Canadian researchers are presenting some encouraging early data on a new way of helping to calm agitated patients with Alzheimerâs, using a man-made form of cannabis called nabilone.
About half of patients with advancing Alzheimerâs can become angry, restless and verbally or physically abusive. These behaviours are often the major reason patients are sent to hospital, or institutionalized.
Current treatments for agitation, usually anti-psychotic drugs, have only modest effects and come with a host of side effects, including a higher risk of strokes, falls and death, says Krista Lanctot, principal investigator and senior scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Her team decided to test the synthetic cannabis in 33 patients with moderate to severe Alzheimerâs who had marked agitation over a 14-week trial. Presenting the data at the Alzheimerâs Association international conference on Tuesday, the Canadians report that while patients were on the nabilone:
- Agitation improved significantly compared to placebo;
- Overall behavioral symptoms improved, compared to placebo.
âThey wouldnât strike out, they wouldnât get stiff. They were easier to examine and were calmer and more comfortable,â said Dr. Nathan Herrmann, a psychiatrist and scientist with Sunnybrook and the University of Toronto.
Whatâs more, the synthetic cannabis had a secondary effect -- it appeared to ease stress for caregivers.
â(The caregivers) were less anxious, less worriedâŚthey felt less burdened by having to look after the patient,â said Herrmann.
The study was partly funded by the Alzheimerâs Society of Canada to take treatments in a new direction, given that most other experimental therapies for Alzheimerâs symptoms have failed.
Nalini Sen, a research director with the society, said itâs something thatâs never been done before.
âIt is very exciting and out of the box,â she said.
Researchers say they are planning a larger study with more patients, a process they say could take three more years.
The scientists admit that since nabilone is already approved for use in cancer treatment to ease nausea, some doctors will want to try it out on patients sooner. But they say they have not yet confirmed the correct dose, and a way to minimize the sedation that happened to some patients.
In the interim, marijuana is not approved in Canada or the U.S. for the treatment or management of Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.
And doctors warn the study results are not a green light for raw marijuana use.
âI donât want anybody to get the idea that this is an endorsement of the use of marijuana. This is a synthetic drug, itâs very different. We have no idea what marijuana would do for patients with dementia, said Herrmann.