Emerging research shows that the anti-seizure qualities of the cannabis plant can not be boiled down to a single compound.
Studies in Australia show that there are many other compounds in the cannabis plant that show anticonvulsant effects. Some of them could be more powerful.
A small study in the United Kingdom supports those findings. The seizure frequencies of 10 children with intractable forms of epilepsy fell by 86 percent when they began using a medicine that contained the whole cannabis plant.
The case studies show more success than the outcomes of the research alone.
The only form of cannabis approved by the FDA to treat severe seizures is an oral extract of cannabidiol.
Epidyolex doesn't seem to work for more than half of children with Dravet syndrome in placebo controlled trials.
The rate of relief was lower than what was found in children given medicine from the whole cannabis plant. The initial findings are very promising and need to be supported by larger sample sizes and more controlled settings.
The 10 participants in the UK case series did not respond to the products.
The authors of the case series are currently analyzing the components of each medication in the study.
The first documented evidence that cannabis could be used to treat seizures was written by an Irish physician in India in 1843. The plant has become involved in a legal and political storm that has delayed formal research by decades.
The plant, which is considered to be illegal in many places around the world, finally begins to enter the drug and supplement market as scientists try to catch up. The focus of formal research has been limited in the past.
Most of us have heard of the effects of cannabinoids in the cannabis plant.
These two compounds are usually the only ones listed on different cannabis strains, but recent research suggests they aren't what gives the plant its therapeutic qualities, or even its different 'highs'.
The combination of different cannabis compounds, some of which we have not even studied yet, could be more important than any one substance on its own.
Natural substances found in cannabis are thought to have anti- inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties.
Terpenes are a class of compounds in cannabis. Several of these compounds have been found to give cannabis its smell.
The structure of these compounds looks similar to those found in garlic, and they are thought to boost cardiovascular health and anti-carcinogenic properties.
Cannabis contains over 400 chemical entities. A small piece of the puzzle is given by focusing on just two cannabinoids.
Researchers in Australia are testing every cannabis compound to see if it reduces seizures in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.
They are going to try to put them back together, slowing the mixing and matching to see if they can get the Goldilocks mixture.
It would be ideal to find a way to treat the disease with less side effects.
That is still a problem even with Epidiolex. There are a lot of negative events following administration of this extract, including vomiting, fatigue, and abnormal results on tests.
There were no adverse events reported by the parents of the children who were treated with the whole cannabis plant in the UK.
All of the parents reported improved cognitive and behavioral outcomes, which the authors argue is probably a result of reduced seizure frequencies and less use of other anti-epileptic drugs.
The authors of the case series are calling on the UK's National Health Service to include whole-plant Medicinal Cannabis in its guidelines for severe, treatment-resistant epileptic syndromes.
It could take a long time since the conditions involved are rare and mostly occur in children.
Private treatment can cost up to £2,000 per month, and must be paid for by parents or patients.
The move would be beneficial to the families, who have both the psychological distress of looking after their chronically ill children and the financial burden of their medication.
The study was published in a journal.
