serious help for my dad?

[thNk.m0rbid]

okay, well just this morning my dad told me might go into retirement from his job cause lastnight he took work off again because he couldn't move and said he was cramping up and alot of other things.. yeah, he has Parkinson's disease.. hes had it for years, and i never really thought about it till recently he's been moving around extra slow, dragging his left leg and stuff.. he's a big time runner, used to compete in all kinds of marathons and races till he got Parkinson's.. he exercises EVERY SINGLE DAY and i have no clue how still.. i'm not gonna try to ramble alot so here's my question.. my dad only moves correctly and decent when hes medicated.. you can tell so much of a difference, but that doesn't last very long, only a couple of hours i think, then he tells me when it wears off, he feels worse then what he did before.. my question is what if he tried to smoke Marijuana??.. i've asked him before just to try it and he thinks im CRAZY, big part probably because it's illegal.. but i was thinking today maybe i should buy a bag and ask him to smoke with me when hes all stiff and all that because i've heard of Parkinson's patients who use marijuana to relieve some symptoms? i was all thinking maybe all he would have to do is toke before work every night and be just fine and marijuana pretty much saved him from going into retirement? but that's just asking too much eh? :P.. im 19 years old btw, and we live in a house with 5 kids counting me with just my dad

[jagarr]

my grandfather has parkinson's and is just a terrible disease. medicine nowadays can slow the symptoms down a good bit but as my grandfather approaches his 80s he is really starting to lose it. hes a serious army dude though, if i offered him any maryjane hed probably see it akin to me stuff flowers down the barrel of his proverbial gun, so i just take him to red lobster:D

the nice thing is that your dads meds do help him (they dont for everyone) and hopefully he has many, many good years to go!

i don't know how much the mj would help with his symptoms, and im certainly no doctor, but i dont see how it could hurt him either =p its a universal mellow-outer so it might be effective with the tremors. granny would be a great person to ask, as she seems to know everything.:D goodluck!

[cannabis campbell]

Well I dont know how weed would effect him seeing as he has that but I think the best thing to do to be honest would be to go and check first with a doctor, for all you know it COULD make it worse and you dont want to do that.

P.S: This thread should be moved to Medical Cannabis And Health.

[beachguy in thongs]

An anonymous questionnaire sent to all patients attending the Prague Movement Disorder Centre revealed that 25% of 339 respondents had taken cannabis and 45.9% of these described some form of benefit.
Mov Disord. 2004 Sep;19(9):1102-6.

[thNk.m0rbid]

yeah i was thinking it would make it worse too! but i never heard of marijuana making anything worse.. it would chill him out ALOT more then how he is now, he's always in a pissed off mood.. yelling and stuff :S.. too many kids for just him to handle i guess, my dads 53

[cannabis campbell]

Yeah but still nevertheless its good just to get a doctors opinion first he might have a bad reaction from it, some people do.

[SparkSomeChange]

My uncle has had parkinsons disease since I can remember, and i'm 19 now. Ive thought about this, but ive never gotten the erge to approach him, or ask any of my relatives about it. I know the horrible things parkinsons can do to the body, and trust me I feel for you. If it could definatly help, theres no question in my mind that id try to help him any way possible.

[Nailhead]

You should always talk to your doctor about any medications you are thinking about taking, always be honest and upfront with your lifestyle. I found these links I found with a quick Google search a little interesting. I would do a little more research on the subject, print out any professional studies you find, and present them to him and also ask him to talk to his doctor about any possible side effects.

Link 1 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/303438.stm)

Link 2 (http://cannabismd.org/news/parkinsons.php)

Link 3 (http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/medical/challenges/litigators/medical/conditions/movement.cfm)
Movement Disorders

Movement disorders are a group of neurological conditions caused by abnormalities in the basal ganglia and their subcortical connections through the thalamus with cortical motor areas. The abundance of CB1 receptors in basal ganglia and reports of animal studies showing the involvement of cannabinoids in the control of movement suggest that cannabinoids would be useful in treating movement disorders in humans. The movement disorders most often considered for marijuana or cannabinoid therapy are dystonia, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Tourette's syndrome. Movement disorders are often transiently exacerbated by stress and activity and improved by factors that reduce stress. This is of particular interest because for many people marijuana reduces anxiety.

[Storm Crow]

There's more in the link below. - Granny

Marijuana Compounds May Aid Parkinson's Disease
cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Compounds May Aid Parkinson's Disease (http://cannabisnews.com/news/19/thread19725.shtml)

Marijuana-Like Chemicals Helps Treat Parkinson's
cannabisnews.com: Marijuana-Like Chemicals Helps Treat Parkinson's (http://cannabisnews.com/news/22/thread22608.shtml)

Cannabis use in Parkinson's disease: subjective improvement of motor symptoms.
Clinical Studies and Case Reports (http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/ww_en_db_study_show.php?s_id=33)

Cannabinoids reduce levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease
Clinical Studies and Case Reports (http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/ww_en_db_study_show.php?s_id=54)