Products with CBD for seniors are increasingly consumed to treat various chronic condition symptoms, despite the shortage of excellent clinical research about CBD, says the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). A GSA paper has important questions regarding CBD’s safety and negative effects for older people, plus what details clinicians would need to address patient questions regarding cannabidiol.
It is thought that the increasing variety of CBD health products are less likely to have side effects. However, there is a need for further clinical guidance, said the experts who took part in a meeting that the paper summarizes.
Despite the shortage of evidence, and the possibility of adverse effects, seniors are keen on using CBD goods to ease symptoms of numerous conditions. Therefore, the paper authors find it pressing to address the present knowledge gaps regarding how safe CBD oil for seniors is through rigorous scientific research.
Clinicians face questions like what components are in CBD goods, what their possible effects are, and whether those items interact with OTC or prescription drugs. The paper authors wrote that it is not clear what evidence backs CBD’s use for pain, appetite loss, anxiety, weight loss, and depression in seniors. It is also worth considering what part healthcare service providers have to play in advising patients who are likely to perceive cannabidiol to be beyond the realm of clinicians. Those turn into more pronounced concerns regarding our aging process wrote the authors.
Seniors May Experience Adverse CBD Effects
As for the GSA, cannabidiol consumed as a federally unapproved medical item is known to be acutely impairing attention, verbal learning, memory, psychomotor function, and executive function. Anyhow, it is not yet known how the physiological changes related to aging affect older adult responses.
As for William Lynch of RowanSOM, federally unapproved CBD’s potential side effects on seniors include sleeplessness, fatigue, rash, malaise, diarrhea, infections, vomiting, and elevated liver enzymes.
Knowing those effects is vital because physicians and pharmacists might change people’s medication in the event of discovering elevated liver enzymes, said Lynch. Several CBD-drug interactions possibly cause more bleeding or clotting, hepatotoxicity, or metabolic changes that would necessitate changing standard medication doses. Cannabidiol may not be a benign product, Lynch added.
Experts are worried about the lack of FDA supervision as well as documentation about potential drug-drug interactions. Nonactive or inert components of federally unapproved CBD goods can also trigger adverse effects, said the authors.