World Alzheimer's Day

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day. Did you know…

• Nearly 750,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia

• Every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease

• ⅔ of those diagnosed are women

• A woman in her sixties is twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in her lifetime than breast cancer

• After 60, a woman has a 1 in 5 chance of developing Alzheimer’s

These are alarming stats - but did you also know that healthy habits (think diet, exercise and lifestyle changes) can prevent or slow the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease? 

Alzheimer’s doesn’t have to be a natural part of aging. Over the next few days we’ll be sharing some top tips from some Alzheimer’s experts around the world to help you feel empowered. 

September marks World Alzheimer's Month

September marks World Alzheimer’s Month and this year, the Alzheimer’s community is facing more significant challenges than ever. 

Nearly 750,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Due to the significant and prolonged changes brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, many patients are experiencing increases in symptoms including increased agitation, depression, insomnia and aggressive, and sometimes violent, behaviours.

Current pharmaceutical therapies, including antipsychotic medications, may provide some reduction in behavioural symptoms but carry an increased risk of severe side-effects including stroke and death. As a result, many families are proactively asking for safer alternatives.

There is a growing body of evidence for the use of cannabinoid-based medicines in the treatment of dementia-related symptoms and clinically, we’ve been seeing some outstanding outcomes since beginning therapy. I hope you’ll have a quick watch of this video to learn more.

Medical cannabis study for spinal injury pain wins NSW Health funding

Encouraging news coming out of the University of Sydney in Australia. Researchers at the University’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics have just been awarded 1.7 million to research the severe chronic pain that commonly occurs after spinal cord injury.

Why this matters: Current treatments for chronic pain caused by spinal injury can cause side effects almost as debilitating as the pain it is treating. For the very first time, researchers will investigate the effects of CBD on brain function in chronic pain and the relationship between changes in pain and brain structure and function associated with CBD.

The impact of this could be very wide reaching: “While there are some studies showing that CBD can reduce pain in other chronic conditions, no one fully understands how it works to reduce pain. Our study can help tease this out,” said researcher, Professor Luke Henderson.

Full article available here.

Patient Testimonial - Jim | Chronic Pain

“I tried a little bit...and there’s just no looking back. It was probably one of the smartest things I ever did.” -- Jim

I’d like to introduce you to another one of my amazing patients who was kind enough to share his story to help educate others about the role cannabinoid therapy can play in managing chronic pain.

When Jim was referred to me, his pain was so severe that he wasn’t comfortable doing anything. Even sitting for a period of time was painful, so needless to say his quality of life was significantly affected. 

Cannabinoid therapy has been the only treatment that has made a difference in managing his chronic, severe pain.