Patients Suffering From Parkinson’s Disease Tries To Find Cure With Cannabis Treatment

There are around 145,000 people in the United Kingdom with Parkinson’s disease, and about half of them are observed to also be suffering from psychosis. Research which will begin next year has been organized because of this situation. Experts will study the effect of high-quality cannabidiol on psychosis brought about by Parkinson’s.

Tests will be conducted to find out what is the best dosage to be administered to patient-volunteers. Once the tests are concluded, around 120 patients will be drafted to participate in the study. Half of these patients will be given high-quality cannabidiol or CBD capsules, while the rest of them will be receiving placebos.

The researchers will then conduct brain imaging procedures and other meticulous tests to study the effects of CBD treatment. They will then compare the results of patients taking CBD capsules with patients who are on placebo.

According to the research director, Dr. Arthur Roach, a lot of questions are being asked about the CBD’s value for patients with Parkinson’s. He said that this research will put most of the questions to rest and will also help doctors determine whether CBD can alleviate the devastating symptoms of delusions and hallucinations.

The test, if researchers will be successful, can help Parkinson’s patients get access to a regulated medication instead of going for expensive and often unregulated supplements. Dr. Roach also said he is not sure if most of the supplements in the market are effective.

In the case of Professor Sagnik Bhattacharya, the lead researcher for the CBD study, he noted that present treatments for Parkinson’s-related psychosis could even aggravate the patient’s condition.

Bhattacharya said their study will examine CBD’s effect on other symptoms of Parkinson’s. This will allow scientists to examine further the compound’s potential in treating such symptoms in the future.

Researchers hope that their study will develop into large-scale clinical trials. This is the final step of the study in becoming a new method of treatment aimed to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The final guidelines of the research on medical cannabis will be out next month.