TODAY IN OUR ASK THE PHARMACIST SEGMENT, DR MICHAEL WHITE FROM THE UCONN SCHOOL OF PHARMACY HAS A VIEWER QUESTION FROM CRAIG. CRAIG SAYS ‘A FAMILY MEMBER, 20 MONTHS OLD, HAS EPILEPSY AND MODERN MEDICINE IS NOT WORKING. CAN CBD OIL HELP HER? IF SO, WHO AND WHERE CAN THIS TREATMENT BE OFFERED? HER DOCTORS DON`T SEEM TO BE WELL EDUCATED IN THE CBD OILS USED FOR TREATMENT. CAN YOU HELP?’
SO WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS CHILD`S CASE?
DR WHITE: CBD is an extract of the Cannabis plant and does not have the ‘high’ associated with the THC component of the plant. There is a new prescription form of CBD called Epidiolex and it is FDA approved for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome in patients 2 years of age and older. It is widely believed that benefits would be seen in other children with poorly controlled epilepsy as well and the child in this case is approaching 2 years of age. So yes, this will soon be an option to consider.
It is not risk free, the baby will have to have blood tests be sure the drug is not hurting the liver and there are drug interactions to be aware of. CBD can make the baby more sleepy and sluggish during the day and once the baby is on a higher dose, the CBD needs to be gradually taken off, not just abruptly stopped as severe seizures can result. A competent doctor and pharmacist healthcare team can steer the baby through the worst of these issues though. I recommend the child`s parent ask the neurologist specifically about Epidiolex to discuss if it is the right option for them.
HOST: What about the CBD you can get off the internet or in smoke shops?
DR WHITE: People can get CBD in a nonprescription form from many places. I would be very concerned about getting CBD for my baby from these places though. There are studies showing that the amounts of CBD can vary widely from product to product and the specified dose of CBD on the label may not be truly what is in the bottle. We have shown in the past that Epilepsy patients are very sensitive to small changes in dosages of their seizure medications so wide swings in CBD dose can be downright dangerous.
Epidiolex has 0.1% THC and other CBD products are supposed to have less than 0.3% THC, but studies have shown that this may not be the case. There may be enough THC in some of these nonprescription CBD products to get the child ‘high’. THC exposure in children may increase the risk of schizophrenia or psychosis later in life, although the data showing this association is not strong. Finally, there may be contaminants in the nonprescription products that over time could make someone sick. If you need to go the nonprescription route, please only buy a product that has been tested (or that you had tested) in an outside commercial laboratory so the CBD and THC dose is known and it is proven free of contamination.
SO WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS CHILD`S CASE?
DR WHITE: CBD is an extract of the Cannabis plant and does not have the ‘high’ associated with the THC component of the plant. There is a new prescription form of CBD called Epidiolex and it is FDA approved for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome in patients 2 years of age and older. It is widely believed that benefits would be seen in other children with poorly controlled epilepsy as well and the child in this case is approaching 2 years of age. So yes, this will soon be an option to consider.
It is not risk free, the baby will have to have blood tests be sure the drug is not hurting the liver and there are drug interactions to be aware of. CBD can make the baby more sleepy and sluggish during the day and once the baby is on a higher dose, the CBD needs to be gradually taken off, not just abruptly stopped as severe seizures can result. A competent doctor and pharmacist healthcare team can steer the baby through the worst of these issues though. I recommend the child`s parent ask the neurologist specifically about Epidiolex to discuss if it is the right option for them.
HOST: What about the CBD you can get off the internet or in smoke shops?
DR WHITE: People can get CBD in a nonprescription form from many places. I would be very concerned about getting CBD for my baby from these places though. There are studies showing that the amounts of CBD can vary widely from product to product and the specified dose of CBD on the label may not be truly what is in the bottle. We have shown in the past that Epilepsy patients are very sensitive to small changes in dosages of their seizure medications so wide swings in CBD dose can be downright dangerous.
Epidiolex has 0.1% THC and other CBD products are supposed to have less than 0.3% THC, but studies have shown that this may not be the case. There may be enough THC in some of these nonprescription CBD products to get the child ‘high’. THC exposure in children may increase the risk of schizophrenia or psychosis later in life, although the data showing this association is not strong. Finally, there may be contaminants in the nonprescription products that over time could make someone sick. If you need to go the nonprescription route, please only buy a product that has been tested (or that you had tested) in an outside commercial laboratory so the CBD and THC dose is known and it is proven free of contamination.