Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain, causing repeated seizures. These seizures happen because of unusual electrical activity in the brain. Doctors usually diagnose epilepsy if someone has had two or more seizures that weren’t caused by a known medical problem and occurred more than 24 hours apart. Epilepsy can also be diagnosed if there’s a high chance of more seizures after just one.
Living with epilepsy can bring challenges. It can increase the risk of other health issues, like anxiety and depression, and can make daily life harder. In the UK, it’s estimated that about 1 in every 100 people have epilepsy, highlighting how widespread this condition is.
How is Epilepsy Usually Treated?
The main way doctors treat epilepsy is with medicines called anticonvulsants. These aim to control seizures. For many people, these medications work well, reducing the number of seizures they have and lessening their impact.
However, for around one-third of people with epilepsy, these standard treatments don’t provide enough relief. Their seizures continue to happen frequently and severely. This is known as intractable or treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Exploring Medical Cannabis for Epilepsy
In recent years, scientists have been looking into whether substances found in cannabis, like cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), could help with seizures. The body has its own system, called the endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in how brain cells communicate. This system can affect whether seizures happen. Studies have suggested that the body’s own endocannabinoids, like anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), might have anti-seizure effects.
Cannabis-based medical products (CBMPs) are now being considered as another option for people with epilepsy that doesn’t respond well to traditional treatments. In the UK, the rules around medical cannabis changed in 2018, making some CBMPs, such as Epidyolex (which contains only CBD), available as an add-on treatment for specific types of epilepsy. However, we still need more information about how safe and effective other forms of medical cannabis are over the long term for epilepsy.
In a recent study, researchers looked at information from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry to see how patients with epilepsy responded to treatment with CBMPs.
The UK Medical Cannabis Registry: Learning from Real-Life Experiences
The UK Medical Cannabis Registry was started by Curaleaf Clinic (previously known as Sapphire Medical Clinics) in 2019. Its purpose is to gather real-world data on how safe and well medical cannabis works for various health conditions. As the first registry of its kind in the UK, the UK Medical Cannabis Registry offers valuable insights into how patients are responding to CBMPs.
What the Registry Data Shows
The recent analysis focused on patients with epilepsy who had been enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry for at least six months. The researchers looked at how patients reported their well-being before being prescribed medical cannabis and then again after one, three, and six months. They also noted any side effects that patients experienced. The main findings were:
- Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL): Patients reported changes in several areas related to their epilepsy and their general well-being after one, three, and six months. This was shown by questionnaires that specifically measure quality of life in epilepsy (QOLIE-31) and overall health (E5-5D-5L).
- Anxiety and Sleep: Participants also reported changes in anxiety and sleep quality
- Adverse Events: Most patients (96.27%) didn’t report any side effects. The most common side effects reported were confusion, tiredness, and headache.
What Does This Mean?
It’s important to remember that the UK Medical Cannabis Registry study observes what happens to patients in real life, which means it can’t definitively prove that medical cannabis causes the improvements seen. However, these findings give us valuable information about the potential of CBMPs for managing treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Help Advance Medical Cannabis Research
This research and the knowledge it provides are only possible because of the patients who participate in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. By sharing their experiences, these patients help us learn more about the potential of CBMPs for treating various conditions, including epilepsy.
Patients of Curaleaf can join the Curaleaf Access Scheme to contribute to this important research and potentially reduce the cost of their ongoing treatment. This kind of research is vital for improving care for patients and helping to shape future guidelines for prescribing medical cannabis in the UK.
