A new derivative of marijuana can be used as a drug for epilepsy in children, without a "mestalizing" effect
A growing number of epilepsy patients are using alternative medicine to reduce their seizures. The medicinal herb that is now on the agenda is cannabis sativa. The users include some of the 100,000 American children who suffer from severe epilepsy that does not respond to standard anti-seizure medications. Parents report that marijuana helps them control their children's seizures when prescription drugs fail.
Since there is no standard medicine made from cannabis, parents are forced to buy medical marijuana on their own at a pharmacy, or even illegally, to help their children.
Isolating the active substance in marijuana responsible for reducing seizures can change the whole picture. Cannabidiol is a pure compound derived from cannabis and shows promise in the treatment of epilepsy in both adults and children. This substance, which is also responsible for several other health benefits associated with medical marijuana, is the main ingredient in a new drug called Epidiolex that is being researched and manufactured by the drug manufacturer GW. Epidiolex contains several other cannabinoid compounds, but it does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which causes the "high" feeling.
As with some other approved anti-seizure drugs, researchers don't understand how cannabidiol works against seizures. But whatever the physiological mechanism, cannabidiol seems to work. Experiments on animals and preliminary experiments on humans have shown that the drug significantly reduces seizures and is safe and without side effects.
Now the researchers are trying to examine the effect of cannabidiol in children suffering from severe epilepsy. A year of clinical trials will determine whether the drug reduces epileptic activity in 150 children for whom no standard drug to treat seizures has helped. If Epidiolex proves itself, it will provide further proof that marijuana can serve as a potential medical wealth fund for the development of future drugs.
The article was published with the permission of Scientific American Israel
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Is it unnecessary to contact a doctor with a request for medical marijuana for a mild case of epilepsy.. instead of destroying the liver?
God forbid that the patients will not also enjoy the mesmerizing effect! The government forbids us to have fun.
And in general it is much more difficult to make money from a plant that grows in the garden, than a drug without this horrible effect called pleasure.
Feel good 🙂