Can Intake of Marijuana Compound Cut Seizures in Rare Epilepsy Disorder?

When patients who suffer from severe epilepsy disorder are given marijuana compounds, there might be a reduction in the frequency of seizures suffered by a person.

Patients who suffer from a rare and severe form of epilepsy, can be given a marijuana compound which might reduce the frequency of seizures, according to researchers.

The Dravet syndrome is a complex childhood epilepsy disorder that is associated with drug-resistant seizures and a high mortality rate.

Marijuana Derivative Reduces Seizures in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy
Cannabidiol was effective in reducing seizure frequency and was well-tolerated and safe for most children and young adults.

‘The frequency of seizures in individuals who were adminsterd CBD dropped by 39 percent from a median of nearly 12 convulsive seizures per month to about six.’

The study showed that cannabidiol, or CBD, compound in the cannabis plant that does not contain psychoactive properties that induce a high but it is as effective as a medication for treatment-resistant epilepsy.

"Cannabidiol should not be viewed as a panacea for epilepsy, but for patients with especially severe forms who have not responded to numerous medications, these results provide hope that we may soon have another treatment option," said lead investigator Orrin Devinsky, Professor at New York University Langone in New York City.

The seizure frequency in individuals treated with CBD dropped by 39 per cent from a median of nearly 12 convulsive seizures per month to about six, than people taking placebo which resulted in 13 per cent reduction in seizures from about 15 monthly seizures to fourteen, noted the researchers in the paper appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Positive Effect of Epilepsy Drugs on Children
Epilepsy is a nervous disorder which cause seizures. Anti-epileptic drugs used in adults found to be effective in children, according to a recent analysis.

For the study, the team included 120 children and adolescents with Dravet Syndrome between the ages of 2 and 18 years who received either CBD 20 mg/kg or placebo added to their existing treatment over a 14 week period.

However, 93.4 per cent patients using CBD reported side effects such as vomiting, fatigue and fever as compared to 74.6 per cent of those treated with placebo, the researchers said.

How Can Cannabis Use be Made Safer?
As cannabis laws become liberalized in many countries, experts argue that there is an urgent need to explore how cannabis use can be made safer.

Source-IANS

Marijuana-Derived Cannabidiol Drug Reduces Epilepsy Seizures
Patients who were given the oral Cannabidiol (CBD) treatment Epidiolex over a 12-week treatment period showed a significant drop in the frequency of seizures.