Controversial Childhood Epilepsy Treatment Incredibly Promising

A new study has found a new treatment that shows great promise in the treatment of childhood epilepsy. While it would be wonderful if we lived in a world where children do not struggle with disease and challenge, this is not the world we live in. There are children who suffer from mental and physical illnesses, and these can be detrimental to their well-being and quality of life. Because this is the world we live in, we need to work on finding resources and treatments that can help these children live the best life possible, and science is approaching every year.

Epilepsy is something many children live with, and it can be debilitating, but a new treatment may be on the way and not one that many have suspected. According to Medical Xpress, a study was done that showed that medical cannabis is helping to reduce the frequency of seizures in young people.

RELATED: Studies continue on the use of medical cannabis in children

Cannabis has had many promises to treat medical conditions, but it remains a controversial choice for many parents when it comes to their children. This new study was published in the British Medical Journal and can be read in full here.

The results were surprising, however, and the researchers found that the incidence of epileptic seizures in children decreased by 86% when children were treated with whole-plant medicinal cannabis. This study was done with 10 children, and none of the children had responded positively to previous treatments using CBD oil that was previously diagnosed for their condition. This study has led researchers to call for more studies and tests to see how well this could help children with epilepsy.

The difference with whole plant cannabis is that it contains THC, something that is not found in the CBD oil they used before, and that could be what is making it so successful. THC is also responsible for the sensations people feel when they use this product in a recreational way, which may have added to the reason why it was not looked at earlier to treat children. Nor was it widely examined for its legality. This study was from the UK and cannabis became illegal, both recreationally and medically, so this is the first study in recent years to show how beneficial this can be.

Sources: Medical Xpress, BMJ Open

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Ashley Wehrli
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