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July 29, 2014 at 8:38 pm (This post was last modified: July 29, 2014 at 9:50 pm by Jackalope.)
(July 28, 2014 at 5:42 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: I've perused the base literature in various journals and the efficacy of cannabis (specifically cannabidiol-enriched cannabis) for the treatment of various forms of epiliepsy is inconclsuive.
Some studies report in their very limited samples a reduction in the number of epileptic seizures (varying on patients and form of epilepsy):
Hegde et al. (2012) "Seizure exacerbation in two patients with focal epilepsy following marijuana cessation", Epilepsy & Behavior, 25 (4), pp. 563-566
Maa, E., & Figi, P. (2014) "The case for medical marijuana in epilepsy", Epilepsia, 55 (6), pp. 783-786 (<<Seems very pro marijuana so not sure of source)
Porter, B.E. & Jacobson, C. (2013) "Report of a parent survey of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis use in pediatric treatment-resistant epilepsy", Epilepsy & Behavior, 29 (3), pp. 574 - 577
However all the literature almost without fail indicates that the variables are numerous and mostly unknown, so there's no way to know for sure (currently) whether cannabis can both reduce seizures (as there are some indications it can) but also provide a long term seizure free solution. As epilspsy is very much a contextual neurological problem that's dependent entirely on the patient and the treatment they have undergone, creating a unilateral or all-encompassing experiment could be impossible.
Jasti, M., Yarlagadda, V. & Joshi, C. (2014) "Cannabinoids for epilepsy: is marijuana an effective treatment for epilepsy? ", Journal of Pediatric Epilepsy, 3 (1), pp. 63-66
There's also little to no evidence (that I can find thus far) that suggests how cannabis acts when combined with other drugs used to treat epilepsy (or other neurological ailments), or when a patient withdraws from using cannabis and/or other drugs, as discussed briefly in:
Swift et al. (2013) "Analysis of Cannabis Seizures in NSW, Australia: Cannabis Potency and Cannabinoid Profile", PLoS ONE, 8 (7), pp. [online journal - no page reference]
A decent (albeit old) literature review can be found here. I haven't had the time to research any newer ones though I presume there are some:
Gurley et al. (1998) "Medicinal Marijuana: A Comprehensive Review", Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 30 (2), pp. 137-147
I can't speak to the efficiacy of canniboids regarding epilepsy, nor am I qualified to interpret the research.
However, I can say that cannabis helps relieve my neuropathic pain. The quality of sleep I am able to achieve with cannabis compared to without is marked. Could be a placebo effect, but I think not.
