Medical Marijuana Extract Could Help Treat Children with Severe Epilepsy, Study Says
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michaeljung/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A new study indicates that medical marijuana extract could be used to help treat children with severe epilepsy.
The study was small and served to assess safety rather then efficacy, but researchers believe the medicinal liquid form of marijuana could help children. More than 200 people participated in the study, including toddlers and adults. Each participant had severe epilepsy that didn’t respond to other treatments.
Participants had Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, conditions that can lead to intellectual disability and lifelong seizures, as well as 10 other types of epilepsy.
When given cannabidiol, a component of marijuana that doesn’t include the part of the plant the creates a high, the participants saw their number of seizures decrease. Researchers claim that those participants who completed the study saw their seizures drop by 54 percent after 12 weeks of treatment.
Twelve participants stopped taking the drug due to side effects, while 64 others didn’t complete the study for undisclosed reasons.
“So far there have been few formal studies on this marijuana extract,” said Dr. Orrin Devinsky of the New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. “These results are of great interest, especially for the children and their parents who have been searching for an answer for these debilitating seizures.”
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