Marijuana-derived drug reduces epilectic seizures, study says

Earlier this year the FDA approved the cannabis-based medication Epidiolex, but this week a study conducted in 2015 was published that shows just how helpful cannabidiol can be to patients with certain types of epilepsy. The study was focused around both adults and children who have forms of epilepsy that do not respond to traditional treatments. After following the patients' progress for nearly a year researchers found that using cannabidiol reduced most patients' seizures by about two-thirds and some experienced an even larger reduction. Not only did the frequency of seizures fall for most patients but according the Chalfont Seizure Severity Scale the intensity of the remaining seizures also fell dramatically. 

Seizure frequency among participants decreased from 144 seizures every two weeks to 52 seizures over two weeks during the first 12 weeks of the study, and the decrease remained stable throughout the 48-week study.

"This is a highly significant reduction in the number of seizures that the majority of patients experienced, nearly a two-thirds reduction across the entire study population," Bebin said. "Some patients experienced an even greater reduction of seizure frequency."