Drugs and Aging<\/a><\/em> this month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDifferences in characteristics<\/b><\/h4>\n The research team identified \u201cseveral notable differences\u201d between older adults and the younger patients in the remaining sample.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhile the majority (65.1%) of those aged under 65 years were male, over half (52%) of those in the older age group identified as female.<\/span><\/p>\nOlder patients were also more likely to report chronic pain as their primary condition and on average were using a higher number of prescribed medications. This was balanced by a \u201csubstantially lower rate\u201d of psychiatric disorders among older individuals.<\/span><\/p>\nOn beginning treatment, older patients also reported \u201csignificantly poorer\u201d quality of life and general health but were less likely to have either used cannabis or to report using it daily.<\/span><\/p>\nPrescribing trends<\/b><\/h4>\n There were also important differences in the types of cannabis products being prescribed to younger and older individuals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAccording to the findings, those aged over 64 years received fewer cannabis-based medicinal products. They were more likely to be prescribed a CBD dominant oil and less likely to receive THC dominant flower.<\/span><\/p>\nThis is likely a combination of concern about “potential drug interactions” on behalf of clinicians and older people\u2019s “less common experience with THC”, the authors say.<\/span><\/p>\nReal-word evidence<\/h4>\n \u201cDespite these differences, there was evidence of consistent improvement across multiple measures of well-being for these individuals after initiating use of medical cannabis,” they write in the paper\u2019s discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThere were also sizable reductions in pain severity and pain interference.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAs many randomised controlled trials have excluded those aged 64 and older, the researchers highlight the importance of observational research to assess the potential effectiveness of cannabis for this age group.<\/span><\/p>\nThey added: \u201cInternational evidence that older individuals may be the fastest-growing increase in the use of medicinal cannabis, coupled with their frequent exclusion from controlled trials, indicates a growing need for real-world evidence to assess the effectiveness and safety of these drugs for older individuals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study suggests that adults aged 65 and older experience \u201cconsiderable improvements\u201d in their health and wellbeing when prescribed cannabis-based medicines. The use of medical cannabis is said to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":22589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[205,48,1276,837],"yoast_head":"\n
Older adults report \u2018considerable improvements\u2019 with cannabis<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n