[News] Little girl helped with medical marijuana

[MaryK]

Thought this article was interesting.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana/index.html

 

[CathyAnn31]

I enjoyed that article, thank you. Her case was so grim and nothing was helping her. If cannabis helps her, then who are we to judge...??? Also, since the mj she uses is low in thc, she's not "getting high" like one would think. One of the comments hit the nail on the head. :

"This natural medicine is a Federally banned substance why? Because of big industry (Pharma) and fear-mongering. They almost killed this little girl with all the medications they gave her, and all along, a simple plant extract could have saved her so much pain. Wake up people, marijuana is more than just a way to get high, it can treat some diseases much better than the chemicals your MD prescribes."

I hope she continues to improve.

 

[Endless]

MEDICAL Marijuana

There was a documentary Sunday on CNN called "Weed." It was on medical marijuana, its pros, and its cons. Towards the end of the show there was quite a bit on research being done in other countries, especially Israel.

They highlighted a little 5 year old girl who was having 300 seizures a week. No seizure medicine was controlling it and she was living in a comatose state. Her parents tried her on a Marijuana tincture and now she's down to 1 seizure a week, and living a happy, normal life. The Marijuana she was given was very low in THC and very high in CBD. CBD is the active ingredient the parents (and others) believed were halting her seizures. This could be challenging to find in states other than those who have legal medical marijuana dispensaries.

Here's a link to the full episode of the Weeds documentary:



Here's a link to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's website:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana

 

[Nakamova]

It's exasperating when there's a treatment out there (one that's probably at least as effective as Big Pharma's e-meds), but no way to get it in the mainstream pipeline here in the U.S.

 

[Dignan]

Keeping this substance from being legalized when it could clearly benefit people with a multitude of medical issues is what is truly criminal.

Imagine if this were actually researched in depth, if the different variants and ingredients were investigated with the same fervor that new pharma is developed..

Instead people knee jerk when they hear the word marijuana and a potential benefit to many suffering people is suppressed in the name of politics.


Ok.. who wants to go start a pot farm? Who's with me?

 

[CathyAnn31]

Meeeee!!

Disregard my post on the other thread, lol.

 

[Mantis]

This makes me want to try this form of marijuana myself, even more so than before. I'm certain that my meds are causing my undesirable side effects that have worsened over the past five years. My epilepsy hasn't got any better, just worse. As expressed though, it's the pharma companies and their push for their monopoly, and my doctor would probably just write off anything I say as an undocumented herbal treatment. I wish I was joking.

I'll wait and see if my temporal lobe surgery is approved, then decide on the MJ if not.

 

[epileric]

I have to admit it was definitely an interesting show but what bothered me about it is that over 45 minutes of the hour focused on what was presented in a very emotional way. All the way through it I was very aware of how my emotions were being played on & how such little statistical information was being given on research or proven effects until a little the end.

Many people have tried things & felt better afterwards but it is frequently proven later that they felt better for other reasons. In short, correlation does not equal causation.

He did talk at the end a bit about what little research is being done and he did say that there hasn’t been any proof yet of it helping and even that was mentioned as though it was more a of a detail. Talking about proven facts for so little time & spending so much time presenting something that obviously was meant to appeal to my emotions made me perceive Sanjay Guptas show more as propaganda than truly informative.

I’m not saying marijuana may not be helpful but I believe that we should base our medical use on it on research & not anecdotes.

This is simply an anecdote of no quality whatsoever. Did he thoroughly investigate her case to determine if the number of seizures actually went down? Do we know that cannabis has anything to do with the change? Is this nothing more than a Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, that just because she consumed cannabis and the seizures decreased does not mean anything about cannabis’ causative properties with regards to this type of seizure. And then, Dr. Gupta continues with the anecdotes by stating, “I have seen more patients like Charlotte first hand, spent time with them and come to the realization that it is irresponsible not to provide the best care we can as a medical community, care that could involve marijuana.” Why do these TV doctors (like Dr. Oz) think that their anecdotes are better than anyone else’s.

