EPIDIOLEX
It’s fun to smoke marijuana. It’s also probably good for you, too. At least for some things. Nothing is 100% good for you, so let’s dispense with that illusion right now. But there is a lot of research out there that says dope is…well, dope.
Widespread acceptance of the health benefits of sweet Mary Jane is an on-going process, but recently another step was taken along that path. An FDA advisory committee just recommended by a unanimous vote that the FDA approve the epilepsy medication Epidiolex. Epidiolex has an active ingredient called cannabidiol, or CBD, which is a non-high producing compound found in marijuana. It is used to specifically treat Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, both of which begin in childhood, sometimes as early as six months.
GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, the United Kingdom based company that manufactures Epidiolex, conducted three separate studied over fourteen weeks. The results were convincing. The drug decreased overall seizures in subjects by 40%.
Predictably, the primary side-effect is sleepiness. However, prolonged use may result in liver injury.
But epilepsy isn’t the only condition the drug could wind up treating. Cannabidiol is also known to help with arthritis and multiple sclerosis, to name only two.
The final decision is expected no later than June 27th. If approved, Epidolex will be the first cannabis-approved drug available in the United States. Hopefully, it won’t be the last.
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CBD is also showing promise for anxiety issues and PTSD. I'm glad they are looking into it more and more.
Here in Philippines, when you smoke weed you die (the government will try to kill you). I wish our government will try to look at the advantages and the good benefits it has like in US.
In Germany similar drugs are in use already for treating the Tourette syndrome or epilepsy. It's a good income source for the pharmaceutical industry here.
@seelc
It's nice to see cannabis put to use in medicine. I am wondering what is in Epidiolex that would cause the patient to be at risk of transaminase elevation causing a need to monitor their liver enzyme levels to verify safety. CBD is good for many different ailments and it would be nice to see doctors prescribing it versus something else that might be worse for the patient. Great article.
That is way we have to give up smoking. There is no good thing in smoking. So everybody should give up smoking.
I am still sure that this kind of dope--i.e. cannabis--has much more benefits than harms ... many recent studies prove it...
Anyway, a very informative post. Hope more people pay attention to it...
Thanks for sharing, @writesbackwards... ❤😍
If I wanted to be changed with someone else, I want to be you boss, greatness is all over you..
One benefit of cannabis is good for natural pesticide, but I'm very difficult to use it because banned in Indonesia