Epilepsy & Seizures

The FDA announced in a press release on Monday that it had approved the “first drug comprised of an active ingredient derived from marijuana to treat rare, severe forms of epilepsy.” Prior to this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved only three cannabinoid-based medicines. None of the approved drugs contain, or are derived from, the whole cannabis plant. Instead, they are all created from isolated synthetics that do not offer the benefits of the entourage effect. FDA Grants Approval of Epidiolex On June 26, 2018, the FDA granted approval of Epidiolex, …

AURORA, COLORADO – During this spring, Dr. Kelly Knupp, a pediatric epilepsy specialist, and her colleagues will be conducting a three-year, $500,000 observational study at Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. Three-Year Cannabis Study Set To Begin This Spring There has been a lot of recent buzz surrounding the success of medical marijuana in the treatment of childhood epilepsy.Many parents are claiming that medical marijuana has significantly reduced both their children’s seizures frequency and intensity. Because of this, families with children like Charlotte …

It’s no secret at this point that certain chemical compounds found in medical marijuana may aid in the treatment of epilepsy. GW Pharmaceuticals has already commenced clinical trials to test the effectiveness of their cannabis-based drug Epidiolex, which is comprised of mostly cannabidiol (CBD), and the Epilepsy Foundation of America has called for nationwide access to medical marijuana. With that said, the Endocannabinoid Research …

What Is Cerebral Palsy (CP)? Cerebral palsy (CP) is an incurable disorder of brain development, generally manifesting by the age of 3. It leads to various signs and symptoms, including difficulties in controlling movement (i.e. dysfunction in coordination, precision, and posture, spasticity/”stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes”, changes in muscle tone or reflexes, weakness, shaking/tremor). Patients with cerebral palsy may experience pain (often as a result of stiff muscles), incontinence, sleep disturbance, …

What Is Epilepsy? Seizures vs. Epilepsy The medical definition of a seizure is a clinical expression of abnormal, excessive, synchronous discharge of neurons residing primarily in the brain’s cerebral cortex. Alternatively, the term epilepsy encompasses a broad range clinical syndromes characterized by repeated seizures over time unprovoked by an acute systemic or neurological insult. “It’s the last thing you worry about before you go to bed; and the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning.” – Heather Jackson These definition’s however fail to capture the feelings of helplessness felt by parents, family members, …

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder experienced by children, and approximately 20% of patients (around 93,200 children in the US, and around 153,000 children in Europe) are unable to control their seizures with commonly used medications. Due to the growing evidence that some cannabinoids found in cannabis may help to reduce neuron hyperexcitability, certain strains are being used to help treat epilepsy. This is particularly true of cannabis strains with a high concentration of cannabidiol (CBD). In turn, pharmaceutical companies have been working on ways repeat …

Florida is now the 23rd state to legalize cannabis in the United States, although it is extremely limited in scope. It is now legal to for five individuals chosen by the state to grow low-THC cannabis, and see that it gets processed into an extract for children and adults suffering from epilepsy, Lou Gehrig’s disease and cancer. Governor Rick Scott Signed Charlotte’s Web Bill Monday Governor Rick Scott signed senate bill 1030 into law allowing cannabis with low …

For years now Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been the most popular and widely researched cannabinoid in cannabis science. However, nowadays it seems like cannabidiol (CBD) has stolen the spotlight given its ability to provide therapeutic relief to children suffering from various epileptic disorders, while lacking the psychotropic effects (i.e. high) of THC. It’s even gotten to the point that state legislature are passing laws “CBD-only” medical marijuana legislation. Given all of this, it is easy to see how CBD and THC can be viewed …

COLUMBIA, SC — In what is the result of an increased interest in cannabidiol (CBD), a limited medical marijuana initiative was passed Thursday by a South Carolina House Committee. Proposed by Representative Jenny Horne (R-Summerville), “Julian’s Act” would allow the use of CBD-rich cannabis extracts in the case of severe epilepsy. It is named in honor of a 3-year-old epilepsy patient from South Carolina, whose family is moving to Colorado so that they can treat his symptoms with CBD-rich cannabis …

Editor’s Note: Justin Kander is webmaster of the Phoenix Tears organization and author of the Comprehensive Report on the Cannabis Extract Movement, a 100-page report that examines and analyzes the mounting evidence in support of cannabis extracts as medicine. The use of high-cannabidiol cannabis extracts for rare forms of epilepsy in Colorado and other parts of the world has been growing exponentially since the release of Sanjay Gupta’s …