How can cannabidiol (CBD) be used to treat epilepsy? This is what a recent study published in Neuropsychopharmacology hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the potential for using CBD-derived substances as an effective anti-seizure medication. This study has the potential to help scientists, medical professionals, legislators, and the public better understand the health benefits of CBD without the side effects commonly associated with prescription medications.
For the study, researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) used caraway seeds to create a new CBD-derived compound to examine the potential applications of this new compound in treating seizures. They conducted experiments on adult male mice at UNLV’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to ascertain the mice’s respond to induced seizures while using this new CBD compound. In the end, the researchers found that the new CBD-derived compounds successfully treated seizures.
“These fully synthetic compounds, made from a safe plant extract and free of THC, not only prevented seizures and reduced seizure-related deaths but also promoted healthier brain cell development — without the sedative side effects of current treatments,” said Dr. Dustin Hines, who is an associate professor of neuroscience at UNLV and a co-author on the study. “Childhood seizure disorders are often resistant to available drugs, and both the seizures and the current frontline therapies can severely affect brain development, cognition, and quality of life, making the discovery especially promising.”
This study comes as approximately 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy, with approximately 3 million adults and 450,000 children in the United States suffering from epilepsy. While it is estimated that approximately 70 percent of epilepsy patients can control their seizures with medication, studies like this demonstrate that other methods can be employed to combat epilepsy without the side effects typically associated with prescription medications.
How will CBD help treat epilepsy in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Neuropsychopharmacology, Marijuana Moment, UNLV, World Health Organization