Cannabis Extracts Safe And Effective In Dementia Patients Per Switzerland Study
Cannabis extracts are growing in popularity around the globe within the medical cannabis community for a multitude of reasons. For many years, cannabis flower was the most prominent form of medical cannabis, however, more and more patients are increasingly going the extract route.
For those that are not familiar, cannabis extracts are exactly what the name implies. They are products that are created as the result of processing cannabis flower via various methods to extract and concentrate cannabinoids from the flower.
The rise in use of cannabis extracts has been paralleled by new questions regarding whether cannabis extracts are safe for patients, both in the short and long terms. A team of researchers in Switzerland recently examined long term use of cannabis extracts among dementia patients, and the results of the study were insightful. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:
Geneva, Switzerland: The administration of plant-derived extracts containing a two-to-one ratio of CBD to THC is associated with behavioral improvements and few adverse side effects in dementia patients, according to data published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
A team of Swiss researchers assessed the long-term safety and efficacy of the adjunctive use of cannabis extracts in a cohort of dementia patients (mean age: 81 years). Participants received an average of 12.4 mgs of THC and 24.8 mgs of CBD per day for up to 13 months.
Investigators reported “marked improvements” in patients’ symptoms over the course of the trial, including reduced agitation. They reported “no problems related to the treatment and limited adverse drug reactions.”
They concluded, “A long-term THC/CBD (1:2) medication can be administered safely and with overall positive clinical improvement to poly medicated older adults with severe dementia and associated problems.”
The study’s results are similar to those recently reported in a placebo-controlled trial which determined that the sublingual administration of CBD-dominant plant extracts reduced agitation and improved sleep in dementia patients.
Full text of the study, “Cannabinoids for behavioral symptoms in severe dementia: Safety and feasibility in a long-term pilot observational study in nineteen patients,” appears in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.