Medicinal cannabis remains a source of much discussion and contention among the general population. But along it is the increase of marijuana delivery services in Santa Monica and throughout California.
The advantages and drawbacks of using medicinal marijuana to treat epileptic seizures are still being studied.
The Neurology Center for Epilepsy and Seizures is at the front line of the most cutting-edge treatments for people that have seizures or disorders that cause seizures. It is critical for doctors to educate patients of all treatment choices before they choose the one that’s right for them.
Understanding Seizure Disorders
The brain activity is regularly disrupted in seizure disorders, leading in some degree of transient brain disruption. Most people experience strange symptoms right before a seizure.
Some seizures result in unmanageable trembling and disorientation, but others actually cause people to stop moving or become oblivious to what is going on. Doctors infer the diagnosis based on symptoms, but a brain scan, blood samples, and electroencephalography (a test that records the electrical function of the brain) are typically used to determine the cause. Drugs will normally help deter seizures if they are needed.
An ordered, structured, and orchestrated discharge of electrical ions is required for normal brain function. The brain uses electrical signals to interact with the spinal cord, nerves, and muscles, as well as with other parts of the body. As the electrical activity of the brain is impaired, seizures can occur.
Epilepsy affects about 3% of adults at some point in their lives. Two-thirds of all individuals will never have another. Seizures may start as early as childhood or as late as adulthood.
Seizures can be classified as follows:
Epileptic: These seizures have no obvious cause (i.e., they are completely unwarranted) and occur twice or more. Epilepsy is not defined by a single seizure. A seizure disorder, also known as epilepsy, is characterized by epileptic seizures.
Nonepileptic: These seizures are caused by a reversible disease or a transient illness that causes brain irritation, such as an infection, a head injury, or a drug reaction.
Medicinal Cannabis
THC and CBD can help to relieve pain caused by a variety of health conditions. Weed delivery in Hollywood thrive to cater patients who use weed for pain relief. These chemicals bind to pain receptors in the brain, preventing pain impulses from being transmitted. CBD, on the other hand, binds to more than just pain receptors and affects other brain signaling mechanisms.
Decades of study indicate that CBD can help patients who suffer from epileptic seizures, but the exact effect is unknown. The first CBD prescription for epilepsy control was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018. Epidiolex was used for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, two rare types of epilepsy.
Charlotte Figi, an eight-year-old Colorado girl with Dravet syndrome, a severe and crippling type of epilepsy, made headlines in 2013 after it was revealed that legal cannabis could do what no other treatment could: significantly decrease her seizures. Now, recent experimental literature suggests that weed may be a successful therapy for a third of epilepsy patients with a treatment-resistant type of the condition, such as Charlotte.
The findings of the widest trial to date of a cannabis-based medication for treatment-resistant epilepsy were released in The Lancet Neurology last month by Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist at New York University Langone Medical Center, and colleagues from various research centers. The researchers gave an extract of 99 percent cannabidiol (CBD), a non – psychoactive compound found in marijuana, to 162 patients and followed them for 12 weeks. The drug was offered as an add-on to the patients’ current prescriptions in an open-label experiment.
The intervention decreased motor seizures at a rate comparable to existing medications (a median of 36.5 percent), according to the researchers, and 2% of patients were seizure-free. Furthermore, 79 percent of patients experienced side effects such as drowsiness, diarrhea, and nausea, but just 3% of patients dropped out of the study due to these issues.
Conclusion
There is inadequate data to draw a reliable inference about marijuana’s effectiveness as an antiepileptic drug. Despite case reports showing effectiveness in minimizing seizure incidence and severity, few clinical trials on its use for this diagnosis have been released.
Furthermore, the studies carried out were under powered, lacked full data, and used limited sample sizes. There are few reports on the long-term effects of cannabis administration and its safety profile. Due to the FDA’s classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled drug, large-scale clinical trials are currently difficult to execute.
Legal marijuana is well regarded by doctors for its potential to treat a variety of complications in patients while causing few to no negative side effects. Cannabis is a promising therapeutic choice for people suffering from epilepsy because it targets and controls their unwanted effects.
Although the symptoms of seizures vary from person to person, many people report relief from nausea, fatigue, agitation, uncontrollable body motions, shaking, spasms, and headaches.
Cannabis has anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects, which can aid a patient’s recovery from a seizure. Medical weed can help to increase serotonin levels, which promotes mental well-being.
Learning seizures and the medications used to treat them is the first step in understanding that legal cannabis is a promising therapeutic choice with little to no side effects. It provides patients with recovery and protection while allowing them to go about their everyday lives.
It is important to connect with a licensed marijuana-informed practitioner or weed delivery near you if you’re interested in enrolling in a medical marijuana prescription for seizures. Medical marijuana use is regulated differently in each jurisdiction. Have an appointment with your primary care physician to discuss the prospect of obtaining medical cannabis medications.
If your state allows medicinal marijuana, your doctor can assess your symptoms and see if you can benefit from a medical marijuana plan. Many states permit you to become a registered patient, which entails paying an enrollment fee and obtaining a medical marijuana identification card that allows you to access your prescribed drugs.