IS CANNABINOID AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT FOR THE REDUCTION OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE SYMPTOMS? (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a highly prevalent disease worldwide, generally with a higher incidence in the population over 60 years of age. PD is classified as a neurodegenerative disease, as it begins with the wear and tear of cells in a region in the brain called the substantia nigra, which is responsible for producing dopamine that drives neurotransmitters. Current treatment is based on levodopa replacement therapy and is given by L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID). However, the pharmacological therapy of LID over the years presents uncontrollable motor movements, in addition to symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, cognitive dysfunction and pain, severely impairing the quality of life of patients. In order to minimize these effects, there was a need to enable other forms of treatment for PD, cannabinoid-based drugs (CBD) for this condition have been an alternative. The purpose of this article is to analyze whether CBD would be an effective alternative to treating Parkinson's disease. The method of analytical review of medical literature used the search for the words “cannabinoids”, “parkinson’s disease” and “treatment” on the platforms of the National Lybrary of Medicine and the Capes Periodical. The result was Inconclusive due to the scarce number of samples in the studies and the insufficient time for their observation, allowing the occurrence of a bias and compromising the studies evaluated. Therefore, although the research is promising, it is early to define the salutary effect of cannabinoids in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.