Guidebook | Page 28

CBD: SOME ANSWERS( continued)

Are there experimental treatments for CBD?
Not so far, but there are experimental trials for PSP, and the two diseases are very similar at the molecular level. As far as we can tell at this point, anything that helps PSP could also help CBD. So it’ s a good idea to keep an eye on new developments in PSP. One problem in mounting drug trials in CBD is that there are so few patients in any one place that many sites would have to be recruited and coordinated( and paid) to have a proper trial.
Another problem is that about half of the patients who have the outward corticobasal syndrome actually have corticobasal degeneration, so any benefit of a drug could be diluted by the non-CBD patients in the trial, creating a false-negative result. Furthermore, any positive result in such a trial could be explained by an effect in some of the non-CBD patients, a messy result that would not satisfy most researchers, drug companies, or the FDA.
How long do people with CBD live?
Most people with CBD encounter life-threatening complications between five and ten years after the first symptoms appear. However, some live much longer. Survival is enhanced by dedicated caregiver support, professional nursing care as needed in the more advanced stages, maintaining general health, and, perhaps most important, by an optimistic and hopeful attitude of the patient and family.
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