Dravet Syndrom is a genetic condition that causes epilepsy and autism-like behavior. According to a study released by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Cannabidol (CBD) reduces symptoms in mice with the condition, UW Medicine reports.
“There has been increasing interest in the lay press about parents who have used cannabidiol to successfully treat their children,” William Catterall said. Catterall is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
After developing a genetic model for Dravet Syndrome in mice, the researchers discovered that mice treated with lower doses of CBD showed decreases in epileptic and autistic symptoms. When doses were increased epileptic symptoms were suppressed further and the autistic symptoms were more likely to return, UW Medicine reports. At higher doses the CBD reversed the core mechanism in which Dravet Syndrome hinders brain activity.
There is a litany of research that supports CBD treats some forms of epilepsy, but epilepsy is hard to treat. CBD has shown to make epilepsy worse in some cases, according to NPR. This makes CBD’s relationship with epilepsy hard to study, and the fact that cannabis is still federally illegal makes it even harder to study the relationship.
CBD’s relationship with other cannabinoid’s like THC needs further research. It could be the key in finding long-term solutions for CBD as an epileptic medicine. We know that successful CBD treatments result in far fewer and milder post-treatment symptoms, per UW Medicine. Now the key is finding out which forms of epilepsy are helped by CBD and which ones are hurt by it.
