Did you know that 45.8% AD patients suffer from chronic pain? However, the presence of pain is usually overlooked because the development of severe cognitive dysfunctions largely affects their ability to express the presence of pain. Pain regulation is the initial medical use of cannabinoids and many studies have reported the pain-relieving effects of cannabinoids in diverse kinds of pain, including chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and cancer pain. One recent clinical study used nabilone, a synthetic analogue of THC, in AD patients for treatment of agitation, as well as for pain relieving. Reducing these symptoms would increase quality-of-life of AD patients and reduce stress for caregivers.