Anecdotes are useless because they aren’t controlled, because they are subject to all levels of bias, and because these stories aren’t peer-reviewed. In other words, anecdotes have no value in science-based medicine. Anecdotes do have value in formulating testable scientific hypotheses, but assuming that anecdote=data, and more anecdotes=more data is simply pseudoscientific

Marijuana and cancer–Sanjay Gupta’s anecdotes are not science

I do agree with Dignan however on the other thread (msg 240) and also believe that more research is necessary and that we have enough experiences to justify doing so. My personal opinion is that the US (and some other countries) needs to get over their phobia of researching certain things that are likely to be helpful or curative and focus on what might be helpful rather than legal (it's how we discovered the pros & cons of opiates).

 

[jenn2482]

This makes me want to try this form of marijuana myself, even more so than before. I'm certain that my meds are causing my undesirable side effects that have worsened over the past five years. My epilepsy hasn't got any better, just worse. As expressed though, it's the pharma companies and their push for their monopoly, and my doctor would probably just write off anything I say as an undocumented herbal treatment. I wish I was joking.

I'll wait and see if my temporal lobe surgery is approved, then decide on the MJ if not.

Hi , are u in a state where it is legal ? My state ny is not and I can not handle the side effects from my 5 meds . I have gotton worse emotionally with in the last 3 months because of my seizures .

 

[Mantis]

Hi , are u in a state where it is legal ? My state ny is not and I can not handle the side effects from my 5 meds . I have gotton worse emotionally with in the last 3 months because of my seizures .

Hi, I'm actually in England, though I know of the laws being on a state-by-state basis in the US. I'm not fully sure on the legality here, but I'm going to look into it. I can relate to how you feel. Epilepsy has socially crippled me and I've become something of a shut-in because of how much my personality has changed. But we must remember... there's hope, for both of us. It might be before Christmas, or in three years' time or considerably longer. The knowledge I may well be able to travel and explore this beautiful world one day with no worries or constant anxiety is why I'm still living.

 

[Chaz1]

My Son is trying out CDB oil, very little THC, 26/1. 26 CBD to 1 THC.

Just started this week Wed - he seeing no side effects what so ever...

Started with one drop before bed and if he has another seizure, please God he won’t will increase to 2 and so on...

on side note, we are seeing way less seizures after decreasing med

keep you all posted

 

[epileric]

Chaz, if you are seeing way less seizures after decreasing the meds maybe you should wait a while & see if the seizures go away by themselves.

This way, if your sons seizures keep lessening or stop you'll know whether it was the stopping of the meds or the CDB oil that helped.

You also might not have to use the CDB oil if they are lessening or going away.

 

[Chaz1]

epileric,

thank u much...I hear ya…

we been down long journey of healing which has brought about - the seizure and med reduction...mind and body I might add....

want to try/use CBD and rid of all other vitamins and helpers to give it a true go..

med reduction has not taken seizure away fully but they are less intense and less frequent, his overall wellbeing/health (how the kiddo truly feels) is by far – much better and you can see it on him/physically (he sensitive, very sensitive to meds)….something still missing and right now it’s not adding another med – at least until all natural options are tried ....CBD looking hopeful for some and sure no guarantee – NONE, and we well aware of that….

we stopping all except med/acupuncture (coz he loves this, says brings great peace) while we go on this trail so we know if it’s the CBD or not..

always appreciate your input, thank u!

 

[epileric]

My Pleasure, Chaz. Best of luck on this long journey.

Just remember when adding new treatments to do so slowly so that you know exactly which one is helping or hindering.

 

[Chaz1]

thanks epileric. U r 100% right....

our Son home with us for just over a year as an in betweener and I went for the gusto of healing while he briefly back under wing, see a dif young man in front of me now heading back into life on own 2 feet, he understands there ARE options to try - and that are worth exploring along with and/or outside med....never know..

 

[epileric]

see a dif young man in front of me now heading back into life on own 2 feet,

Yaaay.... That is so great! :brock: