A quarter of Parkinson patients in the US are using cannabis

Almost 25% of patients with Parkinson's disease reported in a survey by the Parkinson's Foundation that they had used cannabis in the past six months. A report on the survey, "Weeding through the haze: A survey on cannabis use among people living with Parkinson's disease in the US" was published last week in NPJ Parkinson's magazine Disease released. In the report, the authors find that Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting more than 1 million Americans and costing more than $ 50 billion to society. The disease causes a variety of motor symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, and unstable posture. Less known symptoms include sleep disorders, cognitive changes, pain, anxiety, depression, and hallucinations. Parkinson's patients typically use pharmaceutical drugs to treat their condition with varying degrees of success. However, common treatments do not address the non-motor symptoms and can sometimes cause side effects such as dyskinesia, an abnormality or impairment of voluntary movement. As a result, many patients are turning to complementary or alternative treatments for their disease. One such alternative treatment is cannabis. In a poll in Colorado, some participants reported that cannabis was the most effective alternative theory. "The medicinal use of cannabis represents a novel, alternative approach to controlling Parkinson's symptoms," the authors write. "Preclinical evidence suggests that cannabinoids could be of great benefit in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease." The authors note that marijuana policy reform has made cannabis widely available for both medicinal and recreational uses. As a result, many Parkinson's disease patients now have legal access to cannabis as an alternative or complementary therapy. "However, little is known about attitudes and experiences with cannabis use by Parkinson's patients," the report said. To learn more about the effectiveness of cannabis as a treatment for Parkinson's disease, a survey was sent to more than 7,600 people who had contacted the Parkinson's Foundation through events or the group's helpline. A total of 1,339 surveys were returned, including 1,064 from people who fully responded. After analyzing the data, the researchers found that 24.5% of respondents had used cannabis in the previous six months. In the group reporting cannabis use, the majority of patients reported that the alternative therapy caused "moderate or significant improvement" in their symptoms, particularly in the treatment of anxiety, pain, insomnia, stiffness and tremors. However, about 20% of those who recently used cannabis did not show any significant improvement in their symptoms. The majority of cannabis users reported that they had no recommendation for medical marijuana from their family doctor. "Our results suggest that although there are many people with Parkinson's who are using cannabis as a \[complementary alternative\] treatment for their motor and non-motor symptoms, the lack of formal guidance on how to use cannabis for Parkinson's contributes to the inconsistencies could be based on usage and reported efficacy, "the authors write. The survey highlights the need for more research on cannabis as a treatment for Parkinson's disease and other health conditions. Although more than 75% of respondents said they haven't used cannabis recently, the majority of them said evidence supporting cannabis as a treatment for Parkinson's would change their minds.