The whole cannabis plant would reduce epileptic seizures by 86% in children affected by this chronic brain disease.
- About 600,000 French people suffer from epilepsy, half of whom are under 20 years old. This chronic brain disease is more common in children and the elderly.
- The whole cannabis plant, including tetrahydocannabinol (THC), is said to have reduced the frequency of epileptic seizures in sick children by 86%.
“There is little scientific research that has investigated the effectiveness of whole-plant cannabis drugs containing tetrahydocannabinol (THC) for treating epilepsy in children.” This is the observation made by British researchers. Based on the latter, they decided to conduct a study to determine if the whole cannabis plant had an impact on seizures in children with epilepsy. The results of their work were published in the medical journal BMJ Paediatrics Open December 14.
For the purposes of their work, the scientists recruited ten children, aged 1 to 13, with epilepsy. They were refractory to available treatments, including cannabidiol (CBD). Clinicians from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and private medical practices have prescribed whole-plant cannabis medicines to children. The researchers collected the data from their parents or caregivers between January and May 2021.
The whole cannabis plant would be effective against epileptic seizures
According to the results of the study, the frequency of epileptic seizures would have decreased by 86% in the ten participants, who took drugs based on the whole cannabis plant. No major adverse effects were observed by the authors of the work. “Children reduced their use of anti-epileptic drugs from an average of seven to one after medical cannabis treatment,” can we read in the study. The researchers estimated that the participants took an average of 5.15 mg of (THC) and 171.8 mg of CBD each day.
“This study sheds light on the efficacy of whole plant medical cannabis, which is well tolerated, in reducing seizure frequency in children with refractory epilepsy. reported therapeutic benefit of whole plant medicinal cannabis products”the scientists concluded.
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