Ramat Gan, Israel: Patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) exhibit symptomatic improvements following the daily use of cannabis, according to data published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.
Israeli and US investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of cannabis treatment in 50 patients with Parkinson’s. Study participants consumed either botanical cannabis or oil extracts provided by Israeli-licensed pharmacies. (Cannabis preparations are legal for medical use in Israel.) Patients were instructed to self-administer cannabis at least once per day for three months. Participants’ symptoms were assessed at baseline and at the completion of the study.
“Self-titrated medical cannabis was associated with improvements across multiple clinical measures,” researchers reported. Specifically, investigators identified “meaningful benefits” in patients’ sleep quality, pain, and nocturnal urinary frequency following cannabis treatment. Adverse effects associated with cannabis treatment were described as “infrequent and mild.”
The study’s authors concluded: “This prospective exploratory study provides real-world evidence that self-titrated MC [medical cannabis] may alleviate select NMS [non-motor symptom] in PD, particularly pain, sleep disturbances, and nocturnal urinary frequency. … Future studies should include standardized dosing protocols, pharmacokinetic monitoring, and longer follow-up to define dose-response relationships and durability of benefit.”
Survey data finds that PD patients frequently report reduced prescription drug use and quality of life improvements following their use of cannabis, including improvements in pain, tremor, and bradykinesia (slowness of movement).
Full text of the study, “Exploratory prospective study of self-titrated medical cannabis for non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Additional information on cannabis and PD is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.