"The active ingredient in pot that gets you high can calm agitation in people with advanced Alzheimers disease a small new study suggests. Canadian researchers found that a form of synthetic THC significantly decreased agitation in a small group of Alzheimers patients working even better than the drugs now used. This is the first clinical trial to show that a cannabinoid can decrease agitation said lead researcher Krista Lanctot a senior scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto. However many study patients suffered from sedation due to the drug noted Keith Fargo director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimers Association. We would love to see this study done in a larger group of people to see if it continues to be effective in a larger group and how worried we need to be about this sedation side effect Fargo said. Agitation is a frequent symptom of advanced Alzheimers Lanctot explained. Doctors struggle to control it through offlabel use of drugs like antipsychotics and anticonvulsants. Agitated patients yell scream pace and wander she said. They also can become physically aggressive striking out at people and hurting themselves or others. Youre going to find one in five outpatients with it. But when you get to the longterm care facilities about  percent of inpatients will have agitation Lanctot said. Its actually a big treatment challenge. The drugs we have now do not work very well and theyre associated with an increase in mortality. The offlabel drugs used to treat Alzheimers are indeed a bit dodgy. For example only one person out of five to  treated with antipsychotics actually experiences a decrease in agitation Lanctot said. And for every nine to  people helped one will die. But Lanctot and her colleagues suspected that cannabinoids might help control agitation given that natural cannabinoids in the brain decrease as Alzheimers enters its advanced stages. We know cannabis has several effects that might be good for people with agitation Lanctot said. It has a calming effect. It helps with weight loss because it helps with appetite. Its also used for pain. The synthetic THC drug nabilone is approved in Canada for treating nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. It comes in capsule form. Its a milder form of TCH compared to wholeleaf marijuana Lanctot said. We hoped it wouldnt have the side effects associated with cannabis but would have the calming effects. During the clinical trial  patients with moderate to severe Alzheimers disease received nabilone for six weeks to treat their clinically significant agitation followed by six weeks with an inactive placebo. We had a significant decrease in agitation. The decrease we saw was larger than is seen with the currently used medications Lanctot said. Patients underwent significant overall improvement in their other behavioral symptoms and had small benefits in their brain function and nutrition during the study. Their caregivers also reported reduced levels of stress according to Lanctot. These benefits came with a downside though. About  percent of patients experienced sedation with nabilone compared with  percent for placebo the findings showed. Lanctot and Fargo do not recommend that relatives or friends of those with agitated Alzheimers provide them medical marijuana to ease their suffering. This trial tested a synthetic analog of THC. Its not THC and its certainly not wholeplant marijuana Fargo said. Theres virtually no data on wholeplant marijuana whether or not its effective or safe in people with Alzheimers disease. A form of synthetic THC is available in the United States called dronabinol and sold under the trade name Marinol Lanctot said. Its used as an appetite stimulant for people with AIDS and an antinausea remedy for chemotherapy patients. Marinol is now being tested for its usefulness in treating Alzheimers symptoms Lanctot said. People interested in trying it should reach out to one of the big clinical trials Johns Hopkins is one of the centers testing Marinol. We wouldnt want to change clinical practice based on one study Lanctot added. The study was to be presented Tuesday at the Alzheimers Association meeting in Chicago. Research presented at medical meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peerreviewed journal. More information The Alzheimers Society has more about cannabis and Alzheimers disease https SOURCES Krista Lanctot Ph.D. senior scientist Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center Toronto Canada Keith Fargo Ph.D. director scientific programs and outreach Alzheimers Association July   Alzheimers Association annual meeting Chicago"