CANNABIS EXTRACT CUTS URGE ENURESIS IN MS PATIENTS

PARIS - Treatment with cannabinoids may help prevent urge incontinence in
multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, investigators said at the joint meeting
of the International Continence Society and the International
UroGynecological Association.

Dr. Robert Freeman, a urologist at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England,
reported results in 657 patients with stable multiple sclerosis who had
been randomized to treatment with oral cannabis extract,
delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) or placebo.

Patients completed urinary incontinence diaries and quality-of-life
questionnaires, and some of them also underwent urodynamic studies and
urinary pad tests.

The 15-week study found a 38% decrease in the frequency of urge
incontinence episodes from baseline in the cannabis extract group, a 33%
decrease in the delta9-THC group and an 18% decrease in the placebo group,
Dr. Freeman reported.

While none of the treatments had an effect on quality-of-life or urodynamic
outcomes, the cannabinoid groups had a mean decrease of 43.88 mL on the
urinary pad test compared with a mean increase of 8.27 mL in the placebo group.

"Our findings are encouraging given the fact that urinary incontinence
affects up to 80% of multiple sclerosis patients," said Dr. Freeman. More
studies are needed to verify the results, he added.