The American Epilepsy Society's confirmed the effectiveness of taking cannaidiol (CBD) to combat severe epilepsy in their annual meeting. CBD is also an active ingredient in marijuana.
The medication which has a commercial name Epidiolex is CBD is in liquid form. It is in the third phase of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) clinical trials right now. There were 4 other new studies that were introduced at the AES meeting which explore the effectiveness and safety of younger epileptic patients when they use the drug, and also the possibility for CBD to bind with other anti-epileptic drugs that patients may be taking.
One study which involved 261 people who are severely epileptic, with most of them being children around age 11, who never responded to any other treatments. Epileptics are encouraged to find the correct medication to control seizures. On top of their present routine in taking medicine (some take three other medications for epilepsy) they were given Epidiolex in slowly increasing doses. Families and care givers were requested to monitor how many seizures the patients have, while clinicians tested patients' blood works, liver and kidney functions before starting the patient's 12-week treatment; they tested at weeks four, eight and twelve.
The results revealed that Epidiolex helped lower down seizure episodes by an average of 45% while almost half of the patients felt a 50% and higher reduction and 9% stated they are now seizure free. For younger patients, this is something very important: Another study shows that seizure usually shows increased risk of learning disabilities.
However, there were some adverse effects: 10 percent of patients who took Epidiolex, experienced drowsiness, diarrhea and fatigue. Furthermore, there were 12% who did not continue taking the medication when they noticed the regimen to be ineffective.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Medical Center's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center released a statement saying that overall, the findings have given them hope. It strengthens and supports the safety and effectiveness the researchers have witnessed in earlier studies. It is also a spec of light at the end of the tunnel for those with debilitating seizures.
