Medical Cannabis for Seizures – An Insight Into The Curative Wonders Of Cannabis

Every 1 in 20 individuals is found to get a seizure at least once in their lifetime, which may or may not be due to epilepsy. More than 3.4 million individuals are affected by epilepsy, which clearly shows how widely humans are affected by seizures today. Seizures can substantially hinder the way to leading a normal life, making life extremely challenging at times.

Seizures are primarily caused by uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain that leads to excruciating symptoms. Healthcare science has been dedicated to finding different methods to cope with the disease. A diligent insight into the curative potential shows how using medical cannabis for seizures can be a promising practice.

Stick around to learn more about using medical cannabis for Seizures.

What Are Seizures?

Seizures may be associated with abnormally uncontrollable electrical activity in at least one part of the brain. This leads to changed behavior and physical symptoms that can be painful. The level of consciousness may or may not change during a seizure according to the type of seizure one is going through.

Depending on various factors, a seizure may last between a few seconds to several minutes. If the attack lasts more than 5 minutes, it is treated as a medical emergency and could be dangerous. Seizures aren’t always because of epilepsy.

Types of Seizures:

To grasp a better idea of seizures, experts categorize them into the following broad classes that are further narrowed down into other subtypes. This categorization of seizures makes it easier to understand the patient’s condition for appropriate treatment.

1. Focal Seizures:

Seizures of this kind are typically “focused” on a particular part of the brain, as the name implies. This means that a seizure is caused by abnormal electrical activity in one specific region of your brain. Note that the seizure may or may not be accompanied by loss of consciousness. Many times the patients are fully or partially conscious during the seizure. Most times, the symptoms of focal seizures are similar to those of other neurological symptoms.

Following are the subtypes of focal seizures.

• Impaired awareness:

This type of focal seizure involves a state of unconsciousness. One may seem conscious, but even this state of consciousness lacks awareness of the surroundings. Everything feels like a mere dream. The patient doesn’t appear to be able to respond appropriately to the environment and seems to be staring into space. The patient might not remember anything about the seizure as soon as it ends. 

• No loss of consciousness

These seizures do not affect your consciousness. All you may feel is a changed perception of taste, appearance, smell, or sound. Involuntary jerking and sudden changes in emotion might also take place.

1. Generalized Seizures:

This class of seizures involves seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in all areas of the brain. Here’s what different types of generalized seizures may feel like:

• Tonic seizures: The type of generalized Seizures that typically cause stiffness in your muscles is called tonic seizures. The most commonly affected regions are the back, legs, and arms. This ultimately leads you to lose consciousness and fall to the ground.
• Absence seizures: This generalized seizure is characterized by subtle body movements like gentle lip-smacking or eye blinking. You may get affected for no more than 10 seconds at a time. However, getting seizures several times a day is normal. There is a brief loss of awareness as well.
• Atonic Seizures: A sudden loss of muscle control leads to sudden collapsing of the body, which may make you or your head fall.
• Clonic Seizures: Clonic Seizures tend to affect your neck, arms, and face with repeated jerking

What Are the Symptoms Of Seizures?

It can be disorienting for the patients if generalized and focal seizures co-occur, which happens quite often in most cases. Even if they do not take place simultaneously, there’s a chance one of them will be followed by the other. The symptoms of seizures are likely to prevail for several minutes.

The following symptoms may precede a seizure:

• You may suddenly feel fear or anxiety rushing
• Suddenly feeling of being sick in the stomach
• Dizziness or grogginess
• The changed ability of sight
• Inability to hold things due to lack of control caused by jerky movements in the legs and arms.
• Feeling out of the body
• Headache and deja-vu

As the seizure starts progressing, you may feel the following effects in your body:

• Confusion, lack of understanding of the environment, and losing the state of consciousness
• Uncontrollable spasms in the muscles of the body
• Clenched teeth
• Frothing in the mouth
• Biting the tongue due to uncontrollable movements
• Rapid movements in the eyes
• Weaker bowel control
• Sudden changes in the mood according to the type of seizure
• Falling on the ground

The symptoms may widely vary according to the type of seizures you’re going through.

What are the Potential Causes of Seizures?

Medical Science brings forth several factors that respond to cause seizures in human beings. Anything affecting the brain in a way that causes abnormal electrical activity may lead to a seizure. They can stem from the following factors:

• Sudden alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures if you’re used to consuming it
• Meningitis and other brain infections.
• A brain injury that took place during fetal development or a child’s delivery.
• Choking
• Using certain substances may lead to seizures.
• Suddenly withdrawing certain substances.
• An electric shock induces abnormal electrical activity in one or all brain parts.
• Electrolyte imbalance
• Vascular abnormality in the brain
• Low glucose level

Risk Factors for Seizures:

The following factors may contribute to your vulnerability to get seizures:

• Research reveals that older citizens and younger children are at a greater risk of getting seizures. People can, however, get seizures at any age.
• Having someone in your family with epilepsy may make you more vulnerable to developing a seizure disorder.
• Head injuries pose serious threats to your brain’s well-being, which may produce abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The injuries might be caused due to an accident or during fetal development.
• Stroke and other vascular diseases may damage your brain and ultimately lead to seizures which implies that if you’ve had a stroke or a vascular disease, you’re exposed to greater risk.
• Some seizures are associated with fevers in young children.

Effects of Medical Cannabis For Seizures: How Does It Help?

The cannabis plant is widely recognized as one of the plants most strongly capable of binding with the cannabinoid receptors of the body. This ability of the said plant makes it capable of inducing favorable changes in the body.

Although not all patients are recommended to use medical cannabis for seizures, those that consider cannabis products with CBD as a potential alternative to conventional medications as a treatment report positive effects. CBD is found to reduce seizure activity in the body. Some kinds of seizures are drug-resistant, and CBD substantially improves the frequency and intensity of attacks.

Epidiolex is a CBD oil-based cannabis product approved by the FDA for treating seizures in patients of different age groups. The successful application of Epidiolex in the medical arena opens doors to the more practical application of the cannabis plant for medical conditions that involve seizures.

Patients may get pain in different parts of the body after a seizure which might take several hours or even a few days to go if left untreated. Cannabis can help deal with this pain as well.

What Does Research Indicate On The Use Of Medical Cannabis For Seizures?

Experts have been on their toes to connect and interlink several pictures of anecdotal evidence that supports the incredible abilities of the cannabis plant to reduce seizures.  

• Most cases of epilepsy in children are easily coped with the “mother of cannabinoids.” Research shows that the acidic forms of these cannabinoids can prove to be even more effective in reducing seizures. CBDV, CBGA, CBDVA, and CBGVA are four of the most effective acidic cannabinoids for Seizures, according to a clinical trial. [1]
• A clinical trial performed on 10 participants revealed that the frequency of seizures is reduced up to 86% and without any significant adverse effects. It can significantly reduce the use of antiepileptic treatments. [2]
• Another study approves of the abilities of the cannabis plant to reduce the intensity of symptoms preceding or followed by a seizure. [3] 

Final Thoughts:

Looking at the way cannabis and its cannabinoids can affect your body, using medical cannabis for seizures makes sense. Cannabis can help reduce the frequency and intensity of the attacks caused by several medical conditions, including epilepsy. Medical cannabis can help seizure patients live better without any side effects.

References:

1. https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.15661
   1. https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/5/1/e001234
   1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235654/