Epidiolex

Current sort has key articles at the top. Click on "Article Date" to sort by date, click on specific "tag" to view all articles in that category.

Title
Medical Marijuana and Epilepsy
06/13/2018
CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS
  • Medical marijuana (also called medical cannabis) is whole plant marijuana or chemicals in the plant used for medical purposes.
  • Cannabinoids are substances in medical cannabis that act on cells in the body, including the brain. The two main cannabinoids used in medicine are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
  • The FDA recently approved the use of Epidiolex (a plant-based formulation of CBD) to treat seizures for people 2 years of age and older with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).
  • Medical cannabis, CBD, and THC all have possible side effects. The most common side effects of CBD included sleepiness, diarrhea, fatigue, and decreased appetite. CBD also interacts with some other seizure medicines.
  • Careful monitoring of CBD is needed.

Charlotte's Web, Epidiolex, epilepsy
Drug Made From Cannabis Plant Gets Backing From FDA Staff
05/22/2018

The treatment, which GW Pharma hopes to market under the name Epidiolex, is produced in the U.K. from a plant that has been bred to have a high cannabidiol, or CBD, content, Chief Executive Officer Justin Gover said in an interview earlier this month. The chemical is purified and made into a strawberry-flavored oral solution, he said.


gw pharm, Epidiolex, seizure, FDA
Epidiolex, A Marijuna-Based Drug, Aces First Phase 3 Clinical Trial: Shown To Help Children With Rare Seizure Disorder
03/15/2016

By study’s end, the Epidiolex group had a median 39 percent reduction in the number of convulsive seizures in a month, while the placebo group had a 13 percent reduction. It was a difference the researchers called highly statistically significant.
Epidiolex, however, would be the first proposed drug made solely from cannabidiol, the plant’s second major chemical component, though one that’s steadily being bred out of existence in commercial stocks.
Ten patients, or 16 percent, experienced more severe side effects, and 8 patients decided to stop using the treatment altogether, compared to one in the placebo group. Overall, though, 84 percent of patients who experienced adverse events rated them mild or moderate.


Epidiolex, seizure
UF researchers granted $1 million for epilepsy study
11/05/2015

The project is intended to treat 50 children from ages 2 to 16 living with epilepsy that have exhausted most of their treatment options, Carney said.
Every step of the three-year study will be meticulously tracked. Patients will check-in at regular intervals and the researchers will examine how the children are responding, Carney said.
All subjects will be clinically evaluated and seizure frequency will be recorded in a diary given to patients, according to the ClinicalTrials.gov website.
“Through this research, we want to learn about what type of children respond, if they can tolerate the medication and if there are any side effects we need to worry about,” Carney said.
The study will begin later this summer and participants are still being accepted, Carney said.The project is intended to treat 50 children from ages 2 to 16 living with epilepsy that have exhausted most of their treatment options, Carney said.
Every step of the three-year study will be meticulously tracked. Patients will check-in at regular intervals and the researchers will examine how the children are responding, Carney said.
All subjects will be clinically evaluated and seizure frequency will be recorded in a diary given to patients, according to the ClinicalTrials.gov website.
“Through this research, we want to learn about what type of children respond, if they can tolerate the medication and if there are any side effects we need to worry about,” Carney said.
The study will begin later this summer and participants are still being accepted, Carney said.


Epidiolex, Orphan Study, Florida
More Positive Results With Cannabidiol in Epilepsy
11/03/2015

More Positive Results With Cannabidiol in Epilepsy (You will need to google this title in order to get the article to avoid creating an account)
They found a reduction of the total number of seizures by a median of 38% at 3 months and 31% at 6 months.
These patients started on a cannabidiol (CBD) dose of 2 mg/kg per day, which was increased to a maximum tolerated dose or to 25 mg/kg per day.
Of the 25 patients enrolled in the study, two discontinued treatment before 6 months. One boy stopped medication after a few months because of intolerable diarrhea, and another patient discontinued the drug because of persistent nausea/vomiting. One patient didn't report 6-month data at the time of the analysis.
More than three quarters (77%) of the 22 remaining patients experienced fewer seizures after 6 months.
However, he stressed that the study was uncontrolled, symptoms were self-reported by families, and there has been a lot of news coverage of medical marijuana for the treatment of epilepsy. "Many parents had been avidly desirous of their child going on this cannabidiol because of what they had read in the lay press, so they were primed to believe this cannabidiol might be beneficial." On the other hand, he said, it's important to keep in mind that these children have "horrible epilepsy" and most have been on more than 10 medications for seizure without success. "Any improvement to that degree in this population that is sustained is a pretty dramatic response."


Epidiolex, Studies, Orphan Study, gw pharm
American Epilepsy Society Position Statement
07/16/2015

Safety concerns coupled with a lack of evidence of efficacy in controlled studies result in a risk/benefit ratio that does not support use of marijuana for treatment of seizures at this time. Healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers are reminded that use of marijuana for epilepsy may not be advisable due to this lack of information on safety and efficacy. 


Charlotte's Web, american epiliepsy society, AES, Epidiolex, Idaho, position paper
Liquid Medical Marijuana Shows Promise for Epilepsy
05/13/2015

Among the 137 people who completed the study, the number of seizures fell by an average of 54 percent, according to a team led by Dr. Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in New York City.
 Keep in mind that Epidiolex is VERY different than the so-called low THC strains of marijuana (also known as Charlotte’s Web) that are being grown and sold in several states.  Unlike Epidiolex, the strains of marijuana are  not cloned and the end products vary widely.  Most importantly, these strains contain varying levels of THC whereas Epidiolex is virtually pure CBD.


epilepsy, gw pharm, Epidiolex
Medical Cannabis: Early Test Results Of Epidiolex Show Promise For Epilepsy Patients
05/03/2015

.03%  or  93,200 children in the U.S. have severe forms of epilepsy and do not respond to current treatments of the population 320,000,000.  
 
Charlotte's Web results....Dr. Chapman and colleagues at Colorado Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado reviewed cases of 58 children with severe epilepsy who came into their care while using artisanal CBD. Parents reported seizure reduction of 50% or more in only one-third of patients, but except for two children there was no improvement in their EEGs. Adverse effects occurred in 47% of patients: 21% experienced increased or new seizures; 10% suffered developmental regression with one patient needing intubation; one patient died.  


epilepsy, Epidiolex, gw pharm
UF asks: Does medical marijuana work?
04/22/2015
UF, Florida, Charlotte's Web, Epidiolex
Liquid Medical Marijuana Shows Promise for Epilepsy
04/14/2015

Among the 137 people who completed the study, the number of seizures fell by an average of 54 percent, according to a team led by Dr. Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in New York City.
Keep in mind that Epidiolex is VERY different than the so-called low THC strains of marijuana (also known as Charlotte’s Web) that are being grown and sold in several states.  Unlike Epidiolex, the strains of marijuana are  not cloned and the end products vary widely.  Most importantly, these strains contain varying levels of THC whereas Epidiolex is virtually pure CBD.


Charlotte's Web, Epidiolex, epilepsy
Comes Now Epidiolex™ (FDA approves IND studies of CBD)
10/22/2013
Epidiolex, Charlotte's Web, epilepsy, Dr. Guy, gw pharm
Subscribe to Epidiolex