Cannabis has many compounds within it that are used for various health reasons. The most famous is tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, that gets people high and has other benefits. The other compound that has health benefits without the high is called cannabidiol (CBD). Medical research into cannabis has increased over the years, especially with respect to CBD.
A new study with randomized and large-scale controlled trials is showing what many parents of severe epilepsy-suffering children has seen, that cannabis can reduce the number of dangerous seizures their children have. The trials proves that CBD is a compound for helping patients who suffer from a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
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The trials were conducted by the NYU School of Medicine, with results published May 17th 2018. This involved giving two doses of CBD compared to a placebo. The CBD was in an oral form called Epidiolex, produced by GW Pharmaceuticals. 225 patients aged 2 to 55 with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in 30 international sites were part of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
A 20mg/kg/d (daily dose) of CBD resulted in a 41.9% reduction in "drop seizures" that involve sever loss of muscle control and balance. A 10 mg/kg/d of CBD resulted in a 37.2% reduction. While the placebo group had a 17.2% reduction. All CBD or placebo were divided into two doses per day for 14 weeks.
Dr. Orrin Devinsky, MD, a co-author and main investigator of the study, as well as professor of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry at NYU said:
"This new study adds rigorous evidence of cannabidiol's effectiveness in reducing seizure burden in a severe form of epilepsy and, importantly, is the first study of its kind to offer more information on proper dosing. These are real medications with real side effects, and as providers we need to know all we can about a potential treatment in order to provide safe and effective care to our patients."
Other treatments for this sever form of epilepsy still result in disabling seizures for most patients. CBD has greater efficiency in reducing the amount of seizures, with some mild or moderate side effects depending on the dose. This included sleepiness, decreased appetite, diarrhea, upper respiratory infection, fever, vomiting, nasopharyngitis and status epilepticus.
Seven participants withdrew from the trials due to side effects. 94% of the 20mg group had side effects, 84% of the 10mg group, and 72% of the placebo group. Despite these side effects, CBD extract proves to be an effective and safe treatment for the difficult to control Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Dr. Devinsky did another trial for a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, in May 2017. CBD was shown to reduce those seizures by 39%. Other studies have shown CBD to be effective in other treatment-resistant epilepsies. The Epidiolex CBD oral solution has been recommended for approval by the FDA advisory panel, and is awaiting full approval for late June.
More research will be conducted on CBD and other cannabis compounds to determine the effects on other forms of epilepsy, and what doses are most effective.
It's a shame that many parents have had to do what is morally right and lawful despite being "criminals" according to the centralized authorities making cannabis extracts illegal. Some parents have been charged with a crime, not for doing any harm to their child, but by helping them, all because something is illegal in the ignorant eyes of government.
Child Protective Services (CPS) has also been involved in threatening to take children away from their parents simply for helping them with their illness. Doctors even report parents to CPS who tell them how they helped treat their child with cannabis.
This is what happens when people don't care about what is morally right or wrong and obey so-called "laws" blindly as order-following robots who don't think for themselves or have a properly developed conscience.
We are living in a society with people who don't know what is objectively morally right from wrong. Parents are being sent to jail, children are being stolen from them, all in the name of control from a belief in authority of the state, government or governmental agencies. In a society with dominating controlling authorities and so-called "experts" who want to do parents harm, no wonder so many have to break the flawed, wrong and false "laws" that violate moral comprehension.
Even though this new big-pharma produced drug called Epidiolex might be approved, it will still be controlled, and home-made extracts will still be "illegal", making parents who treat their children themselves "criminals" under the fake-ass "laws" that centralized authority has created and imposed on the rest of us.
References:
- A drug derived from marijuana just got a big lift that will likely make it the first of its kind to get federal approval
- Cannabidiol reduces seizures in kids with severe form of epilepsy, trial shows
- Cannabidiol significantly reduces seizures in patients with severe form of epilepsy
- Orrin Devinsky, Anup D. Patel, J. Helen Cross, Vicente Villanueva, Elaine C. Wirrell, Michael Privitera, Sam M. Greenwood, Claire Roberts, Daniel Checketts, Kevan E. VanLandingham, Sameer M. Zuberi. Effect of Cannabidiol on Drop Seizures in the Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine, 2018; 378 (20): 1888 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1714631
- Orrin Devinsky, M.D. Trial of Cannabidiol for Drug-Resistant Seizures in the Dravet Syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine, 2017; 376:2011-2020: DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1611618
- Mother Faces Jail For Giving Her Son Marijuana That Stopped His Seizures
- Gooding mom charged after treating daughter with marijuana butter
- Doctors Call CPS on Indiana Parents for Using Cannabis Oil Treatment on Ailing Daughter
- CBD oil reduced toddler’s seizures. Still, state threatened to take away child, mother says
- 'Helpless': The only treatment for their baby's epileptic seizures was illegal
- Cannabis extract helps their child’s seizures. But the state threatened to take her, they say
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