{"id":10638,"date":"2025-02-20T00:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/latestage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis"},"modified":"2025-02-20T00:49:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:49:00","slug":"late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis\/","title":{"rendered":"Late-Stage Dementia: Not A Hopeless Case, If You Medicate with Cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"late stage alz with cannabis\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis-1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Late-Stage Dementia: Not A Hopeless Case, If You Medicate With Marijuana<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Late-stage <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-slows-dementia-and-alzheimers-according-to-medical-journal-report\">dementia<\/a> refers to the end or final stage of cognitive decline associated with dementia.<\/p>\n<p>During this stage, patients go through severe memory loss and significant impairment of cognitive function, which affects communication and language abilities, memory, judgment, and reasoning. Patients in <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/top-cannabis-strains-for-dementia-and-alzheimers-disease\">late-stage dementia<\/a> are typically disoriented, impaired, and incontinent \u2013 thus, are completely dependent on their caregivers. Physically, the body goes through extreme weight loss and is much more prone to infections and bedsores among other symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, once one has reached the <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/can-marijuana-help-seniors-with-dementia\">final stage of dementia<\/a>, there is no known cure. Caregiving or management is typically focused on improving ones\u2019 quality of life instead of treating the condition.<\/p>\n<p>However, it seems that cannabis might be able to help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Case For Using CBD<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/37153956\/\">2023 study<\/a> from Greece involved researchers administering a <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-and-dementia-what-we-now-know-and-dont-know\">CBD tincture on dementia patients<\/a> revealed some incredible results. The findings, which were published in the medical journal, Clinical Gerontologist, found the administration of 3% CBD tinctures to be safe and effective for treating both psychological and behavioral symptoms associated with dementia.<\/p>\n<p>A group of 20 patients were involved; 10 of them were given CBD for a period of 6 months and the other half underwent conventional dementia treatment. \u201cThe follow-up assessment\u2026 showed significant improvement of BPSD [behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia] in all our patients who received CBD, and no or limited improvement in the second group, regardless of the underlying neuropathology of dementia,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe suggest that CBD may be a more effective and safe choice for managing BPSD than the typical intervention,\u201d the investigators concluded. \u201cHealthcare professionals should consider incorporating it into their practices to reduce BPSD in PwD [people with dementia]\u2026 Future large and randomized clinical trials are needed to reassure these findings,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9486160\/\">study from 2022<\/a> found positive results from using CBD extracts, but this time for reducing agitation caused by dementia. Agitation as well as aggression are some of the more distressing symptoms of dementia, which can manifest in different ways including physical violence, verbal outbursts, pacing, and restlessness. While there is no one standard cure for it, it\u2019s believed that this behavior can be caused by the progressive brain cell damage associated with dementia, which makes it difficult for patients to understand and interpret their environment.<\/p>\n<p>The study from Israel involved researchers administering plant-based CBD extracts with a 30:1 ration of CBD to THC on a cohort of senior dementia patients with a mean age of 79.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatients in the investigational group experienced a significantly greater reduction in sleep disturbances, and in agitation and aggression sub-score using two different measurement tools. The improvements were accompanied with non-serious side effects,\u201d said the authors. \u201cWe recommend conducting a large scale randomized controlled trial on behavioral disturbances related to dementia and to compare clinical sub-types of dementia,\u201d they reported.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THC Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, there have been other studies that have found success in treating the symptoms of dementia with THC. In 2023, a <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/36576970\/\">case study<\/a> conducted by researchers from the Tulane University School of Medicine together with investigators at the University of Texas discussed the findings of using a <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/how-to\/so-what-exactly-are-marijuana-tinctures\">high-THC tincture<\/a> on an 85-year old patient with dementia.<\/p>\n<p>The participant\u2019s dementia symptoms gradually became worse over time, and wasn\u2019t responding to medications. However, after administering the THC medicine, they found that the \u201cpatient\u2019s behavior rapidly improved\u201d and the marked benefits were so significant that the patient was discharged from a treatment facility to home care.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Need For More Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Researchers from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/\">University of Kentucky<\/a> started a clinical trial analyzing the impact of medical cannabis on patients who were already in late-stage dementia. According to Greg Jicha, MD, Ph.D., a neurologist as well as the director of clinical trials at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging in the United Kingdom: \u201cThe idea really came on the basis of a patient whose name was Libby, and she was cared for by a friend and colleague nationally.\u201d\u00a0 According to Jicha, there is a great need to develop other treatments for late-stage dementia, and there is a potential seen in medical marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have very few medicines used to provide comfort in the later stages of dementia. While the field is largely focused on finding ways to prevent or potentially slow or stop the disease in its early stages, we\u2019ve forgotten about those later-stage patients that aren\u2019t eligible for those types of treatments,\u201d explains Jicha. He also adds that much more research and participants are needed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has been available, and we have been enrolling folks in this study who are in the late stages of disease since June, but we need hundreds or more nationally to fill that trial to get the medical data that we need to potentially, in the future, get dementia on the list of conditions that are eligible for medical marijuana,\u201d said Jicha. Furthermore, he explains that the current available treatments are only sedatives, but he thinks there are other ways this can be managed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur ultimate goal is not sedate and render unconscious these patients so that they feel nothing but rather provide them comfort and relief that allows them to engage in their final years of life,\u201d said Jicha.<\/p>\n<p>CONCLUSION<\/p>\n<p>While there are many studies showing <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-and-dementia-what-we-now-know-and-dont-know\">potential and promise<\/a> for using various compounds in cannabis for the treatment of dementia, research is still limited and most studies feature small sample sizes. That said, cannabis has certainly proven to be safe so far, but families of the affected patients are encouraged to seek consultations with medical professionals before using cannabis as a treatment option for dementia.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>CANANBIS AND DEMENTIA, READ ON&#8230;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-and-dementia-what-we-now-know-and-dont-know\"><img alt=\"CANNABIS FOR DEMENTIA TREATMENTS\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/late-stage-dementia-not-a-hopeless-case-if-you-medicate-with-cannabis-2.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-and-dementia-what-we-now-know-and-dont-know\"><strong>WHAT WE NOW KNOW ABOUT CANNABIS AND DEMENTIA!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Late-Stage Dementia: Not A Hopeless Case, If You Medicate With Marijuana Late-stage dementia refers to the end or final stage of cognitive decline associated with dementia. During this stage, patients go through severe memory loss and significant impairment of cognitive function, which affects communication and language abilities, memory, judgment, and reasoning. Patients in late-stage dementia [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10638"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}