Dementia is a condition that alters your thinking and memory, making it almost impossible to perform daily tasks. Different things from drug abuse to degenerative neurological diseases can cause dementia, which makes it even harder to treat it. Although various medications can help with treating dementia, most of them cause side effects.
One alternative that most dementia patients are willing to try nowadays is medical marijuana. Cannabis has proved its efficacy in treating many diseases, which is why most aging parents are eager to try it.
The good thing is that marijuana products are available at many places. You can buy them in physical or online stores. Canadian users can get some of the best marijuana Canada has to offer from reputable dealers.
In this article, we look at the different dementia symptoms that cannabis can help treat. They include:
- Memory Loss
Most aging people experience memory loss. The memory loss can be more severe if you have dementia since it also affects the brain. People with Dementia experiencing memory loss go through a hard time because they can forget what they are doing in the middle of an act like cooking or driving. Therefore, this condition doesn’t affect their health; it exposes them to other risks as well.
Research shows that using marijuana regularly and responsibly can reduce memory loss. The compounds in cannabis allow you to repair cognition hence minimizing the chances of losing your memory more often. Proper marijuana use can also boost the ability to learn new tasks and perform duties smoothly and more effectively. However, scientists are yet to research more to determine how much an aging person should use to avoid any side effects.
- Depression
Depression is a major and common dementia symptom, especially in seniors. This depression might be a side effect of current medication, fatigue, or even social isolation. Luckily, you can use cannabis to help lower depression.
The brain produces endocannabinoids, which are chemicals that play a significant role in how you feel, behave, and remember things. Since dementia affects the brain, it can tamper with how it produces endocannabinoids. Having fewer endocannabinoids can be dangerous since it might cause depression. Marijuana contains these chemicals too. Therefore, using cannabis supplies more endocannabinoids in the brain, thus helping you reduce depression effectively.
- Anxiety
Anxiety is common in people with dementia, and it makes one feel worried and restless. Considering that it can be hard to find out you are suffering from anxiety, it can develop to become severe, making you uncomfortable.
A recent study shows that taking cannabis allows you to relax and avoid overthinking, thus helping you minimize the anxiety. Using cannabis will enable you to manage stress and still prevent any long-term side effects. One can also consume CBD edibles to reap in the benefits. Go online and surf the net for what are the best CBD edibles for anxiety?. You will find multiple sites explaining about reviews, flavor, effect, and pricing of various CBD edibles.
- Behavioral Problems
Most aging parents with dementia develop behavioral problems with time, which can sometimes make it hard for you or caregivers to provide the help they need. Some of the most common behavioral issues that you might notice include:
- Verbal abuse
- Acting out physically
- Following you, in the house, all day hence interfering with your privacy
- Getting angry a lot
These issues are just among the many behavioral problems that dementia can cause. A recent study involving some dementia patients shows that using marijuana regularly can help you to reduce behavioral problems by up to 40%. This study also indicates that using cannabis made it easy for caregivers to help dementia patients since they were behaving better.
Additionally, proper marijuana consumption also helped these dementia patients to reduce their consumption of other medications that gave them severe side effects. Therefore, using cannabis will help to minimize behavioral problems more effectively and safely, thus make the recovery journey easier.
The Best Ways to Use Marijuana for Dementia
How should I consume CBD? Once you find out that medical marijuana can help with your condition, then probably this is the first question that you ask. Well, here are some of the best ways to do it to ensure maximum benefits:
- Smoking
To smoke marijuana, you can roll it into joints or smoke it in a pipe if you want to filter the smoke more. If you don’t have a rolling paper to make the joint, then you can use fashion bongs and corn cobs to improvise a joint or pipe easily.
- Vaping
Vaporization is a modern method of CBD consumption, and it mostly involves heating the cannabis. Doing that produces vapors that you can inhale and get the effects. This method is excellent if you don’t like smoking.
- Oral Consumption
You can also find cannabis in stuff like cookies, ice cream, gummies, and even lollipops. The best thing about edibles is that their effects last longer as compared to smoking or vaping.
Conclusion
Medical marijuana can help aging parents to manage dementia by treating the conditions mentioned in this guide. So, getting products from reputable sellers can help alleviate the effects of dementia in your aging parents.
However, make sure that you seek advice from marijuana experts to know which strain is the best for a particular condition. Consulting with a doctor can also help to determine the dosage that the aging parent should use. That way, he/she can avoid any possible side effects and get the best results.