Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. It is a progressive and fatal disease with no effective treatment. Preclinical animal models of Alzheimer’s disease suggest a role for the endocannabinoid system in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. A limited number of short-term clinical studies have demonstrated improvement in some clinical manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease, such as agitation, insomnia, and disruptive behaviors. However, the potential for acute side effects and adverse cognitive effects of chronic cannabis use should be monitored when using medical cannabis in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (Health Canada, 2018). 

Dosing of medical cannabis in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia has not been adequately studied. Due to increased potential for adverse reactions related to age and other factors, use of high doses of chemotype I cannabis or THC-predominant medical cannabis should probably be avoided, and starting oral or sublingual doses of THC should be relatively low (<2.5mg/dose) (Shelef et al., 2016).