Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often report symptomatic benefits from cannabis use, but, like many cannabis benefits, clinical data are lacking.
While this information has been largely anecdotal, its use and benefits may be quite widespread, according to survey data published in the magazine. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. Norwegian investigators investigated cannabis use patterns and related attitudes among PD patients.
Consistent with previous surveys, researchers in Norway found that a significant minority of PD patients use cannabis to relieve symptoms.
Useful for motor function, sleep, pain
Respondents were more likely to report improvements in motor function, sleep and pain due to their marijuana use.
Observational trial data have determined that cannabis inhalation is associated with improvements in tremor, stiffness, pain, sleep, and bradykinesia (slowness of movement) in PD patients.
Placebo-controlled trial data also determined that acute administration of CBD (300mg) is associated with a statistically significant reduction in experimentally induced anxiety and tremor in PD patients.
Full text of the study, “Cannabis use in Parkinson’s disease: A national online survey,” appears in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica.. Additional information on cannabis and PD is available from NORML.
