A recent study states that Cannabis treatment for teenage patients with Autism is well tolerated, safe and effective option to relieve symptoms including seizures, tics and depression. The study found that after six months of treatment, 30 per cent of patients reported significant improvement, 53.7 per cent reported moderate improvement and only 15 per cent had slight or no change. Overall, more than 80 per cent of the parents reported significant or moderate improvement in their child, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an extensive developmental disorder that is expressed in almost all dimensions of the child’s development.
For the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team from Ben-Gurion University analysed the data prospectively collected as part of the treatment programme of 188 ASD patients treated with medical cannabis between 2015 and 2017.
The treatment in a majority of the patients was based on cannabis oil containing 30 per cent cannabidiol oil (CBD) and 1.5 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Good quality of life was reported by 31.3 per cent of patients prior to treatment initiation. At six months, good quality of life more than doubled for 66.8 per cent. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is doing research on the medicinal use of cannabis for treating diseases like cancer and epilepsy.
