Medical marijuana may have promise for managing headache pain, according to results from a small study conducted at the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University. The researchers found general satisfaction with medical marijuana, more frequent use as an abortive medication rather than a preventative, and more than two-thirds using the inhaled form rather than oral.

Many patients ask about medical marijuana, but there is relatively little data on its effects on headache. Studies are generally retrospective, and often focus on marijuana use for general pain, with subset analyses looking at headache, according to coauthor Claire Ceriani, MD, who is a headache fellow at Jefferson. “A lot of patients are interested in medical marijuana but don’t know how to integrate it into the therapy plan they already have – whether it should be just to treat bad headaches when they happen, or is it meant to be a preventive medicine they use every day? We have some data out there that it can be helpful, but not a lot of specific information to guide your recommendations,” said Dr. Ceriani in an interview.

Although the research is far from a final word on the subject, it did have some take-home messages, said Dr. Ceriani. [Read more at Medscape]