CBD can’t fix everything, but the non-psychoactive sibling of sorts to THC is still known for its array of potential benefits, enjoyed by consumers and medical patients alike. And we all know how much folks love THC. Now, a new study suggests that the two cannabinoids combined could be beneficial in treating Tourette syndrome.
Researchers from the University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics and Wesley Research Institute conducted a double-blind crossover trial with participants with severe Tourette syndrome. They ultimately found that treatment with THC and CBD reduced tics and maybe induced impairment due to tics, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Tourette syndrome is a nervous system condition where people experience tics. Tics are involuntary, repeat and manifest in a number of ways, including sudden twitches, movements, sounds or phrases. There is no cure for Tourette syndrome, though it is often treated with antipsychotics.
Authors note the preliminary evidence showing that the coadministration of CBD and THC improves the side-effect profile and safety when it comes to medicating people with Tourette syndrome.
For the study, participants were randomly assigned to a six-week treatment period with escalating doses of a sublingual oil containing 5 mg/ml of THC and 5 mg/ml of CBD, followed by a six-week course of placebo, or vice versa. These periods were separated by a four-week washout period. Researchers examined outcomes through the total tic score on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) along with video-based assessment of tics, global impairment, anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
The study included 22 total participants. It found a 8.9 reduction in total tic score, as measured by the YGTSS, among the active group at week six relative to the baseline, compared to 2.5 in the placebo group. Researchers also noted a significant interaction of treatment and visit number on tic score, indicating an improvement in tics under active treatment.
“There was a correlation between plasma 11-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol levels and the primary outcome, which was attenuated after exclusion of an outlier,” the study notes.
The most commonly reported adverse effect for the placebo period was headache, whereas the active treatment period saw cognitive difficulties, including slowed mentation, memory lapses and poor concentration as commonly reported adverse effects. Researchers said adverse effects were generally mild.
Researchers concluded, “In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, we found that an oral 1:1 THC:CBD formulation titrated upward over 6 weeks up to a daily dose of 20?mg of THC and 20?mg of CBD led to a significant reduction in tics as measured by the total tic score on the YGTSS, as well as a reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms and anxiety, without major adverse effects.”
While there was a far larger pool initially, the study had a more limited sample size due to driving restrictions enforced by the study. Researchers also noted that most participants were able to guess their treatment order, which may have been due to the symptomatic relief of the active agent and its adverse-effective profile.
“Although the adverse-effect profile was mild in this relatively short study, further work is necessary to identify the longer-term effects of cannabis use in Tourette syndrome, such as the possible development of tolerance to the anti-tic effect,” researchers said.
As the study references, this topic isn’t new. Researchers noted in 2013 that cannabis and cannabinoids like CBD and THC could aid in the treatment of Tourette syndrome without causing significant adverse effects. However, it appears some things never change, as they noted “definite conclusions cannot be drawn” due to the lack of longer trials with a larger number of patients.
Even so, they still suggested that treatment with THC be taken into consideration for treatment-resistant adult patients.
