Is the video of a person reducing the tremor cause by Parkinson with cannabis showed in a BBC documentary true or false?

Question

There is an episode of BBC Horizon with the title Cannabis: Miracle Medicine or Dangerous Drug?, presented by Dr Javid Abdelmoneim.

At mins 16:40 the presenter shows a youtube video of a person affected by Parkinson's visibly shaking, smoking a joint and then showing that the joint reduced the tremor. Then the doctors states that the video might be genuine, but that it does not give enough evidence that cannabis can cure Parkinson's.

I am wondering whether he put it too mildly, because the video might be a fake. While the man was holding the joint he was not shaking as much as he did in the first sequence. But that is before the joint could have an effect, why the tremor was milder in that sequence? What happened in the sequences that were not included in the documentary?

Showing the claim and simply stating that there is not enough evidence is already enough to create false expectations in at least part of the viewers. A lot of people have been tricked by vague claims not properly debunked. Therefore I would like to know whether there are elements to understand whether the video is a fake or not.

If the video turned out to be a fake there would be side question, can a doctor be tricked into thinking that the video might be genuine?

Update: I repeat that the main question here is whether the video shown in the documentary is staged or not. Not whether cannabis can cure Parkinson's.

Related: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/54430/is-this-documentatary-misrepresenting-the-risk-of-psychosis-linked-to-the-use-of — mustermax, Feb 26 '23 at 22:10
I started to edit this, but realised that there is no notable claim here. Abdelmoneim says there is NOT sufficient evidence. If you want to ask the question, find people who DO believe, but there is little point because you know the answer (as of 2019) - Abdelmoneim gave a reference. — Oddthinking, Feb 27 '23 at 02:48
Unless your real question is "Is this particular anecdotal video fake?" in which case link to the video, and ask that. \[Hint: [Parkinson's symptoms are heavily affected by placebo](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25304530/), which is why Abdelmoneim looks for scientific evidence.] — Oddthinking, Feb 27 '23 at 02:52
@Oddthinking I did not link the video because I do not have a link to the video. I just got the impression that what I saw in the documentary was phoney. — mustermax, Feb 27 '23 at 14:33
The point of the sequence is to show the video as an example of the things viewers might be seeing on the internet, and then have a doctor say that such videos don't constitute good evidence for cannabis as a miracle medicine. — DJClayworth, Feb 27 '23 at 15:01
@DJClayworth "The point of the sequence is to show the video as an example of the things viewers might be seeing ..." No. The presenter did not question in any way whether the video was a fake. He took it as genuine. — mustermax, Feb 27 '23 at 15:06
@DJClayworth There is another point, journalists a lot of times to report fake evidences without taking responsibility add a lot of vague disclaimers around it, knowing them that some readers or viewers will ignore those disclaimers. The presenter in this case is not a journalist, but looking at the documentary overall I got the impression that he was using the same style. — mustermax, Feb 27 '23 at 15:10
@mustermax From a journalism point of view. "People are saying this..." is often news, even if "this" is known to be false. That's why they often show video of people making unsupported claims. Context is given, such as showing someone with knowledge of the field saying that the video is untrue. Of course there are exceptions. If the show is a documentary from a reputable outlet then journalistic standards apply, whether or not the present is technically a journalist. A non-journalist presenter will have been told what to say by the professional journalists. — DJClayworth, Feb 27 '23 at 15:39
@DJClayworth Obviously I am aware that the BBC is considered reputable. But I prefer to judge what I see. I do not like to judge by stereotype or association of ideas, that is error prone. — mustermax, Feb 27 '23 at 15:53
I don't want to get into an edit war; why did you roll back the changes that included more details about the video and the presenter? The lack of details triggered lots of complaints on your first question. — Oddthinking, Feb 27 '23 at 16:26
Let's take this to chat: https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/143225/discussion-on-parkinsons-video-question — DJClayworth, Feb 27 '23 at 16:27
Closed to avoid an edit war. Please [discuss in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/143225/discussion-on-parkinsons-video-question). — Oddthinking, Feb 27 '23 at 17:33

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 27 '23 at 17:31

Ian Frizell is a YouTuber and advocate for medicinal cannabis. He has early-onset Parkinson's Disease.

The video shown on the screen in the documentary is his: Revised Parkinson's Disease Tremor Control. (There is also a short snippet of a more recent video).

It is difficult to demonstrate a video is not fake. Most of my arguments are rather indirect:

A very weak argument, that may turn out be the most convincing, is to look at his other videos. He has a large body of work, seems knowledgeable (at an amateur level), appears earnest and not prone to pranks.
The concern that his hands shook less while inhaling can be explained by understanding resting tremors:
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
Resting tremor occurs when the muscle is relaxed, such as when your hands are resting on your lap. Your hands, arms, or legs may shake even when they are at rest. Often, the tremor only affects the hand or fingers. This type of tremor is often seen in people with Parkinson's disease.
- American Parkinson Disease Association
The tremor that occurs in Parkinson’s disease is different from almost all other tremors because it is a “resting tremor” since it presents primarily at rest. It goes away with movement, but often returns when the limb, usually a hand or fingers, are held in one position. While holding a spoon or fork to the mouth, the tremor can reappear which is why those with Parkinson’s are known to spill things. Parkinson’s disease tremor may affect almost any part of the body, but most commonly involves the fingers, followed next most commonly by the hands, jaw, and feet.
The hardest part of finding this video was sifting through out the similar anecdote/case studies:
To be very clear: I don't want to suggest that this is strong medical evidence. It isn't.

However, it means the interest in studying cannabis for Parkinson's Disease is not based on the shenanigans of a single person acting or editing a video.
Parkinson's Disease is strongly affected by placebo.

Studies on deep brain stimulation devices have found that after installing the devices merely telling the patients that the device might be turned on (without actually turning it on) can reduce some symptoms (slowness of movement, but not tremors).

Expectation and the placebo effect in Parkinson's disease patients with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation

When the stimulation was OFF, patients aware of this condition had higher UPDRS motor scores than when they were blinded (mean: 50.7 vs. 47.6)

Thus, there is a risk that the unblinded (and low sample size, with strong publication bias) "experiments" shown in the videos are absolutely honest representations of the effects perceived by the subjects, without being useful as a clinical treatment.

In summary, I can't demonstrate that the video is not fake, but I can offer circumstantial evidence that it isn't, as well as reasons why it doesn't matter (clinically) if it is, and it doesn't matter (clinically) if it isn't.

Is the video of a person reducing the tremor cause by Parkinson with cannabis showed in a BBC documentary true or false?

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