An oil derived from the marijuana plant sharply reduces violent seizures in young people suffering from a rare, severe form of epilepsy, according to a study published Wednesday that gives more hope to parents who have been clamoring for access to the medication.
Cannabidiol cut the median number of monthly convulsive seizures from 12.4 to 5.9 in 52 children with Dravet syndrome who took the medication over a 14-week test period, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Fifty-six children using a placebo saw the number of seizures drop only from a median of 14.9 to 14.1 per month.
“Medical marijuana has been documented as a treatment for epilepsy going back to 3,800 years ago,” said Orrin Devinsky, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, who led the research. But the randomized, placebo-controlled study represents the first research to demonstrate the product’s value in a scientific way, he said.
Unlike THC, the compound in marijuana that produces a high when consumed, cannabidiol is not psychoactive. The main side effects suffered by the children in the study, whose average age was just under 10, were vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite.
But the product is not available anywhere in the world, except to about 1,500 children who are receiving it from the manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals, under compassionate-use rules for the condition. Dravet syndrome causes ongoing seizures, cognitive problems and risk of early death. There is no FDA-approved treatment for Dravet, so many parents have been traveling to Colorado and other states that offer medical marijuana.