Cannabidiol Oil Safely Lessens Seizures in Treatment-resistant Children, Early Trial Data Show
ABSTRACT
A team led by researchers at University of Saskatchewan, Canada, are conducting an open-label Phase 1 clinical study (NCT03024827) called CARE-E. Scientists are exploring the safety and impact of increasing doses of CBD-enriched cannabis herbal extract (CHE) used as add-on therapy in up 28 children (ages 1 to 10) with epileptic encephalopathy resistant to standard anticonvulsant therapy. The mixture, called CanniMed 1:20, contains 1 mg/ml of THC and 20 mg/ml of CBD.
Data on the first seven children, four with Dravet syndrome and three with Lennox-Gastaut, enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan’s clinical site made up this report.
All started CHE treatment with an initial CBD dose of 2–3 mg/kg per day. Over the following three months, the dose was increased every four weeks up to a maximum of 10–12 mg/kg per day. Children were then weaned off CHE over their final month of trial participation.
Caregivers were asked to monitor and record daily seizure frequencies throughout the study.
All seven children had fewer seizures while taking CHE at a CBD equivalent dose of 5–6 mg/kg per day, data showed. Six experienced a 25% drop in seizure frequency and four a decrease of more than 50%.
