A new clinical trial from researchers at the University of São Paulo finds that cannabidiol may offer measurable relief for behavioral and psychological symptoms in older adults living with vascular dementia.

The findings, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, come from a small but carefully controlled study evaluating whether CBD can meaningfully ease agitation, mood disturbances, or other difficult symptoms commonly tied to this form of dementia.

The trial enrolled 30 participants diagnosed with vascular dementia who were experiencing significant behavioral symptoms. Researchers randomly assigned each individual to receive either 300 milligrams of CBD per day or a placebo for four weeks. They then tracked changes using standard psychiatric and behavioral assessments, including the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.

Those given CBD showed a notable reduction in symptom severity on both measures, with statistical analyses confirming that the improvements were unlikely due to chance. The treatment did not appear to worsen cognition or daily functioning, and side effects were mild and comparable to the placebo group.

According to the research team, the results suggest CBD may offer a well-tolerated approach for addressing challenging behavioral symptoms in vascular dementia. They emphasize, however, that larger studies with longer treatment periods are still needed to determine optimal dosing and to confirm the benefits observed in this initial trial.

The study concludes:

CBD was well tolerated and effectively reduced BPSD in VaD without cognitive or functional impairment. These findings warrant further trials with larger samples, extended durations, and dose-optimization strategies to confirm its therapeutic potential. This study was registered at the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (ReBEC; ID: RBR-686kmpz, available at https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-686kmpz).