There are three types of epilepsy:
Focal onset - where the abnormal electrical activity is experienced in a specific region of the brain.
Generalised onset - where the abnormal electrical activity is experienced in both sides of the brain, resulting in more severe and widespread effects for the body.
Unknown onset - this is the most challenging type as the source is unidentifiable, the treatment course is much more challenging.
So why do seizures occur? The brain is built up of neurons that are purposed to transfer messages throughout the brain and body, through electrical impulses. For this to be effective, the neurons need to act together in some kind of order. If you think about a large meeting, nothing will be communicated if everybody speaks at once. But this is exactly what happens during a seizure; a large group of neurons will send messages simultaneously, which is known as hypersynchrony. This disrupts brain functionality and can spike changes in taste, vision, sound, smell, language, movement, emotion, and consciousness.
Although it hasn’t been fully established how extensive research and clinical trials have shown that CBD has a dramatic effect in reducing epileptic seizures. A meta-analysis took 670 people with varying cases of epilepsy and gave them full-spectrum CBD over the course of a year. At the end of the observation, 40% of participants saw their seizures halved, a quarter had a 70% drop, and 10% were seizure-free by the end [1].
Epidiolex is the name of the prescription medicine used to treat and control seizures in those who suffer from Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) and Dravet syndrome. This contains CBD and is FDA approved. As the first-FDA approved drug made from cannabis, Epidiolex has changed the view on cannabis and CBD.
CBD for treatment-resistant epilepsy
When taking CBD to manage epilepsy symptoms and seizures, it is important to use full spectrum CBD. Studies that have shown CBD and antiepileptic drugs to be effective in their treatment have found that extract containing a variety of other cannabinoids (known as full spectrum) is more beneficial[6]. This is due to the synergy of the cannabinoids, which work in the extract as they would work in nature, along with terpenes and other phytocannabinoids. 