Summary: | Dementia refers to a set of symptoms and signs associated with a progressive deterioration of cognitive functions that affects daily activities. Symptoms may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language, as well as changes in mood, perception, personality, or behaviour. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for about two thirds of all dementia. Other types of dementia that occur less frequently include vascular dementia, mixed dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and young onset dementia. Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common to all dementia types and may manifest as agitation, aggression, wandering, apathy, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, psychosis, and eating disorders. These behavioral symptoms of dementia present significant risks of injury to the patients and caregivers, reduce quality of life, and may cause distress or depression. The progressive course of dementia cannot be altered since there is no known cure or disease-modifying therapy. However, there are interventions to manage NPS, although they are based on limited and disparate evidence. The objective of this report is to summarize the evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness of medical cannabis for the treatment of dementia and the evidence-based guidelines for its use in this condition
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