New analysis from the UK has found that cannabis-based medicines are associated with improvements in symptoms and overall quality of life in patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Researchers say the study, which analysed data from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR), shows the ‘promising potential’ of cannabis-based medicines in treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Approximately 51.7 million people live with epilepsy, with around a third of cases thought to be treatment-resistant, meaning they continue to experience seizures, despite the use of anti‐epileptic drugs.
Medical cannabis has shown promise in the treatment of these severe forms of epilepsy, with certain compounds such as CBD having demonstrated anti‐seizure properties.
A recent review found nearly 100 clinical trials, real-world studies, and observational research on the role of Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products (CBMPs) in epilepsy management, with some studies showing reductions in seizures of up to 84%.
The new case series analysed data collected on 134 patients with epilepsy who had been enrolled in the UKMCR for at least six months. The average age of participants was 37 and the majority (67%) said they were using cannabis prior to joining the registry, with 86% using it daily.
Data analysis found clinically significant improvements in epilepsy-specific outcomes at one, three and six months compared baseline, with a third of patients attaining the minimal clinically important difference at six months.
Whilst the study did not collect data on seizure frequency, researchers say the overall score for Quality of Life in Epilepsy‐31 questionnaire used in this study, has been shown to be indirectly correlated to the number of seizures. Given this, and the fact that overall seizure worry decreased, it can be estimated that seizure frequency also reduced, the authors say.
Patients reported an improvement in sleep quality— poor sleep is a risk factor for increased seizure frequency, seizure burden and disease progression — and reduced anxiety. Meanwhile, significant improvements were also demonstrated in overall quality of life related to pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression.
Due to the design of the study, it is not possible to determine causality between CBMPs and improved outcomes. However, the authors say it shows the ‘promising potential of CBMPs as an adjunctive treatment option’ in the management of treatment-resistant epilepsy, and further randomised control trials are needed to fully evaluate the viability of broad‐spectrum CBMPs in these patients.
The authors state: “The results suggest an association between initiating CBMP treatment and an improvement in patient‐reported epilepsy‐specific outcomes, alongside improvements in anxiety, sleep quality, and general HRQoL. With 96.27% of patients not reporting any AEs [adverse events], this suggests that CBMPs are generally well‐tolerated.”
The post Medical Cannabis Linked to Improvements in Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy – Study appeared first on Cannabis Health News.
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Author: News Editor
