The next generation of medical cannabis treatment
Dr. Shanhav, an expert in internal medicine and a diabetes and medical cannabis expert, explains about the SyqeAir inhaler: "It is different from the other ways of administering cannabis.
This is a uniform, infrequent treatment (consistent every time) and therefore it is possible to achieve a stable and effective treatment that allows patients to continue to function"
In collaboration with Saiki
07/08/2022
Sunday, 07 August 2022, 07:30
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Syqe - an inhaler for the treatment of medical cannabis called SyqeAir (Photo: Kafir Ziv)
About 17% of Israeli residents suffer from some form of chronic pain;
Persistent pain that does not go away, sometimes as a symptom of some disease or as a response to treatments (eg oncology treatments) and sometimes as a medical problem in itself.
In recent years, the medical community has begun to see medical cannabis as a legitimate treatment for chronic pain [1].
We use the word "legitimate" with a very limited guarantee, since medical cannabis, despite the growing evidence supporting its ability to relieve patients suffering from chronic pain, is still considered a dangerous drug and not a medicine [2] in Israel and many other countries in the world.
Chronic pain of neural origin is the leading indication for obtaining a medical cannabis license in Israel - 56% of the number of licenses, which, as of June 2022, is about 114,000 [3].
It is estimated that by 2025 the number of licenses will reach a quarter of a million.
"Over 50 percent of medical cannabis patients are treated for indications of pain," explains Dr. Gilat Shanhav, a specialist in internal medicine, diabetes and medical cannabis. "Many of the conventional medications prescribed to pain patients have side effects.
Opiates, for example, are addictive and hypnotic.
Other tools available to doctors are also limited and have shortcomings, such as: invasive treatments that can be painful and uncomfortable.
In particular, medical cannabis, which is a relatively safe and effective solution, has not been sufficiently expressed due to prejudices or a lack of research," she clarifies.
According to Dr. Shanhav, the three common medical problems for which medical cannabis can help are: lower back pain, endometriosis and adenomyosis, and fibromyalgia. "What these three conditions have in common is that they are very common and cause great suffering and great harm to the patients' quality of life.
Many doctors find it difficult to give these patients an adequate medicinal response.
These patients come to cannabis after months and years of medications that did not offer an effective solution that allows them both a reduction in the intensity of the pain and to return to function."
Dr. Yehoshua (Shoki) Aviram (Photo: Itai Krogan)
Lower back pain
"According to procedure 106 of the Ministry of Health, patients who suffer from chronic pain must be treated for a year in a pain clinic before receiving approval for medical cannabis. There are times when this procedure seems tedious and painful to me. I would not like to see people who suffer for a long time. Cannabis is not the first line of treatment, but it does not have to be the last. Treatment with the help of cannabis has the potential to delay surgery or be a complementary treatment to surgery," explains Dr. Shenhav.
Endometriosis and adenomyosis
Chronic gynecological diseases, which affect women and girls of reproductive age.
Difficult-to-diagnose diseases that develop for an unknown reason.
"These are inflammatory diseases that manifest themselves in pelvic, abdominal and back pain. Like "menstrual pains" only they last every day, all day long, including pain during intercourse."
Says Dr. Shanhav. "Medical cannabis helps reduce the intensity of pain and also has a role as an anti-inflammatory, this is another advantage over the pain reduction treatment.
It should be emphasized that during treatment with medical cannabis one should avoid getting pregnant and it is not recommended while breastfeeding."
Fibromyalgia
"In fibromyalgia the situation is even more complex," explains Dr. Shanhav.
"If endometriosis is diagnosed, in the end, fibromyalgia is even more difficult to diagnose. It is a disease with a wide range of physical and mental symptoms."
The chronic pains that fall between the seats
"It is important to remember that the approved indication for the use of medical cannabis is for nerve pain of known organic origin. Lower back pain, fibromyalgia and endometriosis are not found in the indications for cannabis treatment by the Ministry of Health in Israel because almost no studies have been conducted on their effectiveness and safety. Pain or complementary treatments, including cannabis."
Explains Dr. Yehoshua (Shoki) Aviram, director of clinical research at the Syqe company, which developed an innovative medical inhaler for cannabis. "Most endometriosis patients undergo major pelvic surgeries and a high percentage of them suffer nerve damage from the surgery itself.
