“Recent research found that a liquid form of therapeutic marijuana can provide cure to children with treatment-resistant epilepsy.
The said study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in late April.”
http://au.ibtimes.com/medicinal-marijuana-may-help-cure-children-severe-epilepsy-1440398
“In audiogenic seizure (AGS) susceptible rats, the acute (intraperitoneal and intravenous) dose-response effects of (–)-cannabidiol (CBD) for preventing AGS and for causing rototod neurotoxicity (ROT) were determined.
Also, the anti-AGS and ROT effects of 10 CBD analogs, given in intravenous doses equivalent to the AGS-ED50 (15 mg/kg) and ROT-ID50 (31 mg/kg) of CBD, were ascertained.
Compared to CBD, (–)-CBD diacetate and (–)-4-(2′-olivetyl)-alpha-pinene were equally effective whereas (–)-CBD monomethyl ether, (–)-CBD dimethyl ether, (–)-3′-acetyl-CBD monoacetate, (+)-4-(2′-olivetyl)-alpha-pinene, (–)-and (+)-4-(6′-olivetyl)-alpha-pinene, (+/-)-AF-11, and olivetol were less effective anticonvulsants. Except for (–)- and (+)-4-(2′-olivetyl)-alpha-pinene and olivetol, all analogs showed less ROT than CBD.
Also, CBD and all analogs were not active in tetrahydrocannabinol seizure-susceptible rabbits, the latter a putative model of cannabinoid psychoactivity in humans.
These data suggest anticonvulsant requirements of 2 free phenolic hydroxyl groups, exact positioning of the terpinoid moiety in the resorcinol system and correct stereochemistry.
Moreover, findings of separation of anticonvulsant from neurotoxic and psychoactive activities, notably with CBD diacetate, suggest that additional structural modifications of CBD may yield novel antiepileptic drugs.”
“Charlotte, a little girl with SCN1A-confirmed Dravet syndrome, was recently featured in a special that aired on CNN. Through exhaustive personal research and assistance from a Colorado-based medical marijuana group (Realm of Caring), Charlotte’s mother started adjunctive therapy with a high concentration cannabidiol/Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (CBD:THC) strain of cannabis, now known as Charlotte’s Web. This extract, slowly titrated over weeks and given in conjunction with her existing antiepileptic drug regimen, reduced Charlotte’s seizure frequency from nearly 50 convulsive seizures per day to now 2-3 nocturnal convulsions per month. This effect has persisted for the last 20 months, and Charlotte has been successfully weaned from her other antiepileptic drugs. We briefly review some of the history, preclinical and clinical data, and controversies surrounding the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of epilepsy, and make a case that the desire to isolate and treat with pharmaceutical grade compounds from cannabis (specifically CBD) may be inferior to therapy with whole plant extracts. Much more needs to be learned about the mechanisms of antiepileptic activity of the phytocannabinoids and other constituents of Cannabis sativa.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24854149
“Scientists are looking at the potential use of cannabis to treat and potentially cure severe forms of epilepsy.
The medical benefits of medical marijuana for neurological conditions like epilepsy are highly debated.
Examining the potential use of the drug, a series of articles in the journal Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy, looks at its potential use for treating the syndrome.
Edward Maa, from the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at Denver Health in Denver, Colorado, looks at a case study of a child with Dravet syndrome – a very severe form of epilepsy.
In the case, a mother provided her child with a strain of medical marijuana high in Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) known as Charlotte’s Web.
When used with the child’s normal drug regime, seizures dropped from 50 convulsions per day to just two or three per month.”
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/dravet-syndome/
“Recently a 5-year-old child was administered a medical marijuana card, the youngest person to ever receive one. Her parents are nothing less than ecstatic, as this drug has worked wonders to reduce the amount and severity of her chronic, life-threatening epileptic seizures. This new found use for the highly controversial drug has been the reason for much debate, as well as hundreds of families deciding to relocate to Colorado, where marijuana is accessible to children to cure epileptic seizures…”
More: http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/marijuana-accessible-to-children-as-a-cure-for-epileptic-siezures/
“To date, anticonvulsant effects of the plant cannabinoid, cannabidivarin (CBDV), have been reported in several animal models of seizure. However, these behaviourally observed anticonvulsant effects have not been confirmed at the molecular level…
These results provide the first molecular confirmation of behaviourally observed effects of the non-psychoactive, anticonvulsant cannabinoid, CBDV, upon chemically-induced seizures and serve to underscore its suitability for clinical development.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24282673
Full-text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3840466/
http://now.msn.com/epilepsy-treatment-found-in-cannabis-may-prove-better-than-current-methods
“Amid the sounds of children laughing as they bounce and roll down a giant, red inflatable slide, a crowd of more than 150 gathers, making a half-circle around Heather Jackson.
“I want to thank you all so much for coming,” Jackson says. “There are some of you I don’t even know — which is awesome. Again, thank you for coming out and helping us celebrate Zaki’s first seizure-free year.”
The crowd applauds. Zaki, Jackson’s 10-year-old son, emerges from the crowd, smiling. His brow gleams from a light sweat, joyfully earned on the inflatable playground at Jump-N-Jacks, an indoor play facility on North Academy Boulevard. His mother puts one arm on his shoulder and fans him with a Realm of Caring laminated fact sheet.
He is normal. He is fine.
One year earlier, Mrs. Jackson sat with a friend who worked in hospice care, asking for advice concerning the next treatment for Zaki’s Doose syndrome, a form of epilepsy found early in childhood. There is no known cause, and the condition is often unresponsive to medication.
