Cannabis “has a significant effect on tics, premonitory urges and patients’ overall quality of life.”
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A new study has found that adults with Tourette syndrome (TS) may benefit from medical cannabis treatment.
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Other side effects included dry mouth, fatigue and dizziness.
Patients found the most relief in high-THC, low-CBD cannabis, and 80 per cent consumed via inhalation.
The study authors concluded that medical cannabis is effective and well-tolerated in adults with TS.
“From our data, it is suggested that [medical cannabis] might be a treatment option for resistant TS patients, and medical cannabis has a significant effect on tics, premonitory urges and patients’ overall quality of life,” the researchers wrote, adding that controlled studies are needed to further evaluate the role that cannabis can play in patients with TS.
Last year, a case report out of Europe demonstrated a dramatic reduction in severe tics in a man using Nabiximols, an oromucosal spray containing various cannabinoids.
The 25-year-old man noted an increase in motor and vocal tics after stopping his daily use of cannabis a few weeks prior.
Doctors first tried prescribing 300 mg daily of Tiapride, which blocks dopamine receptors in the brain, but it had little effect.
After three doses in 15-minute intervals of buccal Nabiximols, the man’s symptoms were reduced by up to 90 per cent. One dose of the spray includes 2.7 mg of THC and 2.5 mg of CBD
The effects lasted for about four hours and the patient did not report any side effects.
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