Health Pedia

A group of 29 critically ill children have been chosen as the first patients to legally access medicinal cannabis in Victoria. The Andrews Government purchased the cannabidiol liquid from Canada  after changes to federal laws last year. The children all have severe intractable epilepsy and have multiple daily seizures. Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the children were nominated by paediatric neurologists to receive the treatment and then assessed by a clinical panel. "We know this medicine can dramatically change the quality of life for some of Victoria's very sick kids," she said. "This means families will no longer have to make the heartbreaking choice between breaking the law or watching their kids suffer." Ms Hennessy said the cost to the Government over a 12-month period would be about $1 million. "We know this medicine can dramatically change the quality of life for some of Victoria's very sick kids,...

A breakthrough that could help manage canine epilepsy by reducing seizures has been described by an RVC scientist involved in the research as “the most exciting thing I have done in my career ” Professor Volk was inspired to explore the effects of diet on epilepsy after breeders and owners claimed the food they gave their epileptic dogs influenced the control of their seizures. Research from the RVC canine epilepsy clinic, which identified neurological therapeutic nutrition as a way of helping manage epilepsy, has “given hope” to thousands of patients – particularly those that do not respond to traditional treatment, said neurology and neurosurgery specialist Holger Volk. “Canine epilepsy is a complex condition and can be very distressing for the dog and its owner,” said Prof Volk, who is head of the department of clinical science and services at the RVC. Anecdotal evidence Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have traditionally been used to treat the chronic neurological...

It's a little known fact that while St. Valentine is widely associated with love and the giving of 'valentines', he is also the patron saint of people with epilepsy. ​If someone mentions Valentine's day , you probably think of romance, flowers and chocolates and maybe even Cupid's arrow. While the connection with epilepsy is far less recognised, we thought St Valentine was due some recognition this month. There are many theories to explain St. Valentine's connection to epilepsy and it can be tricky to get to the heart of its origins. Historians offer different theories to explain how St. Valentine became an 'epilepsy saint'. St. Valentine's illness Some have suggested that there is a strong phonetic similarity in the German language between the words ‘Valentine’ and 'fallen' - epilepsy was known as 'the falling disease' for centuries. This strengthened St. Valentine's connection in the German language whic...

More than two million people in the United States suffer from epilepsy, which can cause sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness or convulsions. Dr. Gerald Grant, Trinity ‘89 and associate professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, returned to his alma mater Thursday for a talk on robotic surgery for epilepsy. The lecture, which was hosted by Duke's FOCUS program, is part of the ReFOCUS series that provides former FOCUS students with the opportunity to continue to be involved with the program . In his talk, Grant said that more than two million people in the United States suffer from epilepsy, and 400,000 to 600,000 people have seizures that cannot be controlled by antiepileptic drugs. “The quality of life is the most important and unfortunately, with epilepsy, unless we make them seizure-free, the patients’ quality of life does not improve a whole lot,” Grant said. Though 25 to 50 percent of patients with epilepsy can be potential candidates for surg...

Jamie asks can CBD Oil help with Epilepsy or does it need THC to be effective? Thank you for your excellent question. Let me first state that I am not a licensed physician. With cannabis still scheduled as an illegal drug and with limited long-term medical research, everything that is being said is derived from my own online research. I can express only what understanding I have about the medicinal properties of marijuana, but I do not prescribe medicine, and am not licensed to provide medical care. That being said, cannabis is showing some serious results when it comes to epilepsy, a seizure disorder that can be disruptive to a patient’s life and over time causes the loss of brain tissue and function. Many patients, who may have found few results through traditional treatment, have reported on the benefits of using marijuana in the treatment of their seizures. Cannabis and the Brain Cannabis has been used historically for medicinal reasons all the way bac...

