The hardest part of watching an Alzheimer’s patient progress is watching their cognitive function decline. At first, they seem to only forget certain words once in a while. Sometimes they forget where they’ve put their wallet or keys. As the disease progresses, the symptoms increase in severity. Soon it becomes difficult to get dressed or bathe without help, they start forgetting names of loved ones, and in severe cases they forget faces.
The exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease isn’t clear, but since it’s a cognitive degeneration, it makes sense to explore treatments known to improve cognitive function. Many people have seen improvement with dietary changes and supplements like Omega 3 and MCT oil.
CBD holds big promise for Alzheimer’s patients
With plenty of natural ways to fight Alzheimer’s disease, CBD isn’t usually what comes to mind, perhaps due to the misunderstanding of what it is.
CBD is short for cannabidiol, a chemical compound found in cannabis. Unlike THC, CBD is non-psychoactive, which means it doesn’t create a high.
Scientific studies show promising benefits of using CBD as a defense against Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the medicinal benefits of CBD have been known for some time, even by the government. Since 2003, the U.S. federal government has held a patent for marketing cannabinoids as antioxidants or neuroprotective agents.
According to U.S. patent no. US6630507B1, cannabinoids are “useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases such as inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, HIV, and dementia.”
It’s crucial to slow the progression of symptoms
Someone with Alzheimer’s will experience a decline in cognitive function that takes place over time. Although each person’s progression is unique, there are stages each person will go through. The stages of progression are referred to as the Reisberg Scale – a scale measuring symptoms ranging from very mild to severe.
Senior living memory care communities are built to accommodate patients throughout the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s with enough staff to give each patient time and attention. If your loved one is in a memory care center, CBD might help slow the progression of their symptoms and help them maintain independence a little longer.
While a patient could spend close to a decade expressing mild symptoms like a slight forgetfulness or difficulty finding words, it’s only a matter of time before they need assistance for daily tasks like getting dressed, paying bills, and sometimes eating.
If there is any possibility that CBD can help slow the progression of symptoms, it’s worth considering. Very few people report side effects from CBD, and those who do are usually affected in similar ways by OTC medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
Science supports using CBD for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients
The medicinal benefits of both THC and CBD are proven by science. For example, in 2006, Molecular Pharmaceutics published a study from the University of Connecticut that reported cannabis “could be considerably better at suppressing the abnormal clumping of malformed proteins that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease than any currently approved prescription.”
CBD’s main claim to fame is its anti-inflammatory properties. That’s great news for dementia patients. According to Dementia Care Central, recent studies have shown CBD to reduce or eliminate the impact of inflammation, oxygen buildup, and brain cell decline. Inflammation has been shown to have a negative impact on Alzheimer’s symptoms. Inflammation in the brain causes oxygen to be released. As more oxygen is released into brain cells, memory begins to decline. Reducing inflammation with CBD can help preserve or restore a person’s cognitive function.
More research is needed
While CBD continues to provide health benefits to people across the world, more research is needed to determine how it can benefit dementia patients. While many people are willing to try CBD without any hard data proving it works, others aren’t.
The results so far indicate that CBD has the potential to support and improve cognitive function in people with dementia. However, more clinical trials need to be run to establish once and for all whether CBD really can help Alzheimer’s patients, or if it’s just another placebo.