{"id":86541,"date":"2026-08-05T07:45:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/combining-thc-and-cbd-from-marijuana-can-improve-dementia-patients-quality-of-life-study-shows\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T19:46:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T03:46:47","slug":"combining-thc-and-cbd-from-marijuana-can-improve-dementia-patients-quality-of-life-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/combining-thc-and-cbd-from-marijuana-can-improve-dementia-patients-quality-of-life-study-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Combining THC And CBD From Marijuana Can Improve Dementia Patients\u2019 Quality Of Life, Study Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were awake, alert, more comfortable and less agitated, and this led to significant improvement in the caregiving quality of life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sarah Ladd, Kentucky Lantern<\/strong><\/p>\n

New research\u2014which Kentucky participated in as a trial site\u2014shows a combination of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can help late-stage dementia patients<\/a> feel less agitation.<\/p>\n

Dr. Greg Jicha, the director of clinical trials at the University of Kentucky\u2019s\u00a0Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, said this combination, given to patients all over the state who participated in trials, lowered agitation scores by eight points, a \u201cstriking\u201d reduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0research really move towards the\u00a0early stages\u00a0in terms of\u00a0prevention, and that\u2019s really left a huge hole in the field where we have limited options to provide quality of life, dignity and respect for those that are in the later stages of disease,\u201d Jicha said during a Tuesday morning virtual press conference. \u201cWe have very few medications that we can use for patients that may be agitated and\/or have other neuropsychiatric symptoms, and these can be quite disruptive, especially for our families in our area who choose to care for their loved one at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kentucky has a medical cannabis program<\/a>, approved by the legislature in 2023, which allows patients experiencing a range of chronic distress to get medical marijuana prescriptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNotably, however, dementia is not listed,\u201d Jicha said.<\/p>\n

Dementia is a \u201cmajor leading cause of death,\u201d he said, and \u201cthe data that we have out there do suggest that the majority of folks that are in hospice are suffering from some sort of dementia, whether they\u2019re in hospice for the dementia itself, or for a related condition, or just other conditions that may be unrelated, such as cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it was an oversight to not include dementia specifically in our state statute,\u201d Jicha said.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease, which falls under the umbrella of dementia, is characterized by memory loss and is incurable. Treatments exist, though, including Lecanemab (brand name Leqembi), which underwent clinical trials at the University of Kentucky. This is an antibody that targets\u2014and in some cases, removes\u2014amyloid plaques from the brain, and has shown some success in slowing cognitive decline.<\/p>\n

According to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, patients experiencing agitation who have also lost \u201ctheir ability to communicate effectively\u201d\u00a0may express their feelings\u00a0by throwing things, moaning or groaning, repeating phrases, pacing and more.<\/p>\n

Treating this agitation can better their quality of life\u2014and that of their caregivers and loved ones, Jicha said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn essence, they were awake, alert, more comfortable and less agitated, and this led to significant improvement in the caregiving quality of life that was also measured in the study as an ancillary outcome measure,\u201d Jicha said.<\/p>\n

Because of the nature of the patient population being studied, UK researchers \u201cwent mobile,\u201d Jicha said, and drove to participants\u2019 homes. All participants in the study were eligible for hospice; most were cared for inside their homes and many of them were bed bound. The cannabis and THC treatment was given to patients in oil form in the mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is an important study for folks to understand and to hear about, and to know that we\u2019ve not forsaken their loved ones in the later stages of disease,\u201d Jicha said, \u201cnor have we forsaken the family members and caregivers that take on this tremendous task of love and commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Kentucky Lantern.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The post Combining THC And CBD From Marijuana Can Improve Dementia Patients\u2019 Quality Of Life, Study Shows<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Combining THC And CBD From Marijuana Can Improve Dementia Patients\u2019 Quality Of Life, Study Shows<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey were awake, alert, more comfortable and less agitated, and this led to significant improvement in the caregiving quality of life.\u201d By Sarah Ladd, Kentucky Lantern New research\u2014which Kentucky participated in as a trial site\u2014shows a combination of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can help late-stage dementia patients feel lessContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86541"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86542,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86541\/revisions\/86542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}