[exDemMom]

If my child were having seizures, I would prefer to not give him an untested chemical mixture with known adverse effects. There are 57 anti-seizure drugs listed over at www.epilepsy.com, which I would rather try. It is very likely that one or a combination of them would control the disorder, and I know that they have a tested safety profile. There are also various medical treatments for some kinds of epilepsy--perhaps my child could benefit from one of them.

I did a search for cannabidiol over at www.pubmed.org. There wasn't much. The first entry was this Cochrane review: Cannabinoids for epilepsy. Basically, it tells me that the studies to date are safety studies, which are not designed to test efficacy. Although some safety studies can give limited data on efficacy, none of the studies reviewed did that. These studies only showed that in the 48 patients studied, cannabidiol did not have short-term safety issues. That means that long-term safety has not been established. The usefulness of cannabidiol as an epilepsy treatment is still a matter of hear-say.

[yldstrk]

well exDem, I see your point. Presumably though, these folks haven’t had good success with traditional meds.

[Ken H]

Would you have the federal government step in and put a stop to this treatment for this child?

[Wolfie]

Watch Sanjay Gupta’s medical marijuana docs “Weed” and “Weed 2”. Quite enlightening. These folks have tried everything in the traditional realm for their childrens’ seizures. Seizures that last hours and occur several times a day. The recommended drugs do not work. They turn to high-CBD/low-THC cannabis preparations as a last resort. It’s all well-documented. Other countries are pioneering this work (mainly the UK and Israel). The U.S. government isn’t interested (although they have just approved the first clinical trials of GW Pharmaceutical’s “Sativex” spray from the UK, already approved abroad).

[Ken H]

Asking again, would you have the federal government step in and put a stop to this treatment for this child?

[Ken H]

From the NJ Star-Ledger, May 2013 =>

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Relief elusive for N.J.'s youngest medical marijuana patient

-snip-

[2 year old Vivian Wilson] is diagnosed with a rare and severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome.

Vivian’s neurologist, a national expert in pediatric epilepsy, thinks it’s worth investigating.

Orrin Devinsky, director of the New York University and Saint Barnabas Epilepsy Center, said he believes cannabis can play a role in helping children with epilepsy.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/relief_elusive_for_njs_younges.html

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Thoughts?