WASHINGTON, DC—Patients with epilepsy who use medicinal marijuana report that the drug is very effective for their seizure control and mood disorders, according to research presented at the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society.
Lady Diana Ladino, MD, Lizbeth Hernandez, MD, and Jose Tellez-Zenteno, MD, analyzed 18 patients with epilepsy (12 males; 89% Caucasian) who had a prescription for medicinal marijuana from a Canadian adult epilepsy program. The authors reviewed charts regarding the participants’ marijuana use pattern, and they collected clinical, EEG, and imaging data. The mean age of subjects was 30 (range, 19 to 50). Eleven patients had focal epilepsy, 13 patients were on polytherapy, 11 had drug-resistant epilepsy, and seven patients had had epilepsy surgery.
Sixty-one percent of patients reported having psychiatric comorbidity, and depression was the most common disorder. Use of other illicit substances, such as stimulants (eg, cocaine or amphetamines), moderate to heavy smoking, and heavy alcohol drinking, were common behaviors. Drug use pattern was similar among all participants; 16 patients had an extensive history of drug use, with a mean of 6.6 years. The average amount of marijuana consumption was 2 g/day, and the overall mean duration of follow-up since the medical prescription had begun was 26 months.
“Patients with epilepsy using medical marijuana have common characteristics,” stated Dr. Ladino, Research Epilepsy Fellow, Division of Neurology, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. “They are usually young men with drug-resistant epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidity. They commonly reported the use of other substances.”
All patients said that marijuana improved their seizure frequency and severity and had an effect on their mood disorder. In addition, all patients said that the drug improved their general well-being, and 16 patients said that marijuana improved their sleep quality and appetite.
“All patients have the perception that the drug was very effective on their seizure control and mood disorder,” Dr. Ladino commented. “Due to the concurrent use of other antiseizure medications, it is really complex to estimate the real effect of medical marijuana.”
—Colby Stong