A recent Parkinson’s Disease & Marijuana Study revealed that over 1000 patients with Parkinson’s disease use Marijuana to relieve symptoms. The study aimed to understand how frequently patients of Parkinson’s disease use Marijuana, their experiences, and motivations. According to its summary review, the survey provides exciting insights with indications on the need for putting out better information on future Marijuana use to address Parkinson’s disease symptoms.
The survey was conducted in 49 states, where 15 of them hadn’t legalized medical Marijuana. However, 14 of them, Florida being among them, consider Parkinson’s disease to be among the qualifying conditions. Participants were 71 years of age on average, with the duration of illness being slightly beyond seven years. In the states, about 25% of the respondents reported Marijuana use in the last six months, while 20% admitted to using Marijuana during the study. In contrast, of the entire United States population of people aged 65 and above, only 2% use Marijuana.
Reasons For The Use of Marijuana By Parkinson’s Patients
From the Parkinson’s disease and Marijuana study, about two-thirds reported using Marijuana explicitly for symptom relief. The other one-third gave reasons for recreational use combined with symptom relief. Some of this study highlights include findings that:
- Tremor and stiffness were the most popular non-motor symptoms patients tried to treat.
- Approximately 30% of marijuana users experienced non-motor and motor symptoms relief, while the remaining reported lack or partial relief.
- Many cannabis users reported associated relief of Parkinson’s symptoms, including considerate or moderate improvement in pain, stiffness, sleep disorders, tremor, and anxiety severity.
- For users who reported considerable, slight, or moderate symptoms frequency improvement, over 80% experienced reductions in stiffness, anxiety, tremor, and pain frequency.
- Many Parkinson’s disease patients using cannabis reported taking prescription medications for their symptoms. Conversely, they reported a lack of adverse cannabis impacts on their usage of prescription medication.
Need For More Information On Marijuana Use By Patients
A noteworthy Parkinson’s disease & Marijuana study revealed that most patients lacked recommendations and information on marijuana use to treat Parkinson’s symptoms, including the cannabis type, dosage, and use frequency. Many patients with information got it from dispensary staff, other Parkinson’s patients, and other non-Parkinson’s disease physicians. Non-marijuana patients gave factors why they would consider using medical marijuana as a treatment regime, including:
- 75% of the respondents wanted additional supporting evidence of cannabis use.
- Encouragement from health professionals to use marijuana and its potential side effects.
- Over 60% lacked prior marijuana recommendations from licensed providers or doctors.
- About 25% of marijuana users lacked information on CBD/THC content or strain of the Marijuana.
Other Parkinson’s disease & marijuana studies like those conducted in 2016 and 2017 prove a significant gap in cannabis knowledge among users. Similarly, many clinicians admitted to lacking expertise and formal training in Marijuana as a viable Parkinson’s treatment alternative.
Future Takeaways
According to the study author’s remarks, there is a lack of research evidence and formal guidance on cannabis use as an alternative Parkinson’s disease treatment. Consequently, this results in inconsistencies in effectiveness and usefulness. There is a need for better and more patient and physician education on potential marijuana use as a Parkinson’s disease treatment inclusive of clinical trials. Get medical marijuana for Parkinson’s treatment from the Emerald Medical Center certified team. If you need further information on whether you qualify to use medical Marijuana, fill our online application for consultations form.
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