Studies have shown how CBD can be used in order to treat epilepsy, specifically by improving quality of life. However, some people might be wondering if it can be used for children suffering from ailment. In fact, a recent study, released this past July, looked into this, focusing on using CBD gels. They found that not only would it be safe for children, but that it helps to treat the ailment as well.

Study

The researchers in charge of this study focused on the effects that CBD gels had on 48 children, aged between 3 and 18, over a 6.5-month period. Each of the children had a form of developmental and epileptic neural ailment. Parents of the children applied the CBD gel twice a day and recorded any seizures they had.

Children weighing 25 kg or less received 250 mg of CBD per day to start with while those over 25 kg received double that. After a month, the researchers increased the two amounts by 250 mg per day, reaching 500 mg and 750 mg per day respectively. After two and a half months, the researchers increased the dosages again by 250 mg, resulting in children under 25 kg receiving 750 mg per day and the children over that receiving 1000 mg.

Results

At the end of the trial, the researchers found that the children’s average seizure rate had decreased by 12.3 percent. However, they found that the rate decreased even more for certain seizures, like focal impaired awareness seizures. With these seizures, the researchers found the rate decreased by 44.5 percent.

However, most of the children, 46 out of the 48 participants, reported suffering at least one adverse side effect during the study. This included upper respiratory tract infections, excessive sleepiness, and vomiting. However, most of these participants were also taking other anti-epilepsy medications during the study. As such, the reported effects could have resulted from these other medications.

The researchers also noted that there seemed to be an improvement in the patients’ behavior, mood, and sleep patterns.

Discussion

Despite the reported improvements in children, researchers are still uncertain about using CBD in children. This is because there have been fewer studies examining the effects on them rather than on adults. The worry is that medical cannabis could affect children differently, even negatively, when compared to adults. Researchers will need to take special care in determining how both CBD and medical cannabis affect children differently. Hopefully, as people continue to examine the effects, researchers will be able to definitively show whether or not it is safe for children to take CBD.

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