By Pat Anson, PNN Editor
People use cannabis for a variety of reasons. Some use it to relieve pain. Others use it to help them sleep, improve their appetite, or reduce anxiety and stress. Still others use cannabis because it makes them feel good.
A new study suggests there’s another unexpected benefit from consuming cannabis, especially when it’s used recreationally: It may help middle-aged adults ward of dementia.
Researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University looked at health survey data that assessed the subjective cognitive decline (SCD) of over 4,700 U.S. adults between the ages of 45 and 64. Memory loss and confusion are symptoms of SCD, which is considered an early sign of dementia.
To their surprise, researchers found that participants who only used cannabis recreationally had significantly lower risk of SCD – as much as 96% less risk compared to non-users. Those who used cannabis for medical reasons or combined it with recreational use also had lower odds of SCD, but the difference was not statistically significant.
“We found that non-medical cannabis use was significantly associated with reduced odds of SCD in comparison to non-users. Several factors might explain this observation. Non-medical use of cannabis often contains THC, which has a psychoactive component that creates the ‘high’ sensation. Whereas CBD is non-psychoactive and often used for anxiety and chronic pain management,” the SUNY research team recently reported in the journal Current Alzheimer Research.