Photo Credit: Jeremiah Vandermeer for Cannabis Culture via Flickr
Does the use of medical cannabis impair cognitive function among the elderly population?
A new study undertaken at the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa found that cognitive function (in areas such as concentration, memory, and learning abilities) of elderly patients receiving medical cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain is no different from that of patients not receiving medical cannabis treatment.
“A growing number of elderly people have been using cannabis in recent years to treat pain. Our study is a first step toward a more accurate evaluation of the risk-benefit balance concerning the use of cannabis among this population,” explain Dr. Sharon Sznitman and Dr. Galit Weinstein, two of the authors of the study.
Chronic pain affects between 19% and 37% of the elderly population worldwide. Increasingly more patients and medical professionals…