March is National MS Education and Awareness Month

NOTE: Nothing in this section should be taken as a claim about the effects of any of our particular products. No claims are being made as to the use of any of our products and none should be inferred. We simply find this evidence to be interesting and hope it may help customers make more informed decisions.

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

March is National MS Education and Awareness Month® Started in 2003, its objective is to help educate and derive awareness of this debilitating disease. MS is essentially an autoimmune disease where a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks a healthy part of the body.  In the case of MS, it’s the spinal cord or sometimes the brain, specifically attacking the myelin sheath which protects and surrounds the nerves and aids in transmission of neural signals. Over time, this damages and scars the sheath and even the nerves resulting in slow or disrupted messages from the brain to the muscles. Exactly what causes the immune system to act in this way is unclear, but most experts think a combination of genetic and environmental factors is likely to blame.

While no two people experience the exact same thing with MS, some of the most common symptoms include:

• fatigue
• vision issues
• numbness and tingling
• muscle spasms, stiffness and weakness
• mobility problems
• pain, often extreme
• problems thinking, learning and planning
• depression and anxiety

A Personal History

I have a personal interest in MS as a sibling was diagnosed with it some 40 years ago. It was well before the arrival of current drug therapies which do make a significant difference in those affected by MS. At the time she was diagnosed, her attending physician suggested she consider moving form the cold and humid Midwest to a drier, sunny climate as the incidence of MS was lower in some of these areas. She decided on Arizona, and her disease went into remission and remains so today. But for most afflicted with MS, this is not the case.

Can CBD help? What the Research Shows Us

In a recent review article from May of 2022 called The Efficacy of Cannabis on Multiple Sclerosis-Related Symptoms, the researchers conclude that “Most clinical studies showed the positive effects of cannabinoids with their different routes of administration…” and that “Oromucosal spray and oral cannabis are mainly used for treating patients with MS and have positive effects on treating the most common symptoms of MS, such as pain and spasticity, whereas the other MS symptoms indicated slight improvement, for which further studies are needed.”

To be clear, we are not claiming that CBD can alleviate MS symptoms but nonetheless, the research is most interesting. We have seen where some of our pharmacist customers will use CBD in combination with LDN (low dose naltrexone).