AI Article Synopsis
- Epilepsy affects about 50 million people globally, with around one third displaying drug-resistant seizures despite trying multiple medications.
- There has been a surge in interest for new antiepileptic drugs that work through different mechanisms.
- This review highlights the growing evidence for cannabis, particularly cannabidiol, as an effective anticonvulsant, leading to FDA approval for its use in treating two difficult-to-manage childhood epilepsy syndromes.
Article Abstract
Epilepsy is a common neurologic disorder; it is estimated that ∼50million people are affected worldwide. About one third of those patients are drug resistant, defined as failure to stop all seizures despite adequate trials of at least 2 appropriate medications. There has been an enormous interest in developing antiepileptic drugs with novel mechanisms of action. This review discusses the evidence supporting the anticonvulsant properties of cannabis in humans, focusing on cannabidiol. We begin by exploring the early and somewhat anecdotal evidence that was recently replaced by high-quality data from randomized controlled studies, which subsequently led to the US Food and Drug Administration approval of a purified cannabidiol extract for the treatment of 2 highly refractory pediatric epilepsy syndromes (Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut).
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2018.07.020 | DOI Listing |
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