Ask The Doctor
Q. I was recently diagnosed with PD and have a tremor in both my hands. Is it safe to try cannabidiol (CBD) to try to calm this down?
A. Many patients are interested in whether medical marijuana can help their PD symptoms. You might find my recent blog about this topic to be helpful.
The question of whether it is safe for you to try CBD depends on your other medical issues, your general state of health, and the other medications that you take, so have a conversation with your neurologist about whether you should try CBD. There have been only a few small clinical trials assessing whether medical marijuana can help tremor, with conflicting results. More studies are needed in order to determine the benefit on tremor.
Q. Is there a test that a person can get to tell if they have PD? My spouse has had head tremors for years and has family members with head tremors, but also has family members with PD.
A. Head tremors are usually not a sign of PD, but rather Essential tremor. Essential tremor can be found in multiple family members. I recommend a visit to a neurologist for a full neurologic exam to look for clinical signs of Essential tremor as well as PD. In both of these conditions, the diagnosis can be made based on clinical exam alone. However, if the neurologist is not sure about the diagnosis, a test called a DaTSCAN can be ordered, which is an imaging test of the brain which has been FDA approved to distinguish between PD and Essential tremor.
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