Case Study: Can Medical Marijuana Help Epilepsy Patients?

Can Medical Marijuana Help Epilepsy Patients?
Epilepsy can be a difficult medical condition to treat. Although there are many different medications that someone can try, medications do not work for everyone. One third of patients with epilepsy are unable to be controlled with medication. “Epilepsy can be one of the most difficult syndromes to treat. About a third of patients have an intractable form of epilepsy. It’s common for children and adults with treatment-resistant epilepsy to exhaust the list of anti-seizure medications to little or no effect.” (Chen 3) A group of compounds found in marijuana, known as cannabinoids influence seizure regularity in the brain. Cannabidiol, which is also found in marijuana, has positive effects on stopping seizures with out getting the user high. Cannabidiol contains low levels of THC,

which is what causes the psychoactive effects.

(Epilepsy Foundation) The first pharmaceutical drug that contains pure, oil based extracts of cannabidiol is waiting for approval by the FDA. It would be the first drug that would be available to patients that contains pure cannabidiol, and it would be the first time that patients who use medical marijuana would be guaranteed what they are getting. (CBS News) Almost half of 500,000 children in America who have epilepsy are not controlled by medication. Marijuana has been shown to help lower seizure frequency, and also helps improve the overall quality of the person’s life. Charlotte Figi was a young five year old who was having 300 seizures a month. Her quality of life was low, she was unable to feed herself, and she had a hard time even walking and talking. The medical marijuana that she was given helped her get a better quality of life. Medical marijuana can be

a groundbreaking treatment option for epilepsy.
For hundreds of years marijuana has been used to help treat seizures. Dating back to 770 B.C. the Chinese had used marijuana as a treatment for convulsions. (Schachter 310) Up until the 1940‘s marijuana could be found in pharmacies. It was not until 1970 when it was classified as a Schedule I drug, which made it illegal. (Maa 784) Although some people believe that medical marijuana will get patients high, the marijuana itself has contains very low traces of THC. THC is the part of the marijuana that gets a person high. Cannabidiol, also known as CBD is what is effective in stopping seizures. Without having THC or having low doses, a person gets the benefits of CBD’s without getting high.
Cannabidiol comes from marijuana, and does not contain THC, which is what causes people to receive the high feeling. “Cannabidiol, the component that appears to be frequently effective in controlling seizure activity, and very low levels of THC, the psychoactive component that makes marijuana users high.” (Epilepsy Foundation) Cannabinoids are a group of compounds and are important because they affect the central nervous system which can help stop seizures. “According to studies, cannabinoid systems appear to regulating seizure activity in the brain through activation of cannabinoid CB1 receptors. CBD exerted anti-consultant effects in epilepsy.” (Agar 374) Having cannabinoids affect the nervous system can help stop seizures. It can help regulate people with uncontrollable seizures through their nervous systems.
Right now there is a drug that is waiting to get government approval called Epidolex. Although there are already two other drugs that are made from marijuana, they contain the chemical THC, which is what causes people who use marijuana to get high. “Epidiolex is a purified, 99% oil-based extract of CBD that is produced to give known and consistent amounts in each dose. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given some epilepsy centers permission to use this drug as ‘compassionate use’ for a limited number of people at each center.” (Sirven 2)
During its trial Epidiolex, helped patients who had uncontrollable seizures, and people with rare forms of epilepsy. The study consisted of more than 100 patients who had an average of 13 convulsive seizures a month, and the average age during the study was 10. (Pollack 2) During the trial, patients reported having fewer seizures by almost 40 percent. “The company said that for the patients who received Epidiolex, the frequency of convulsive seizures fell by 39 percent during the 14-week treatment period, compared with a four-week period just before the treatment started.” (Pollack 2) Unlike most anti-convulsant drugs, Epidiolex had fewer side effects. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, “Epidiolex was generally well tolerated. Side effects that occurred in 10% or more of people included: sleepiness, diarrhea, fatigue, and decreased appetite.” (Sirven 3)
One of the well-known cases that show the success of medical marijuana is the story of Charlotte Figi. Charlotte had her first seizure when she was only three months old. By the time that she was 5 years old, doctors had no idea how to help her since she wasn’t responding to any time of seizure medication. Charlotte would sometimes have 50 seizures a day. Since Charlotte was not responding to medication and having dozens of seizures a day she was also falling behind on developmental milestones. She couldn’t feed herself, could barely walk or talk and needed constant help. Her mother decided to try medical marijuana. Although the state that they lived in had legalized marijuana, many people wouldn’t supply Charlotte with marijuana because of her age. Luckily though her mother met Joel Stanley and his brother who created a rare type of marijuana, which they then named the specific type of marijuana, Charlotte’s Web. Charlottes’ Web, is a type of marijuana that has very high levels of CBD and extremely low levels of THC so the person taking the medical marijuana doesn’t get high. (CNN)
When starting Charlotte on the medical marijuana, her mother started her at the lowest dose treating it as if it was a regular anticonvulsant. After Charlotte starting taking Charlottes Web, her slowly became almost nonexistent. “For the first time since her seizures started, Charlotte experienced seven consecutive days, without a single seizure! With a baseline frequency of 300+ convulsions per week, by month three of high concentration CBD extract, Charlotte had a 90% reduction in GTC seizures, and had been weaned from her other anti-epileptic drugs. Charlotte only has 2-3 nocturnal GTC seizures per month, she is feeding and drinking orally and on her own, sleeps soundly through the night, and her autistic behaviors have improved. She is finally walking and talking again.” (Maa 784) The medical marijuana helped with not only her seizures, but also with her quality of life.
While there are not official guidelines on who can or cannot receive medical marijuana, it is usually used as a last resort. People are usually prescribed it when anticonvulsant medications and surgery do not help stop the seizures. “When conventional treatments do not work, as is the case for roughly 30% of people with epilepsy, it is not unreasonable to consider cannabis. This is why some states have approved it for ‘compassionate access.’ This should only be considered after a thorough evaluation at a specialized epilepsy center and once conventional treatments have been reasonably tried.” (Epilepsy Foundation)
Medical marijuana can be an alternative for epilepsy patients who seizures are not being controlled on anti convulsant medication. It has been used to help patients who have seizures that are not able to be controlled with anti convulsants or with surgery. The marijuana has been shown to help stop the seizures and to help improve the patients way of life. Cannabidiol is from the marijuana plant. Cannabidiol alone, does not cause any altering effects, unlike THC, the chemical in marijuana that causes someone to get high. Awaiting FDA approval is the pharmaceutical drug, Epidiolex. Epidolex contains pure CBD, which doesn’t contain any THC so the person taking the medication does not receive any psychoactive effects. By having the medication approved by the FDA, it lets patients know the exact amount of marijuana that they are using. (Sirven 2) Charlotte Figi was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was only a few months old. By the time that she was 5, she could barely do anything by herself. She was constantly having seizures, and was unable to walk and talk. After she started using medical marijuana, she was able to start doing things on her own again. She could finally walk and talk again, and was finally able to feed herself. Although there is no set guidelines on who is eligible for medical marijuana, doctors believe that it should not be used unless anti-convulsant medication does not work for that patient.