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Efficacy and safety of Cannabinoids to relieve symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Summaries 3 min 2118

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Created On: 11/09/2023

The objective was to assess the safety and effectiveness of cannabinoids for Parkinson's disease management.

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Key take away

In Parkinson's disease, Cannabinoids have the potential to safely provide significant benefits in addressing motor symptoms as well as certain non-motor symptoms.

Background

The objective was to assess the safety and effectiveness of cannabinoids for Parkinson's disease management.

Method

In this systematic review of clinical studies, multiple reviewers performed screening, data extraction, and quality assessments, resolving any discrepancies through consensus.

Result

Screening of 673 articles was done, and 13 of them met the inclusion criteria after conducting searches in four databases. Consistent improvements were observed in motor symptoms with Nabilone (a synthetic form of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]), Cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabis when compared to placebo.

All interventions demonstrated enhancements in several non-motor symptoms, with cannabis effectively reducing pain intensity and CBD showing dose-dependent improvements in psychiatric symptoms. Adverse effects were generally minor, and CBD exhibited rare adverse effects, except at very high doses.

Conclusion

Cannabinoids demonstrate significant potential in safely treating motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease and certain non-motor symptoms. However, to determine their overall efficacy, further large-scale randomized controlled trials focusing on specific cannabinoid treatments are necessary.