INDIANAPOLIS -  An Indiana measure that would allow some epileptic people to be treated with oil derived from cannabis plants has cleared the state Senate. Indiana is among the last states to forbid even the issue of marijuana extracts that are low in THC and high in cannabidiol, or CBD, the compound that studies suggest may help reduce epileptic seizures. The measure creates a registry for some physicians, nurses, individuals and caregivers to treat intractable epilepsy with cannabidiol and permits pharmacies to dispense it. The Senate has sent it to the House for consideration. An amendment to the bill replaced references to "hemp oil" with cannabidiol. The measure defines cannabidiol as a plant extract or mixture containing less than 0.3 percent THC, at least 5 percent CBD and no other controlled substance. Source.... http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article132704084.html

1. Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures, which are basically like electric storms in your brain. Epilepsy, also known as a seizure disorder, is a disorder of the brain that causes recurrent, unprovoked seizures . Those seizures are caused by surges of electrical activity in the brain, often compared to an electric storm. In most cases, the cause of epilepsy is unknown. “Our challenge now is to understand the genetic architecture underlying each individual epilepsy,” Dr. Ley Sander, medical director at the Epilepsy Society in the U.K. and professor of neurology at University College London, told BuzzFeed. “We are also trying to understand why some people will respond well to a certain drug while others won’t.” 2. Not everyone with epilepsy has convulsive, jerking seizures. In fact, most people with epilepsy experience “partial” (or focal) seizures. These affect one area of the brain and can result in an aura, physiological reactions, or motor and sensor...

Epilepsy is a condition with the brain that causes the neurons inside of the brain to misfire and send the wrong signs, ultimately categorized by the seizures they cause. Seizures can differ between short losses of consciousness, to loss of motor control, to mood swings, but these indications of epilepsy are fundamentally the consequence of those brain signals being misfired. Analysis is generally done after brain scans, and the majority of people wait until after that analysis is done before they try any natural remedies for epilepsy. Seizures (also referred to as convulsions) happen to be the biggest symptoms of epilepsy, but they are not the same thing as epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological condition in which the mind is predisposed to unexpected changes in electrical activity, which can cause a seizure. Seizures, though, can and do happen to people that aren’t epileptic. Alternative remedies, although not a replacement for normal treatment, can help to re...

Marshall Christensen holds his daughter Jessica, who has a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome. Story highlights: Epilepsy is a general term for several diagnoses that involve recurring seizures There is no identifiable cause of epilepsy in 50% of cases Epilepsy symptoms vary from a blank stare to repeated twitching of arms and legs An estimated 2.3 million adults in the United States have epilepsy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Actress Sky McCole Bartusiak, who passed away Saturday, was one of them. Bartusiak’s mother said her daughter had suffered from epileptic seizures since she was a baby. Epilepsy is a general term for several diagnoses that involve recurring seizures. The seizures are triggered by abnormal electrical activity in the brain that results in involuntary changes in body movement, behavior, sensation and, in some cases, loss of consciousness. Here are seven things to know about epilepsy: 1. There i...

Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia means that you can say goodbye to any semblance of a normal life. It is a serious debilitating condition characterized by constant muscle pain and fatigue, symptoms which are usually accompanied by headaches, difficulty sleeping, and widespread joint pains. Because of the severity of the condition, people with fibromyalgia also tend to suffer from anxiety and depression.  If you spend most of your days dealing with extreme pain and fatigue, you just won’t have the energy to do things you enjoy. The fatigue can be so debilitating that for many patients still feel tired even after sleeping 10 hours a night. That’s if they’re lucky: many patients suffer so much from fibromyalgia symptoms that falling and staying asleep becomes difficult. The exact cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown, although the medical community agrees that it could be because of several factors including genetics, infection, or physical and emotional trauma. People ...

What if I told you its OK to change your mind based on new information? The knowledge of marijuana’s benefits is on the rise, the  high  rise if you will. Pun intended. More and more research is proving that marijuana isn’t the gateway drug that we are all made to believe it is. In fact, many of the negative things told to us about marijuana have proven to be false according to many recent studies. An increasing number of states in the U.S. are recognizing these new studies and changing history in the process. U.S. states started recognizing marijuana for it’s medicinal purposes, and a few states have now legalized cannabis recreationally. So why are these states legalizing it? What do they know that the rest of the great US of A doesn’t? Or, better yet, why are they willing to take the “risks” associated with legalizing weed? Since legalizing marijuana, Colorado has been faced with a  huge problem …just what will they do with all that extra tax money? Last year lega...