Irvine, CA: The daily administration of CBD mitigates chemotherapy-induced neurodegeneration and significantly restores cognitive functioning, according to preclinical data published in the journal Cancer Letters.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California at Irvine assessed the efficacy of Epidiolex (FDA-approved, plant-derived CBD) in mice suffering from chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline.
Investigators determined that mice treated with CBD for one month “showed significant neurocognitive improvements in learning and memory, executive function, and memory consolidation tasks often impaired in cancer survivors.” CBD dosing also “reduced neuroinflammation and preserved neurogenesis.”
The study’s authors concluded: “These data highlight the neuroprotective capacity of oral CBD administered following adjuvant chemotherapy-induced impairments in short-term memory, memory consolidation, and executive function. … The present study positions CBD as a mechanistically informed, clinically accessible candidate for future trials targeting CRCI [cancer therapy-related cognitive impairments] in cancer survivors.”
Longitudinal studies of medical cannabis patients have previously associated marijuana treatment with “enhanced rather than impaired executive function over time.”
Full text of the study, “Cannabidiol alleviates chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline and neuropathology,” appears in Cancer Letters.