Medicinal use for marijuana confirmed: CBD helps kids with rare epilepsy

[wwwillie]

Hey Now!
Just came across this article on my tech forum. Scientifically sound double blind studies...
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...-seizures-in-kids-with-rare-form-of-epilepsy/

Here is the article:

Randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial finds cannabidiol benefits.
BETH MOLE - 5/25/2017, 9:12 AM

Enlarge / Medical marijuana growing in a facility in Canada.
Getty | Richard Lautens
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In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial—the gold-standard design—a component of marijuana called cannabidiol (CBD) reduced seizures in children with a rare and devastating form of epilepsy.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provide the first solid evidence that marijuana can be used to treat epilepsy, something some patient groups and advocates have argued for years. It also adds to mounting data supporting the medicinal value of the controversial plant. The Drug Enforcement Administration currently lists marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which are those with no accepted medical use but a high potential for abuse.



FURTHER READING
Massive scientific report on marijuana confirms medical benefitsA landmark review of marijuana research, released in January by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, concluded that marijuana can effectively treat chronic pain in some patients. But for other conditions, including epilepsy, the data is still inconclusive. Earlier trials on epilepsy, for instance, were small or suboptimal, and provided mixed results.


For the new, high-quality trial, neurologist Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Medical Center, and colleagues enrolled 120 US and European kids, aged 2 to 18 (average age of 9.8). All the kids had a rare form of epilepsy, called Dravet syndrome, and suffered from drug-resistant seizures. Dravet syndrome is a life-long, intractable condition generally caused by a mutation in the SCN1A gene. This gene is critical for proper electrical signaling in the brain because it contributes to voltage-gated sodium ion channels in neurons. Dravet syndrome affects only about one in 16,000 people. Between 10 and 20 percent of those affected don’t survive to adulthood.

The 120 participants in the study were, on average, taking three drugs to try to control their seizures. For the first four weeks of the trial, the researchers tracked each participant’s seizure-frequency as a baseline. Then the kids were randomly assigned to take either CBD—a non-psychoactive component of marijuana taken as an oil—or a placebo for 14 weeks along with their normal drug regimen. The kids and their caretakers didn’t know if they were taking CBD or a placebo.

Data high
In the end, the group of kids taking CBD saw their average number of convulsive seizures drop from 12.4 per month to 5.9. The placebo group’s average only dropped from 14.9 to 14.1 seizures per month. Parsing the data further, the researchers found that 43 percent of those taking CBD saw their seizure rate at least halved, while only 27 percent of the placebo group saw the same. Three of the participants taking CBD became completely free of seizures, but none in the placebo group did. Caregivers were also nearly twice as likely to report that the participant’s overall condition improved while taking CBC compared with placebo.

But these benefits had costs. Ninety-three percent of those taking CBD reported side effects, while only 75 percent of placebo participants made similar reports. The most common side-effects reported in the CBD group (and at much higher rates than the placebo group) were sleepiness, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. Other side-effects included fatigue, vomiting, raised body temperature, lethargy, upper respiratory tract infections, and elevated liver enzymes. Eight participants taking CBD withdrew from the trial due to the side-effects, as did one in the placebo group.

But, some of the side-effects may have been due to drug combinations, not CBD alone. For instance, kids in the CBD group who were also taking the epilepsy drug valproate were the only ones to experience liver problems as a side-effect.



FURTHER READING
Studying marijuana remains a dragThe researchers note that some of the side-effects had the potential to “unblind” participants, clueing them into their treatment group. But, when the researchers did extra analysis of the data from the kids that seemed to benefit from CBD, there was no link between improvement and common CBD side-effect reporting. This hints that those participants may not have figured it out.


Still, the authors concluded that they’ll need more data to determine the long-term efficacy and safety. But, the trial definitely showed that CBD reduced seizures in kids with Dravet syndrome.

The trial was sponsored by GW Pharmaceuticals, which has branded its CBD oil Epidiolex. The company has already received a “Fast Track” designation from the Food and Drug Administration to hasten its approval process, which will begin later this year. Currently there are no FDA-approved drugs specifically for Dravet syndrome.

"This trial represents the beginning of solid evidence for the use of cannabinoids in epilepsy," Samuel F. Berkovic, of the Epilepsy Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, wrote in an accompanying editorial. "After an era dominated by anecdote and obfuscated by medicolegal issues and emotionally infused debate, more scientific studies are under way."

NEJM, 2017. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1611618 (About DOIs).

 

[Root]

Good article @wwwillie

In the end, the group of kids taking CBD saw their average number of convulsive seizures drop from 12.4 per month to 5.9. The placebo group’s average only dropped from 14.9 to 14.1 seizures per month. Parsing the data further, the researchers found that 43 percent of those taking CBD saw their seizure rate at least halved, while only 27 percent of the placebo group saw the same. Three of the participants taking CBD became completely free of seizures, but none in the placebo group did. Caregivers were also nearly twice as likely to report that the participant’s overall condition improved while taking CBC compared with placebo.

 

[wwwillie]

Actual scientific proof. I love the stuff like "Caregivers were also nearly twice as likely to report that the participant’s overall condition improved while taking CBC compared with placebo."
Way cool and about time.

 

[AutoWonders]

Even in the face of how well it works, law enforcement agencies have already prosecuted parents that give their kids pot. It's a ridiculous situation and one where law enforcement agencies need to "pull their heads out of their asses". Marijuana works for a myriad of health issues and they want to arrest people. Idiotic times 50.

 

[wwwillie]

Even in the face of how well it works, law enforcement agencies have already prosecuted parents that give their kids pot. It's a ridiculous situation and one where law enforcement agencies need to "pull their heads out of their asses". Marijuana works for a myriad of health issues and they want to arrest people. Idiotic times 50.

Sad but true I'm afraid.
That is why I always say, vote, vote for people that will not allow this to happen anymore. If we continue to keep up the pressure it will turn around. The financial aspects of legalization alone make this a probable future, but let's keep up the pressure!!

In my state I can grow for myself and as a caregiver, grow for one other person. We are now also legal for recreational use. Like Robert Zimmerman wrote in his song "The times they are a changin"

 

[Eekman]

"Bob Dylan's" Jewish name.

 

[wwwillie]

"Bob Dylan's" Jewish name.

Who, by the way, just turned 76 on May 24th.