Could a drug linked to the pot help the agitation of Alzheimer's?

TUESDAY, July 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) – The active ingredient in the pot that gets you high can calm agitation in people with advanced Alzheimer's disease, suggests a new recent study.

Synthetic THC significantly decreased agitation in a small group of Alzheimer's patients, working even better than currently used drugs.

"This is the first clinical trial to show that a cannabinoid can decrease agitation," said Krista Lanctot, a scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto

However, Many patients have suffered sedation because of drugs, said Keith Fargo, director of scientific programs and outreach to the Alzheimer's Association.

"We would like to see this study done in a larger group of people, to see if it continues to be effective in a larger group, and how much we need to be concerned about this side effect of sedation," he said. Fargo said.

Agitation is an advanced Alzheimer's Tom, explained Lanctot. Doctors struggle to control it through off-label use of drugs like antipsychotics and anticonvulsants. [19659002] Agitated patients scream, shout, lighten and wander, she says They can also become physically aggressive, hitting people and hurting themselves or others

"You will find one out of five in consultation external, but when you arrive in long-term care facilities, about 50 percent of hospitalized patients will have agitation, "Lanctot said. "In fact, the drugs we currently use do not work very well and are badociated with increased mortality."

Off-label drugs used to treat Alzheimer's disease are indeed somewhat doubtful. For example, only one in five to 14 people treated with antipsychotics actually experience a decrease in agitation, Lanctot said. And for every nine to twenty-five people badisted, one will die.

But Lanctot and his colleagues suspect that cannabinoids might help control agitation, since natural cannabinoids in the brain diminish when Alzheimer's enters its advanced stages. Cannabis has several effects that could be beneficial for agitated people, "said Lanctot." It has a soothing effect, helps with weight loss because it helps with appetite, it is also used for pain. "