Alzheimer’s Can Now be Treated with Cannabis in Minnesota

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]fficials at the Minnesota Department of Health recently announced that they will soon be adding Alzheimer’s disease to the list of qualifying illnesses for the treatment of medical cannabis.

This addition makes Alzheimer’s the 14th health condition approved since the legalization of medical cannabis in Minnesota in 2014. “Any policy decisions about cannabis are difficult due to the relative lack of published scientific evidence,” said state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “However, there is some evidence for potential benefits of medical cannabis to improve the mood, sleep and behavior of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.”

Other qualifying conditions that are already approved in Minnesota for medical cannabis treatment include cancer pain, epileptic seizures, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and autism. Minnesota will soon be joining the 12 states that allow medical cannabis either for Alzheimer’s or for related symptoms.

Dr. William Orr, a geriatric psychiatrist based in Minneapolis supported this decision and said that Alzheimer’s can make patients confused and antagonistic. Benzodiazepines and narcotics can calm these agitated patients but those drugs aren’t federally approved for the purpose and can cause severe, mood-altering side effects. A preclinical study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that very small doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can slow the production of beta-amyloid proteins—a chemical that is strongly linked to the progression of Alzheimer’s.

The study, published in 2014, is among others to support the effectiveness of THC in prohibiting the growth of toxic amyloid plaques. “I believe that advanced dementia patients with tremendous anxiety, restlessness, and pain will benefit,” he wrote. “Such patients are episodically distraught and become quickly angered and paranoid of staff trying to help them due to their confusion and inability to understand their circumstances.”

The usage of cannabis is still somewhat controversial in the medical community. But researchers confirmed  that the risks of long term cannabis consumption, which needs more research, isn’t much of a concern among the older Alzheimer’s population, with the average age of onset among them being 75.