How well a drug or therapy works – what we in the healthcare field refer to as ‘efficacy’ – can be measured in different ways. Efficacy for a bone fracture treatment would be measured by how well the bone actually heals. Efficacy for cancer therapy might be measured by whether the therapy leads to remission. But what about Medical Cannabis? How is its efficacy measured?
The first thing to note is that Medical Cannabis doesn’t cure anything – at least as far as we know at the current time. When one of our medical providers recommends Medical Cannabis, the main goal is symptom relief. Whether or not it actually works determines its efficacy. And in some cases, the best measurement is quality of life.
It turns out that quality of life (QOL) is a standard measurement in medical science that can be applied in a variety of ways. For example, doctors may ask patients to complete a questionnaire designed to inquire about quality of life in relation to general health. The EQ-5D-5L questionnaire is a classic example.
The interesting thing about quality of life is that it is totally subjective. Patients can respond to a number of surveys in a variety of ways, leading researchers and medical providers to draw different conclusions about QOL.
Medically speaking, quality of life measurements are intended to account for:
There is no single way to measure quality of life among patients. Likewise, QOL measurements can indicate different things for different therapies. So what does all this mean to the Medical Cannabis patient?
It all points to the reality that patient experiences differ. Your experience with Medical Cannabis will not be identical to anyone else’s. You may share some similarities with other patients, but the details of your experience will be as unique as you are. No two Medical Cannabis patients are exactly alike.
Just know that your quality of life is important. You deserve the opportunity to live the kind of life you want to live, just like patients relying on any other treatments to feel better. Medical Cannabis has been recommended as a treatment because your healthcare provider believes it offers you the best chances of enjoying improved quality of life.
If your quality of life isn’t where you expected it to be when you first started using Medical Cannabis, don’t be afraid to get together with your medical provider to talk things over. It could be that you just haven’t been using Medical Cannabis long enough to notice a substantial improvement. But it could also be that you need to adjust the way you medicate.
We want to close this post by addressing patients who might be eligible for Medical Cannabis but haven’t yet applied for a card in Utah. If this group includes you, and you have been reluctant to apply because your only concern is symptom relief, we hope you’ll consider this one fact: symptom relief is sufficient motivation to utilize a medical therapy.
Prescription pain medications do not cure disease. Yet doctors prescribe them in hopes of providing symptom relief. Medical Cannabis is no different. No, Medical Cannabis doesn’t cure persistent pain or PTSD. But it can make symptoms more manageable. It can take the edge off.
There are several ways to measure Medical Cannabis efficacy. One of them is its ability to improve quality of life. Here’s hoping your quality of life has improved since you started your journey.
