"Our findings are in line with several observational and controlled interventional studies that have seen significant reductions in seizure frequency following treatment with medical cannabis. Moreover, our data suggest that whole-plant medical cannabis products are superior to isolated CBD products in the patients examined," write Dr. David Nutt with Imperial College London and colleagues in BMJ Paediatrics Open.
Few studies have investigated whole-plant cannabis medicines containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in childhood epilepsy.
In their paper, Dr. Nutt and colleagues report a retrospective case-series of 10 children (mean age, 6.2 years) with severe epilepsy that hadn't responded to conventional treatment. Two patients had also tried Epidyolex therapy without success.
The patients were treated with a range of whole-plant medical cannabis oils, with dosing determined by individual providers.
Across all 10 children, seizure frequency was reduced by 86% with whole-plant medical cannabis, with no significant adverse events. An analysis of the THC and CBD content of the products being used showed that the children took an average of 5.15 mg THC and 171.8 mg CBD every day.
Before starting whole-plant medical cannabis, the children had been taking an average of seven antiepileptic drugs; after, the number dropped to one on average.
Parents and caregivers reported marked improvement in health and well-being of their children following the start of whole-plant medical cannabis.
"We believe that our data on whole-plant medical cannabis in childhood-onset severe treatment-resistant epilepsy, provides evidence to support its introduction into the National Health Service (NHS) within current NICE prescribing guidelines," write Dr. Nutt and colleagues.
"Such a move would be hugely beneficial to families, who in addition to having the psychological distress of looking after their chronically ill children, have also to cover the crippling financial burden of their medication," they add.
The study had no specific funding.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/320vBLW BMJ Paediatrics Open, online December 14, 2021.
By Reuters Staff
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