FDA Gives Thumbs-up To Use CBD For Dravet Syndrome Treatment

There has been an ongoing debate since a long time, on the usage and consumption of marijuana for medical purposes. A particular medicine, which was a special strain, was developed by the Stanley Brothers so as to control seizures in a child suffering from a rare type of epilepsy, called Dravet syndrome, in Colorado. These pioneers in cannabis gained a lot of attention by media, back in 2013.

The Food and Drug Administration of the US (FDA), which is in charge for reviewing, rejecting and approving of the drugs on the basis of their chemical composition, advantages, and disadvantages, was until now quiet over the usage of marijuana for epilepsy patients. However, this changed a while ago as it gave a green light to GW Pharmaceuticals drug, Epidiolex, which is an oral formulation of CBD (cannabidiol).

As the FDA is a science-based firm, which backs the medicines that are developed on their proven properties, and are tested to be effective and safe for usage in their well-controlled clinical trials, it holds a big importance to get a validation from its end for the treatment of epilepsy patients sing CBD.

However, the FDA has not approved the usage of CBD bought in medical-marijuana pharmacies, but it gives a heads up to the doctors to prescribe Epidiolex to epilepsy patients all over the nation, even in the states which are yet to legalize marijuana.

Epidiolex has a commendable ability to diminish the epilepsy seizures, irrespective of its way of action. In medical trials that comprised of many people suffering from Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which has two types of child-onset epilepsy and Dravet syndrome, there was a significant decrease of 40% in epilepsy episodes of the patients.

CBD is known to be psychoactive as well, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This helps in controlling euphoric experiences. In fact, it seems to combine with various neuromodulators and neurotransmitters.