes in the intensity of their nausea.

Majority of the participants (96.4 percent) experienced symptom relief by 1 hour following consumption, with an average symptom intensity reduction of ‒3.85 points on a 0–10 visual analogue scale (p<0.001). Symptom relief reached statistical significance at 5 min and increased with time.

Among product characteristics, flower and concentrates produced the strongest yet similar results. Products labeled as Cannabis indica underperformed those labeled as Cannabis sativa or hybrid, while joints yielded greater symptom relief than did pipes or vaporizers.

In sessions using flower, higher tetrahydrocannabinol and lower cannabidiol resulted in greater symptom relief (eg, within 5 min).

“Future research should focus on longer term symptom relief, including nausea-free intervals and dosing frequency; the risks of consumption of medical cannabis, especially among high-risk populations, such as pregnant women and children; and potential interactions between cannabis, conventional antiemetics, other medications, food, tobacco, alcohol, and street drugs among specific patient populations,” the investigators said.