HIGHLIGHTS
Compounds formed in the cannabis secondary metabolism exhibit pharmacological properties of obvious interest.
Specific errors called cognitive distortions were identified, such as selective abstraction, overgeneralization, personalization, and catastrophizing.
Association between psychological factors, sleep, central sensitization, pain, and chronic neck, back, limb, and multiregional impairment.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND 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:
Cannabis; Chronic pain; Pain