Perhaps one of the things that are the most terrifying age-related issues is the thought of losing our minds and our memory. When we lose the memories of our lifetime, it’s as if we’ve died yet still remain breathing. Indeed, it is worrisome to become a burden to our families as well. This is perhaps what has people turning to hemp CBD oil and inquiring about CBD oil and dementia.
Hemp CBD oil is simply CBD oil that has been extracted from hemp, making it low in THC and legal. It doesn’t cause you to feel high or to be rendered unable to drive or work. CBD oil and dementia is receiving a lot of focus because CBD has been determined to be a neuroprotectant. We’ll explain what this means and how it may impact those with dementia.
Many people turn to CBD because it can be used without a prescription, isn’t addictive, and remains a natural choice that seemingly has little to no negative sife-effects. If you are on other medications you should definitely discuss using CBD oil with your doctor. Very few interactions with other medications exist but it is a blood thinner, so you should let your doctor know if you plan to use CBD oil with your current medications.
Dementia – A Terrifying Prospect
There are 7 stages of dementia. The first stage has no symptoms and is undetectable at this point. There is, as yet, no way to test early on if someone has dementia. If anyone in your family has suffered from it, you are more at risk, however.
Stage 2 – Very mild memory loss. This is often seen as normal aging issues like forgetting where the car keys are, losing your eyeglasses, etc.
Stage 3 – In this phase patients will begin to forget things like cleaning the house, paying bills and more serious issues that can impact their credit, getting utilities turned off, and even forgetting agreeing to go out to lunch and being completely surprised when someone shows up to get them for a lunch date.
Stage 4 – This is the point when dementia can be diagnosed. Cognitive decline can include a lack of ability to solve basic problems, do basic math, remember how to write checks, forget their way to places they’ve been to a thousand times, etc. In this phase, patients may become agitated when questioned and be very argumentative over memory issues, refusing to admit there is an issue.
Stage 5 – This is considered mid-stage dementia and patients may need help with daily tasks such as eating, cooking, bathing and more. People need to be supervised more, will leave ovens on and potentially do dangerous things out of forgetfulness.
Stage 6 – This stage brings loss of memories. People may begin to forget their own lives, faces of loved ones, who they are, where they are from, etc.
Stage 7 – End-stage dementia is devastating. Time means nothing and many patients lose their ability to even speak. Walking, toileting and most activities will need to be assisted at this point.
The total time to move through all the stages can take from 4 to 20 years. Sadly most patients succumb to dementia and pass away in less than 8 years. It depends on the patient. There is no cure for dementia but CBD has shown great promise at slowing it down.
CBD For Dementia
CBD is a neural protectant. When it enters the body, it travels through the neural pathways and coats them with a protective armor that prevents them from being destroyed. Dementia and Alzheimer’s are both devastating to the myelin that lines the neural pathways.
CBD protects this myelin and helps to ward off the devastation for much longer than if left alone. Patients compared side by side, some taking CBD and some not proved that those on CBD were able to slow the progression of the disease and mental degradation.
Dementia patients can sometimes become aggressive as well. It appears to be something that is common and patients have little to no control over this aggression. CBD can help balance moods and help to bring some balance to have fewer of these angry outbursts. This helps family members who are trying to care for those with dementia at home.
In fact, the help with mood swings and depression is likely the most positive impact that CBD has on dementia. It’s difficult to care for someone when they are angry with you. Feeding someone who is combative, for example, is impossible. CBD has helped many people to remain at home for far longer, keeping families whole for as long as possible.
CBD has the most impact when it is taken prior to a diagnosis. This means that people who have taken CBD as a supplement to their diet are able to prevent the symptoms for far longer. Once the disease begins to progress, it is harder to slow it down and certainly more difficult for families to prevent the ultimate move of their loved one into nursing home facilities with dedicated dementia wards.
It is tragic to watch those you love slowly fade away into a world inside their minds. They may hallucinate, have mood swings, angry outbursts, and seem completely out of touch with reality. They slowly lose their minds and you are unable to do much but watch. It’s a cruel, heartbreaking disease.
Using CBD while you are still healthy may potentially help prevent the disease from gaining this type of grip and it certainly doesn’t cause any harm. Many people turn to CBD when they have a family history of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Since there are many benefits to using CBD, it may serve many purposes and a happy bonus might be retaining your memories and mental faculties for far longer than you may have without it.
Far more research needs to be done to find out what impact CBD has precisely. For now, it seems to help the moods and we will likely know more about the full benefits over the next few years as scientists continue to ask questions and seek answers.
