Preliminary results of clinical research conducted in the UK and in Switzerland show that cannabis and THC are able to reduce hyperactivity of the bladder in patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.
The Swiss study conducted at the REHAB in Basel under the guidance of Dr. Ulrike Hagenbach includes 15 patients with spastic spinal cord injury who received oral or rectal THC. Compared to placebo there was an improvement of some parameters of bladder activity, e.g. maximum capacity of the bladder (MCC, maximum cystometric capacity).
The British study conducted at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London under the guidance of Dr. Ciaran Brady and professor Clare Fowler includes patients with advanced multiple sclerosis and problems with bladder function who received a cannabis spray under the tongue. Early results of 10 evaluable patients have been presented to the Association of British Neurologists. Maximum capacity of the bladder increased and frequency of need to empty the bladder during day and night decreased.
Details of the research results were presented in Berlin at the conference of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine, October 26-27, 2001.
(Sources: Press release of the British Medicinal Cannabis Research Foundation of 26 September 2001, abstracts of Ciaran Brady and Ulrike Hagenbach for the IACM Berlin conference)