New Study Suggests THC and CBD Could Help Treat Agitation in Dementia Patients

A THC and CBD formulation significantly reduced agitation among patients with late-stage dementia in a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, MedicalXpress reports.

The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study (known as the LiBBY trial, for Life’s End Benefits of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabinol) included 120 hospice-eligible participants with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia who were experiencing agitation. The findings were presented July 14 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and Georgetown University.

Participants received either a placebo or an oral, rapid-acting oil suspension containing isolated THC and CBD. After two weeks, patients in the THC/CBD group showed a significantly greater reduction in mean agitation scores than the placebo group. Researchers said the improvement was sustained at 12 weeks.

A secondary analysis also found that 83.9% of patients in the THC/CBD group were rated as much less agitated after two weeks, compared to 30.5% in the placebo group. At 12 weeks, 87.2% of treatment-group participants showed improvement, compared to 23.6% of placebo participants.

“Rarely do we see close to 90% of patients in a trial respond positively to a new medication,” said Jacobo Mintzer, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina and co-lead investigator of the study.

While the findings are promising, researchers also pointed out that the treatment was a precision-formulated medical product administered under clinical supervision and may differ substantially from commercially available cannabis products.