Drug made of cannabis eases epilepsy

A DRUG derived from cannabis offers hope for thousands of children living with untreatable epilepsy, a British study revealed yesterday.

Cannabidiol, a medicine made out of cannabis but with the psycho-active elements removed, halved the seizures suffered by children with a severe form of the condition. Experts last night said the results could make a ‘considerable difference’ to adults and children suffering with epilepsy.

More than 600,000 people in the UK suffer with epilepsy and for a third of them – 200,000 – drugs do not work to control their symptoms. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the cannabidiol (CBD) syrup, taken once a day, reduced the convulsive seizures by 48 per cent in under-18s with Dravet syndrome – a rare and severe form of epilepsy.

In 5 per cent of patients their fits stopped altogether. Study leader Professor Helen Cross, consultant in paediatric neurology at Great Ormond Street, said: ‘This drug could make a considerable difference to children who are living with Dravet syndrome and currently endure debilitating seizures.’

The trial – led by Great Ormond Street and New York University – involved 120 children, aged two to 18, who were given daily doses of liquid CBD or an inactive ‘placebo’ for 14 weeks.

For those given CBD, the typical number of convulsive seizures suffered per month was halved from around 12 to six.