| Sumario: | I strongly believe there is a positive connection between cannabis use in relation to sleep. My role as a respiratory therapist for nearly a decade has provided tremendous insight into sleep patterns however, with the recent legalization of cannabis I would like to explore the correlation in more depth. I have compiled a literature review based on recent research to explore the positive effects of cannabis use on sleep, specifically in those with pain, trauma, OSA as well as adolescent use. Ware et al. [1] found that a single dose of 25mg cannabis inhaled three times daily for 5 days decreased the intensity of pain, improved sleep and was tolerated well. Further, Piper et al. [2] found that among participants that responded with regular opioid use, over three- quarters (76.7%) indicated that they had decreased their opioid use since commencing medical cannabis. Metrik et al. [3] found that when studied concurrently, sleep motives significantly mediated the correlation between PTSD and MDD with cannabis use. Babson et al. [4] suggested that synthetic cannabinoids may have short-term benefit for sleep apnea based on their regulatory effects on serotonin-mediated apneas. While Mike et al. [5] found that both sleep quality and duration in early adolescence may have correlations to the development of alcohol and cannabis use throughout adolescence. Consistent across the board in the current research, further studies need to be completed to examine the positive and negative effects of cannabis on sleep as it is still new to the table. I would like to further my own knowledge by connecting with physicians, clinical educators and cannabis providers to further explore the links as both topics are extremely interesting to me at this time. As a respiratory therapist, my focus has centered solely around patient care and most of my career has been in a clinical sleep therapist and home care role.
|
|---|