Drug Made from Marijuana Helps Treat Children with Epilepsy: Study

Cannabis-based drugs may help treat epilepsy in children, according to a research.

A study by the University of Colorado presented at the annual meet of the American Epilepsy Society discovered the benefits of cannibidiol (CBD) in treating epilepsy conditions including Dravet syndrome. The experts gave  Epidiolex, a medicine containing artisanal oral cannabis extracts to 58 children aged about seven on average who suffered severe form of epilepsy.  About one-third of the patients experienced 50 percent reduction of seizures, which is a common symptom of epilepsy.

But the intake of the drug did cause adverse reaction in a significant number of participants. About 47 percent of the patients reported experiencing increased or new seizures, 14 percent  had somnolence  and fatigue and 10 percent suffered developmental regression.

"This substantial gap between the clinical observations and various anecdotal reports highlighted in popular media underscores the desperate need shared by the entire epilepsy community for robust scientific evidence regarding the potential benefit and risks of marijuana in people with epilepsy," said Kevin Chapman, study author and associate professor of pediatrics and neurology at the University of Colorado, in a news release.

However, experts are happy with the early effects of giving cannabis-based drugs and find the results very encouraging.

"I believe that Epidiolex has the potential to be an important advance in treatment for these treatment-resistant children and will likely have a significant role as a future therapy," adds Elizabeth Thiele, director of the pediatric epilepsy program at Massachusetts General Hospital, reports the Telegraph.