The treatment using medical cannabis is approved for them because of the nerve damage and not because of the diagnosis of endometriosis.
Fibromyalgia patients who suffer from widespread pain in the body are also often required to suffer from additional chronic pain, of neural origin, in order to receive a license for cannabis treatment, and patients who suffer from lower back pain are required to present a distinct organic source, such as a herniated disc.
"In an article from my doctoral research, we saw that reducing the intensity of pain with the help of medical cannabis was better, precisely in pain that is not of a nervous origin," explains Dr. Aviram
. In addition, each patient is different: there are different side effects, the intensity of the pain is different, and it is necessary to make dosage adjustments for each and every one. It is difficult to apply such a treatment in inflorescences. The plant changes from batch to batch, it is not possible to control the amount consumed nor the dose of substances that are absorbed by the body."
Syqe - an inhaler for the treatment of medical cannabis called SyqeAir (Photo: Kafir Ziv)
SyqeAir inhaler - treatment with the help of cannabis at the standard of advanced medicine
"The SyqeAir inhaler is different from other methods of administering cannabis. It is a uniform, infrequent (consistent each time) and regular treatment, in low doses. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a stable and effective treatment that allows patients to continue to function. And this is very important to me, As a doctor, the advantage of Saiki's inhaler is reflected in the fact that it provides regular treatment and one that helps immediately," says Dr. Shanhav.
"Cannabis is not just CBD and THC.
It has between 400 and 500 active substances that work on many receptors in the body," says Dr. Aviram.
"It is important to understand that a drug is, usually, one molecule that acts on one receptor. In the case of cannabis, the active ingredients act in different ways on at least 50 receptors (that we know about). Therefore, it is difficult for a doctor to know what he is prescribing for his patient. What's more, that in most forms The use of cannabis is impossible to know what and how much is absorbed in the body,
Except for the SyqeAir inhaler which managed to measure uniform results in the concentration of THC in the blood.
3
The Saiki company uses raw inflorescences from the Dutch @Bedrocan company.
Unlike other varieties on the market, Badrokan grows the plant under the strictest conditions that exist today in the world.
That's why all flat batches (that is, contain cannabis with stable and uniform genetics).
Added to this is an innovative technology that allows the administration of very low and precise doses of THC and the other active ingredients - at the push of a button.
Two advantages that enable a consistent effect and provide patients with their regular treatment - with every inhalation," explains Dr. Aviram.
Dr. Shanhav wants to make it clear to patients that they should not be alarmed by the very idea of using cannabis. "Today, many patients come to me after suffering for many years, they are afraid of using medical cannabis, and I am the one who explains that it is possible to be treated with cannabis and continue to function," says Dr. Ivory R.
"My goal with cannabis is that the patients do not suffer, I do not want them to be afraid of treatment with medical cannabis. In many cases the boundaries between "social" and medical are blurred, but in the case of the SyqeAir inhaler it is precise and clear. The treatment with the SyqeAir inhaler is neither confusing nor confusing, no interactions have yet been observed with other medications and no exposure to smoking or smoke."
"There are many patients who approach cannabis with apprehension and I want them to know that there is a product that can help and it's a shame to suffer. Get over the prejudices. Cannabis is a medical treatment against pain that is safer than conventional pain medications."
Summarizes Dr. Shenhav.
For more information: Syqe.com
In accordance with the labels approved by the Ministry of Health. The use of the inhaler is conditional on a doctor's recommendation and a license for the use of medical cannabis from the Ministry of Health, in accordance with the legal requirements. It has been researched. This does not constitute a medical recommendation.
[1] EK Choo, SW Feldstein Ewing, TI Lovejoy, Opioids Out , Cannabis In: Negotiating the Unknowns in Patient Care for Chronic Pain, J. Am. Med. Assoc. 316 (2016) 1763-1764. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.13677 [doi].
Proceedings 106, March 2013 update date (6) January 2022, 1-14 [2]
Ministry of Health, current data from patient licenses Medical Cannabis Unit (YKR) ([3]
[4] Eisenberg et al. (2014). The pharmacokinetics, efficacy, safety, and ease of use of a novel
portable metered-dose cannabis inhaler in patients with chronic neuropathic pain: a phase 1a
studyJ.
Pain Palliat.
Care Pharmacother, 28 (3), 216-225.
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