CBD and Epilepsy: what is there to know?

The past weeks have brought some good news to the chronicles: in the United States the first medical drug containing Cannabis extracts has been approved for the cure of two severe forms of infantile epilepsy.

What are we talking about?

It’s a medicine with as an active principle CBD (Cannabidiolo), which due to its characteristics is able to reduce convulsions and uncontrolled muscle spasms of the young patients. 

An important result which contributes to improving the quality of life of thousands of users-consumers considerably.

CBD, what do Studies on Epilepsy say?

The Dravet Syndrome, one of the two aforementioned forms of Epilepsy – the other one being Lennox- Gastaut Syndrome – has been studied in relation to Cannabidiol.

The Research Study we mention has been conducted by Orrin Devinsky, director of the New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

Published in 2017, this Research was conducted on 120 patients between 2 and 18 years of age, receiving an oral solution of CBD, and on a control group receiving a placebo solution.

The patients taking CBD have shown, in a month’s time, a reduction of the epileptic fits by about a half, contrary to the placebo group, showing an “insignificant decline”.

More specifically, due to the side effects, like vomit, fever, diarrhea, eight patients withdrew from the experimentation, while five of them have even seen the seizures reduced to zero.

Lennox – Gastaut Syndrome

Regarding the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome we can mention a study published in the scientific magazine The Lancet, showing how CBD could be effective and well-tolerated by patients with epileptic fits.

We are talking about a rare and severe form of epileptic encephalitis often resistant to treatment when medical drugs available on the market are used. The trial study has been conducted in 24 clinical trial centres in the United States, The Netherlands and Poland to assess its efficacy and security.   
 

CBD and Epilepsy, what’s the situation in Italy?

“Cannabidiol is showing to be effective in drug resistant patients with some severe forms of epilepsy, having a reduction by almost a half in the frequency of the seizures.

In future in Italy it could become an alternative cure for tens of thousands of people” states Marilena Vecchi, neuro-epileptologist from the Department of Health of woman and child of the Padua Hospital, responsible for the National Centre of Reference LICE for the diagnosis and cure of infantile epilepsy.

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