Painful behavior and medicinal cannabis
Comportamento doloroso e cannabis medicinal
Eduardo Aliende Perin; César Augusto de Paula Santos
Abstract
BACKGKROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain is defined as a complex sensory and emotional experience, and it is one of the most common causes for seeking health care, being the chronic pain one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world today, with millions of people debilitated by symptomatic conditions. The discovery of the endocannabinoid system and its organic effects on pain modulation, especially chronic pain, represented an unknown source of possibilities for the production of drugs that, theoretically, would have great potential to improve the quality of life of individuals with chronic pain. Given this, the general objective of this work was to search the literature for studies that investigated the use of medicinal cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic pain and pain behavior.
CONTENTS: This is a narrative review of the literature in which aspects of painful behavior are presented, such as cognitive distortions associated with the experience of pain, and the influence of trauma, stress and psychiatric comorbidities on pain outcomes. The endocannabinoid system influences the modulation of all these points and also the regulation of pain itself.
CONCLUSION: This study provides perspectives on painful behavior and how the endocannabinoid system can interfere with different aspects of pain and with the way the patient perceives pain. Further studies on this issue are extremely important.
Keywords
Resumo
JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A dor é definida como uma experiência sensitiva e emocional complexa, e está entre as principais causas de busca por atendimento médico, sendo a dor crônica um dos problemas de saúde mais prevalentes no mundo atual, com milhões de pessoas debilitadas por condições sintomáticas. A descoberta do sistema endocanabinoide e seus efeitos orgânicos na modulação da dor, especialmente a crônica, representou uma fonte desconhecida de possibilidades para a produção de fármacos que, teoricamente, possuiriam grande potencial de melhorar a qualidade de vida de indivíduos portadores de dor crônica. Diante disso, o objetivo geral deste trabalho foi buscar na literatura estudos que investigaram o uso de canabinoides medicinais para o tratamento da dor crônica e do comportamento doloroso.
CONTEÚDO: Trata-se de um estudo de revisão narrativa da literatura em que são apresentados aspectos do comportamento doloroso, como as distorções cognitivas associadas à experiência de dor, e a influência do trauma, do estresse e de comorbidades psiquiátricas nos desfechos de dor. O sistema endocanabinoide tem influência na modulação de todos esses pontos e também na própria regulação da dor.
CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo traz perspectivas sobre o comportamento doloroso e de como o sistema endocanabinoide pode interferir em diversos aspectos da dor e da forma como o paciente percebe a dor. Mais estudos sobre o assunto são de extrema relevância.
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Referências
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Submetido em:
20/06/2022
Aceito em:
06/02/2023