Review by Mike Burns
In a research study back in late 2017, Zynerba Pharmaceuticals reported the preliminary results of its study on the effects of using transdermal cannabinoid treatments on knee pain due to Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that can lead to degradation of the joints, cartilage, joint lining, ligaments and bone. It is most common in the hands, hips, knees and toes. It causes inflammation around these areas, affecting nearly 31 million people in the United States. The pain can be very debilitating and disruptive in their daily routine of life.
The study was composed of 320 patients, aged 41 to 78 years of age, with confirmed osteoarthritis of the knee. The patients were divided into three groups, one receiving 250mg of CBD gel daily, one receiving 500mg of CBD gel daily and the last group receiving a placebo daily, all for 21 days.
At the end of the 12 week study, patients in the 250mg group achieved a 2.64 mean reduction from baseline in average worst knee pain scores. Patients in the 500mg group achieved a 2.83 mean reduction from baseline in average worst knee pain scores. Patients on the placebo achieved a 2.37 mean reduction from baseline in average worst knee pain scores. These results were not statistically significant. However, several secondary measurements showed more impressive results with the CBD groups over the placebo in shorter periods of the study, at the 4th week interval, the 8th week interval and the 12th week interval, as measured by the mean reduction from baseline comparisons.
Secondary data also revealed that a group that had baseline pain scores of equal to 7 or less, showed a greater reduction from baseline in average worse knee pain scores in weeks 4, 8 and 12 than the placebo group. In addition, men showed greater reduction from baseline in average worse knee pain than women did as compared to the placebo group of the same gender.
Armando Anido, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zynerba stated that “the results from this study are very encouraging and for the first time suggest that CBD has a clinically meaningful impact in osteoarthritis. Mr. Anido stated that more follow up research will be done to extract meaningful results, which can eventually aid osteoarthritis sufferers.
