74% of MS patients found this treatment eased spasticity

Medical cannabis treatment Sativex has been found to be effective as an add-on therapy for easing spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) in people who had not responded to other anti-spastic medication.

The real-world study, which took place in Belgium, found approximately 74% of people said their spasticity had eased after 12 weeks of taking Sativex.

The medication contains cannabinoids (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which are two cannabinoids from cannabis. It is taken as an oral spray several times a day.

Sativex can be legally prescribed in the UK but it can be difficult to get a prescription. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has guidelines that say if a particular local NHS authority will pay for continued treatment, a month-long trial of Sativex can be prescribed to MS patients who have moderate to severe spasticity which hasn’t benefited from other treatments. After the initial prescription time, they can continue with the drug if their spasticity has improved by 20%. The Belgian trial reported an average improvement of 30%.