Study: CBD Drops Safe and Effective in Treating Behavioral Symptoms in Patients with Dementia

Macedonia, Greece: The administration of a CBD tincture is associated with symptomatic improvements in patients with dementia, according to data published in the journal Clinical Gerontologist.

Investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of a three percent CBD tincture in a cohort of 20 dementia patients with severe behavioral and psychological symptoms. Ten of the patients received CBD treatment for six months, while the other ten received traditional therapies.

They reported: "The follow-up assessment … showed significant improvement of BPSD [behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia] in all our patients who received CBD, and no or limited improvement in the second group, regardless of the underlying neuropathology of dementia."

Researchers concluded: "We suggest that CBD may be a more effective and safe choice for managing BPSD than the typical intervention. … Healthcare professionals should consider incorporating [it] into their practices to reduce BPSD in PwD [people with dementia]. … Future large randomized clinical trials are needed to re-assure these findings."

The findings are consistent with those of several prior studies concluding that the administration of CBD-dominant cannabis plant extracts reduces agitation and provides other behavioral improvements in dementia patients.

Full text of the study, "The effect of cannabidiol 3% on neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia – Six-month follow up," appears in Clinical Gerontologist.