This review finds no evidence that cannabinoids are effective in the improvement of disturbed behaviour in dementia or in the treatment of other symptoms of dementia .
BACKGROUND Following the discovery of an endogenous cannabinoid system and the identification of specific cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system , much work has been done to investigate the main effects of these compounds .
There is increasing evidence that the cannabinoid system may regulate neurodegenerative processes such as excessive glutamate production , oxidative stress and neuroinflammation .
Neurodegeneration is a feature common to the various types of dementia and this has led to interest in whether cannabinoids may be clinical ly useful in the treatment of people with dementia .
Recent studies have also shown that cannabinoids may have more specific effects in interrupting the pathological process in Alzheimer 's disease .
OBJECTIVES To determine from available research whether cannabinoids are clinical ly effective in the treatment of dementia .
Psychiatric symptoms and nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Two hundred ten community-dwelling patients with Alzheimer 's disease were examined prospect ively by psychiatrists as part of a longitudinal study . Twenty-five of these patients who were institutionalized during the next 3 years were then matched to 25 patients who were not institutionalized  , and the groups were compared . The patients who had been institutionalized had higher scores on st and ardized psychiatric rating scales but not on formal neuropsychological tests of cognition . These results suggest that potentially treatable ( noncognitive ) behavioral and psychiatric symptoms are risk factors for institutionalization , and that treating these symptoms might delay or prevent institutionalization of some patients
This review finds no evidence that cannabinoids are effective in the improvement of disturbed behaviour in dementia or in the treatment of other symptoms of dementia .
BACKGROUND Following the discovery of an endogenous cannabinoid system and the identification of specific cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system , much work has been done to investigate the main effects of these compounds .
There is increasing evidence that the cannabinoid system may regulate neurodegenerative processes such as excessive glutamate production , oxidative stress and neuroinflammation .
Neurodegeneration is a feature common to the various types of dementia and this has led to interest in whether cannabinoids may be clinical ly useful in the treatment of people with dementia .
Recent studies have also shown that cannabinoids may have more specific effects in interrupting the pathological process in Alzheimer 's disease .
OBJECTIVES To determine from available research whether cannabinoids are clinical ly effective in the treatment of dementia .