Marijuana component fights epilepsy
Severe seizures reduced with cannabidiol, but more testing is needed
By Nathan Seppa
A buzz-free component of marijuana can benefit epilepsy patients who have particularly severe seizures, a new study suggests. Taking an extract of the cannabis compound cannabidiol substantially cut the patients’ number of seizures over nearly three months.
Cannabidiol seems to mitigate the psychoactive effect of THC, the main euphoria-inducing chemical in cannabis. But cannabidiol also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that earlier work suggested could benefit people with multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease (SN: 6/19/2010, p. 16).