A small study of children with treatment-resistant epilepsy, was recently published in the journal BMJ Pediatrics Open, and has found that whole-plant cannabis therapies reduced seizures by 86 percent.
To conduct the study, researchers collected retrospective clinical data from caretakers and clinicians of 10 children who have intractable, or drug-resistant, epilepsy. All 10 patients recruited for the study had not responded to CBD products.
The researchers found that when the patients were given a whole-plant cannabis oil containing THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids as well as compounds including terpenes and flavonoids, the frequency of their seizures decreased by a staggering 86%.
“Seizure frequency across all 10 participants reduced by 86 percent with no significant adverse events,” the authors of the study wrote.
The dosage of cannabis oil was determined by each patient’s physician. On average, the children in the study received about 5mg of THC per day.
“All parents reported that the whole-plant products were well-tolerated and the children showed improvements in their mood, behavior, eating, as well as substantial improvements in their cognitive [mental] abilities,” said study author Rayyan Zafar. Zafar is a fellow at the Centre for Psychedelic Research and Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London.
“Participants reduced use of antiepileptic drugs from an average of seven to one following treatment with medical cannabis,” the researchers wrote.
The authors of the study “noted significant financial costs of £874 per month to obtain these medicines through private prescriptions” and believe that the data collected on whole-plant cannabis therapies provide evidence to introduce such medications into the NHS under current prescribing guidelines.
“Such a move would be hugely beneficial to the families, who in addition to having the psychological distress of looking after their chronically ill children, have also to cover the crippling financial burden of their medication,” the authors concluded.
