Effectiveness and Safety Evaluation of Medical Cannabis in Alzheimer’s disease in Chiang Mai Neurological Hospital
Keywords:
Medical Cannabis, Alzheimer patient, SafetyAbstract
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common chronic disease in the elderly caused by degeneration of a nervous system of thought, intelligence and behavior. The efficacy of pharmacological treatment options is limited. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of medical cannabis extract as a part of treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: This study was conducted as an open label study comparing pre and post-treatment with medical cannabis in 9 patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The collected parameters were Thai-mental state examination (TMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), adverse event evaluation, emotional and behavioral assessments, Barthel activity daily living (ADL) Index and quality of life (QOL). Result: Most of the samples were female (77.8%), mean age 71 years, and average duration of disease was 2 years. All patients received 1 drop of cannabis (THC:CBD=1:1) sublingually before bed time. The addition of medical cannabis to patients’ disease regimen was associated with significant decrease in depression scale (p <0.05). A report adverse event was dizziness (11%). Conclusion: The administration of medical cannabis in this study was safe and tended to reduce depression in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
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