Our parents and grandparents, virtually everyone over 65, are among the most vulnerable in the population. Is cannabis used by seniors an option for alleviating aging problems?
Their age alone makes them susceptible to so many diseases and conditions because it's just part of growing old. Things older people deal with can range from seemingly harmless insomnia and back pain, but there are also more and more people who have become dependent on medications for chronic pain, kidney disease, Alzheimer's and many other conditions.
Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more of them are looking for safer ways to use medications to manage a wide variety of health problems. A recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that cannabis by seniors and cannabis use among the over-65s continues to steadily increase. In particular, they discovered that consumption among this target group increased in the past year from 2,4% to 4,2% in the years 2015 to 2018.
We expect these numbers to only continue to rise as more older people are educated about the tremendous use and health benefits of cannabis by seniors for their circumstances.
Here's what the latest research has to say about the benefits of cannabis for seniors:
Cannabis use linked to reduced hypertension in elderly patients
Data recently released earlier this month in the European Journal of Internal Medicine published, showed that elderly subjects with hypertension responded well to cannabis treatment. The data is derived from the results of a study conducted by researchers affiliated with Ben-Gurion University in Israel.
For the trial, they analyzed the effects of cannabis on 26 elderly patients with an average age of 70 years over a three-month period. The participants were asked to consume cannabis through smoking or orally, after which the researchers took note of the results after various tests, including EKG, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurement, anthropometric measurements and blood tests. They found that the biggest improvements they saw were in the 24-hour blood pressure tests after 90 days.
"Three months of treatment with cannabis by seniors has been associated with a reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as heart rate," the researchers write. In addition, the patients did not show any symptoms of cardiac arrhythmias during the trial.
“Older adults are the fastest growing group of medical cannabis users, but there is little evidence of cardiovascular safety for this population. This study is part of our ongoing effort to conduct clinical research on the actual physiological effects of cannabis over time, ”said Dr. Ran Abuhasira, one of the authors of the study.
Long-term use of cannabis has not been associated with cognitive differences
Another recent study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review revealed that older adults who use cannabis for a long time to treat chronic pain showed no differences in cognitive performance.
The study, the findings of which were published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, involved analyzing the cognitive performance of 63 elderly participants with an average age of 61 years, and compared it with 62 control subjects who were not cannabis users. They used cognitive tests such as reaction time, memory recall and their ability to absorb new information, as well as other performance benchmarks.
The researchers found "no significant differences in cognitive function" between each group.
“In this sample of subjects with neuropathic pain, no significant differences in cognitive performance were found between non-medicinal cannabis licensed and licensed patients, and the evidence for the lack of an association was stable and moderate.
In addition, no significant associations were found between different aspects of medicinal cannabis use patterns, including THC/CBD concentration, frequency and duration of use, dosage and duration of abstinence with cognitive performance. In addition, both medical cannabis licensed and unlicensed patients performed relatively similarly to a standardized population without chronic pain. †
“Greater acceptance of public opinion and policies regarding cannabis use, in addition to a longer life expectancy, is expected to lead to an increasing number of middle and old people who use cannabis for a long time. This is partly due to the growing evidence showing the efficacy of cannabis use for multiple health conditions that are also common in older individuals, the lack of adverse effects on the brain, the relief of chronic pain individuals over the age of 50 and other health benefits. ”, One concludes.
Always cannabis by seniors to deal with their aging ailments
Uit Info released in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, it found that 15% of seniors have admitted to using cannabis for therapeutic purposes in the past three years.
The data comes from a poll conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who surveyed 568 respondents at a Southern California geriatric clinic. All participants were at least 65 years old, while 73% of them were over 75 years old. Of those surveyed, 15% said they had used cannabis or CBD in the past three years, while more than half of the respondents said they consume cannabis products on a daily or weekly basis. Meanwhile, 78% of them said the use was medical in nature, usually to improve their pain, anxiety or sleep.
It was also interesting that many of these users said they started using cannabis in their golden years, but less than half of all older respondents said they spoke to their healthcare provider about their cannabis use first.
“Unsurprisingly, an increasing percentage of seniors consider cannabis in their later years as a viable therapeutic option. Many seniors struggle with pain, anxiety, restless sleep and other conditions for which cannabis products can help. In addition, many seniors are well aware of the litany of serious adverse side effects associated with available prescription drugs, such as opioids or hypnotics, and see medical cannabis as a practical and potentially safer alternative ”.
Sources include McKnight (EN), PainNewsNetwork (EN), TheFreshToast(EN)
