Study: Cannabidiol Mitigates Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

Study: Cannabidiol Mitigates Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

By Paul Armentano, NORML

The administration of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychotropic cannabinoid, controls sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to a series of case summaries published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.

An international team of investigators from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and the University of Minnesota Medical School reported on the ingestion of CBD by four Parkinson’s disease patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) – a condition characterized by nightmares and active behavior during dreaming.

Daily cannabidiol treatment reduced symptoms in each of the four subjects, researchers reported. Symptoms returned with the same frequency and intensity following subjects’ discontinuation of the cannabinoid.

“[T]his case series indicates that CBD is able to control the symptoms of RBD,” authors concluded. “Further research is necessary to confirm the possibly beneficial effects of CBD in the treatment of RBD in patients with PD. Furthermore, the enrolment of patients with idiopathic RBD in clinical trials with CBD is desirable as it would enable the investigation of the effects of the drug both on the symptoms of the disorder and as a neuroprotective agent.”

Observational trial data published March in the journal Clinical Neuropharmacology reported that inhaled cannabis was associated with “significant improvement” in the mitigation of tremor, rigidity, and bradykinsea (slowness of movement) in subjects with Parkinson’s disease.