In the United States, many senior care centers are grappling with whether to allow patients to use cannabis medications on their premises. Some have opted for tolerance, under controlled conditions, while others have remained intransigent, citing potential loss of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.\u00a0But few appear to be considering the ground-breaking research in California that appears to substantiate the claims of aging patients that cannabis can be effective in preventing dementia.<\/p>\n
In a preliminary study<\/a> issued by the\u00a0Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/a>\u00a0in La Jolla, scientists grew nerve cells taken from a human brain to study factors that influence levels of a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The protein, known as amyloid beta, builds up within neurons, inflaming and eventually killing them. His team exposed the neurons to cannabis \u2014 finding that it cleared away the protein, reduced inflammation and allowed the brain cells to survive.<\/p>\n While the findings won precious little media attention, the medical profession began to take note. \u201cIt\u2019s a very important discovery,\u201d Dr. Michael Weiner, who conducts Alzheimer\u2019s research at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, told San Francisco\u2019s\u00a0KPIX<\/a>\u00a0in their story on the growing number of aging medical users in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n The KPIX account profiled some Bay Area seniors who report dramatic improvement \u2014mostly under administration of extracts containing the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD<\/a>. Lucy Hanson, 92, called the preparation her \u201chappy pill.\u201d Four years ago, she was psychologically withdrawing, frequently falling and becoming incoherent, so she was diagnosed with advanced dementia. Under CBD treatment, she has regained mental clarity and re-connected with her family.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels as if I\u2019ve been given back a life,\u201d she told KPIX.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Eloise Theisen, a geriatric nurse-practitioner with\u00a0Green Health Consultants<\/a>\u00a0who oversees cannabis treatments for several patients around the Bay Area, weaned Hanson off pharmaceuticals she had been taking in favor of the orally administered CBD concentrate. \u201cI think Lucy\u2019s had one of the most dramatic responses with cannabis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Also quoted in the report was Basil Shaaban, who said he saw an \u201covernight miracle\u201d after his mother Tagrid began using CBD to treat her early-onset Alzheimer\u2019s. After bad experiences with anti-psychotic drugs intended to calm her, the family decided to try a CBD preparation. Basil said his mother\u2019s personality returned, and her agitation and insomnia evaporated.<\/p>\n But the technical illegality of these treatments under federal law has slowed research, making for something of a catch-22.\u00a0Because of federal prohibition, government bodies like the\u00a0National Institutes of Health<\/a>\u00a0won\u2019t fund the research needed to prove that cannabinoids are effective medicine, and that the prohibition should therefore be lifted. \u201cIt\u2019s slowed it down a tremendous amount,\u201d Schubert said of federal policy\u2019s impact on his investigations.<\/p>\n The\u00a0contradictions of federal policy is well illustrated by the fact that in 2003, the U.S.\u00a0Department of Health and Human Services<\/a>\u00a0secured a patent \u2014 number\u00a06630507<\/a> \u2014 for the use of cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants, with potential efficacy against cancer and degenerative diseases. Yet just three years later, a U.S.\u00a0Food and Drug Administration\u00a0memorandum paradoxically reiterated the official position that cannabis has \u201cno medical value<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But the users are undeterred.\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t you dare take it away from me,\u201d Lucy Hanson laughed to KPIX. Her daughter Tania Hanson added: \u201cShe\u2019d be dead if we had waited for it to be carefully studied.\u201d<\/p>\n Many senior centers have embraced cannabis, such as the\u00a0Rossmoor Medical Marijuana Education and Support Club<\/a>, based in Walnut Creek, California, two dozen miles east of San Francisco.\u00a0The Rossmoor club is still going strong<\/a> \u2014 despite the rigid position of Contra Costa Country, which bans dispensaries and personal cultivation.<\/p>\n However, at other senior centers across the nation, caregivers to the elderly are caught between the desires of patients and families on one hand and federal law on the other.\u00a0Last month, Cannabis Now reported on<\/a> Joy Seligman, 94, a Parkinson\u2019s sufferer, who lives at the Aviva assisted-living campus in Sarasota, Florida. Even though she is on the Florida state registry of medical marijuana patients, Seligman was nonetheless not allowed to use cannabis in her home. Aviva actually issued a \u201cnew policy\u201d that explicitly banned medical marijuana after being petitioned to allow on-site use by Seligman\u2019s family.<\/p>\n Others are lightening up.\u00a0In 2017, the Hebrew Home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx began permitting<\/a> on-site cannabis use. While the staff will not actually administer cannabis, residents may now purchase it under New York state\u2019s official medical marijuana program, keep it in locked boxes in their rooms, and use it to self-medicate.<\/p>\n With patients and caregivers leading the way, there is more pressure each day for the federal government to get out of the way and reconcile its dogma with human needs \u2014 and science.<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/strong> do you think cannabis could help Alzheimer\u2019s?<\/p>\n The post Cannabis Treatments for Alzheimer\u2019s Blocked by Bureaucracy<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In the United States, many senior care centers are grappling with whether to allow patients to use cannabis medications on their premises. Some have opted for tolerance, under controlled conditions, while others have remained intransigent, citing potential loss of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.\u00a0But few appear to be considering theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,136,53,3492],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24583,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24582\/revisions\/24583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Cannabis Treatments for Alzheimer\u2019s Blocked by Bureaucracy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"