Zach Wendling
Jul 12, 2021
A team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is leading the way when it comes to researching ways to combat the pain epileptic children endure — along with the heartbreak hundreds of thousands of parents endure daily.
There are few things worse than parents having to helplessly watch their children writhe in pain as they convulse from debilitating seizures. But a team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is leading the way when it comes to researching ways to combat the pain epileptic children endure — along with the heartbreak hundreds of thousands of parents endure daily. These leading scientists have just expanded the growing research showing marijuana is an effective tool when it comes to combating the scourge of epilepsy.
Researchers have completed the first-ever meta-analysis studying pediatric use of medical cannabis for severe epilepsy by combing through multiple previous analyses.
Their results hinged upon seven published and unpublished studies with almost 500 patients through May 2020. Led by Hebrew University Ph.D. candidate Nir Treves, the team found an association between CBD and a 50% reduction in seizure rates for patients with Dravet syndrome and self-reported levels of improvement, the analysis states.
Dravet syndrome is a rare, drug-resistant epilepsy beginning in infancy with lifelong impacts. The Food and Drug Administration has approved three medications, including Epidiolex, a cannabidiol, CBD oral-induced drug, in just the last three years, but there is still not a lot of research in the area.
“CBD was associated with a 50% reduction in seizure rate in patients with Dravet syndrome.”
But the results weren’t all positive either, with associated changes in mental state, including lightheadedness, fatigue and lethargy, for all types of cannabis in the studies.
“This treatment is also associated with events of decreased appetite, which might be a little bit alarming for children,” Treves told The Media Line. “It’s also a little bit surprising because we knew until now is that cannabis [usually] increases the appetite.”
The researchers note the breadth of such studies into the efficacy and safety for medical cannabis to treat epilepsy is scarce and uncertain, but they intend to continue their research.
“There is almost no research,” professor Ilan Matok at Hebrew University’s School of Pharmacy who oversaw the research told The Media Line. “There are only seven or eight randomized clinical trials on medical cannabis in children. That’s it! The numbers recruited in those are very small so there’s not a lot of data.”
He noted COVID-19 vaccine trials were able to proceed with children but negative stereotypes coupled with the hesitancy of marijuana for medical purposes have hindered research efforts.
While not approving medical cannabis for all patients with epilepsy, the new report builds on the research being conducted globally that’s shedding light on the full potential of medical cannabis. This could be a game changer globally and not just for kids. While approximately 0.6% of all U.S. children have epilepsy — or about 470,000 children — around 50 million people suffer from the disease worldwide.