Zaki’s seizures began when he was 4 months old. At what his mother calls his “deepest valley,” he experienced thousands per day. A 2008 electroencephalography reading revealed more than 200 per hour. To combat this, the child underwent 17 different pharmaceutical treatments — all of which failed.
As recently as May 2012, Zaki would have between 60 and 200 seizures while he slept. “They were brief, but very violent,” Jackson says. “It was like someone was putting paddles to his chest. Then he began to have seizures where he would stop breathing.
“So my friend at hospice, she said to me, ‘I can’t tell you to try this, but there is this group of brothers who have helped treat a similar case with cannabis oil. I can’t tell you to try it, but here’s some phone numbers.'”
The brothers — Josh, Jordan, Jesse, Joel, Jon and Jared Stanley, cannabis growers and founders of Realm of Caring — created a strain of cannabis containing minimal THC, the psychoactive ingredient, and very high levels of cannabidiol (CBD), the ingredient considered to provide the most medicinal benefits.
At Zaki’s party, Josh Stanley explains: “We were reading these studies in Israel from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s — studies where they saw positive results on lab mice using high-CBD strains. So we decided to give it a try, originally focusing on aiding cancer patients. It was by luck that we discovered it could be so beneficial to those suffering from seizures.”
The “luck” came when Paige Figi contacted the Stanley brothers. She had read about high-CBD oils used to treat epilepsy in California. Her 6-year-old daughter, Charlotte, suffers from Dravet syndrome, and she was willing to try anything. The cannabis oil so helped Charlotte, they renamed the strain in her honor: Charlotte’s Web, of which Zaki takes 300 mg every day.
Realm of Caring’s 501(c)3 status is pending, but the Colorado Springs foundation hopes to become a nonprofit that can make alternate treatment affordable for families in need. Meanwhile, back at the party, Jackson announces that Zaki’s last clinical seizure took place Oct. 3, 2012. Her husband, Frank Jackson, presents the Stanley brothers with a wooden sign, which reads “Zaki’s Garden” at the top and “Thank you for my first seizure-free year” at the bottom.
Zaki moves past his mother’s arm, shuffles through the crowd, and speeds toward an inflatable ship as a few friends follow close behind.”
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved clinical trials of a cannabis-based drug and its effects on epilepsy. The treatment, Epidiolex, is 98 percent purified cannabidiol (CBD) made by GW Pharmaceuticals based out of the U.K.
There are around 60 known chemicals contained in cannabis called cannabinoids. Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, is the main component responsible for the drug’s psychoactive nature. CBD, however, is the second most abundant cannabinoid in the cannabis and provides medicinal benefits without the “high.” Epidiolex will come in a viscous liquid form to be dispensed from syringes. A 25 milligram per meter or 100 milligram per meter will be the two strengths made available to those in the trials.
The FDA has approved of intermediate-sized clinical trials sponsored by two doctors. Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a professor in the Department of Neurology, Neuroscience and Psychiatry in the New York University School of Medicine and director of the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and Dr. Roberta Cilio, a pediatric neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, are set to follow 25 patients using Epidiolex as treatment for pediatric epilepsy.
On Oct. 4, at the NYU Langone Medical Center, Devinsky led a conference entitled, “Cannabidiols: Potential Use in Epilepsy & Other Neurological Disorders.” During the affair, Devinsky and Cilio led a presentation on planned trials on CBD in children with treatment resistant epilepsy.
The D.C. – based Marijuana Policy Project’s Communications Director Mason Tvert responded to the news of the approved trials. “We’ve long known that marijuana has a variety of medical benefits,” Tvert said. Tvert added that the federal government clearly recognizes marijuana’s medicinal benefits and it’s a shame they hindered most research of it.
Maryland’s new marijuana law came into effect on Oct. 1, but its miniscule scope won’t have much effect. It deals with a small number of patients that would enroll in state-approved clinical studies. However, with no hospitals signed up to hold these studies, no visible changes are set to occur in the near future.
Now the country will wait and see if CBD can live up to the hype, and if the epileptic patients can find any relief from their disease.”
By Bonnie Katz
http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/FDA-approves-marijuana-drug10-31-2013
GW Pharmaceuticals – the UK-based company behind the natural cannabis spray Sativex – announced the start of the first round of clinical trials of a new cannabis treatment for epilepsy.
In the press release, Dr. Stephen Wright, Director of Research and Development at GW, said the company has spent years testing cannabis in pre-clinical models – which include cell cultures and animals.
So far, the drug is only known as GWP42006.
“We are pleased to have advanced GWP42006 to first dose in man, a significant milestone in the development of this novel product candidate. The decision to progress into Phase 1 follows several years of highly promising pre-clinical research.”
Dr. Ben Whalley, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at the Reading School of Pharmacy, added, “Our research collaboration with GW over the last several years has shown that GWP42006 not only exerts significant anticonvulsant effects in a wide range of preclinical models of seizure and epilepsy but is also better tolerated compared to existing anti-epileptic drugs.”
While the company has not disclosed the ingredients in the new drug, their latest animal study – which appears in the October issue of the British Journal of Pharmacology – showed positive results with two chemicals derived from cannabis: Cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidivarin (CBDV).
Both were found to suppress seizures and increase survival across a range of different rat models of epilepsy.”
“Both CBD and CBDV are produced naturally by cannabis. Unlike THC, these two compounds do not get patients high.”