Medical Marijuana and Parkinson’s Disease: Is It Safe?

As more states have signed up to legalize medical cannabis, patients have increasingly been exploring it as a way to treat their Parkinson’s symptoms. Interest in using marijuana to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease has grown in recent years as 33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized it for medical use. Although the federal government has not approved medical marijuana itself, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized some therapies that use specific marijuana components. the FDA has given it’s okay for the THC-based drugs Marinol (dronabinol) and Cesamet (nabilone) to ease nausea during cancer treatment and stimulate appetite. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is an active component in cannabis known to effect mood, behavior, and thinking. The FDA has also greenlighted the use of CBD (cannabidiol) in a medication for childhood epilepsy called Epidiolex. CBD differs from THC in that it does not produce mind-altering effects. Known as cannabinoids , CBD and THC act on cannabinoid receptors in the brain that regulate body functions and have been shown to play a role in Parkinson’s , according to an article published in 2017 in the journal Cannibis and Cannabinoid Research . Still, the federal government has yet sign off on any marijuana-based formulas that might help the symptoms of this neurological disorder. Should I Use Medical Marijuana if I Have Parkinson’s? As more states have signed up to legalize medical cannabis, patients have increasingly been exploring it as a way to treat their Parkinson’s symptoms. Some who may have found standard drugs to be insufficient turn to marijuana to help sleep, lower anxiety, or reduce tremors, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation . Robert Duarte, MD , director of Northwell Health’s Pain Center in Great Neck, New York, treats several patients with Parkinson’s who have tried medical […]

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