December 18, 2014
Lorraine Roberston with son Max, aged 12, who will be among the first UK patients to receive a medicine derived from the cannabis plant to treat his epilepsy condition. Dr. Richard Chin from the University of Edinburgh's Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre (right) is helping to lead the study. (Credit: Jane Barlow Photography)
Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online
UK health officials have given the go-ahead for doctors to test a new treatment derived from the cannabis plant in children suffering from certain forms of severe epilepsy.
The new treatment is known as Epidiolex, and it does not contain the ingredient responsible for creating the high associated with recreational marijuana use, researchers from the University of Edinburgh explained. Instead, it is based off of one of the plants non-psychoactive components, cannabidiol (CBD), the health benefits of which have been examined in clinical trials.
The university explained that early studies conducted in the US have indicated that some epileptic children treated with CBD could experience less frequent and less severe seizures.
This will mark the first time that the treatment method has been tested in the UK, and it will involve a randomized controlled trial at the University of Edinburghs Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre. In addition, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow and Alder Hey Childrens Hospital in Liverpool will be involved in trial, as will facilities in the US, France and Poland.
Many children with serious forms of epilepsy do not respond to the medications that we currently have available, said Dr Richard Chin, Director of the Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre. We need new means of treating these conditions so that we can give back some quality of life to these children and their families.
I welcome the launch of these trials as it marks an important milestone in our long journey towards understanding the condition and improving the treatment of those suffering this severe form of epilepsy, added Ann Maxwell, founder of the Muir Maxwell Trust pediatric epilepsy charity. As the mother of a teenager with this life altering condition, I strongly support the exploration of ground breaking medications that could seek out new ways to improve patients life quality.
The initial focus of the research will be on children suffering from a rare, difficult-to-treat form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome. Dravet Syndrome typically begins in infancy and causes seizures that often last for more than five minutes at a time. Patients are also at risk of a number of issues involving speech, growth, balance, movement and even sudden, unexplained death.
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Clinical trials of cannabis-based epilepsy medicine to start in the UK