A new study suggests a worrying link between frequent marijuana use and care-intensive seizures in people with ‘hard-to-treat’ epilepsy. While it’s too early to prove causation, researchers believe the connection warrants further study.
‘Unsettling trend’
Adults with “hard-to-treat epilepsy” who used cannabis most days had “more than twice as many convulsive seizures” per year and “more rapidly became resistant to antiseizure medications” compared with nonusers, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in the journal Epilepsia, a press release said.
The researchers reviewed the medical records of 64 adults with drug-resistant epilepsy who were admitted to an inpatient unit where “doctors monitored their seizures in real time,” said U.S. News & World Report. Twenty-two of them “reported using marijuana at least 20 days a month.” The difference between the two groups “was significant.” In total, “91% of frequent users experienced convulsive seizures compared with 57% of nonusers.”
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An FDA-approved cannabis-derived epilepsy treatment exists, Epidiolex, but it is “only made from cannabidiol (CBD),” said Gizmodo. The team suspects THC, the other active compound in cannabis, “could be the primary culprit behind this unsettling trend.”
Next steps
The researchers emphasized that the “current data demonstrate an observational association rather than direct causation,” said Neuroscience News. Moving forward, the team is designing a “prospective, multisite study” incorporating blood tests rather than “self-reported usage.”
The primary takeaway is to “not ignore cannabis use in epilepsy or to assume it is beneficial,” said senior study author Aaron Struck to Gizmodo. It is worthwhile to “discuss with a treating physician” if “stopping or reducing THC may be beneficial to your care.”
