Research underway at the University of Saskatchewan is trying to determine if cannabis oil can be used to treat children with epilepsy.
Pediatric neurologist Dr. Richard Huntsman, who is helping lead the study, believes there may be something to the treatment that will help children.
“There have been some studies … and the results are conflicting,” Huntsman said.
“Some studies have suggested there is a benefit, others not so much. I think we really need to have a good look at this and study it.”
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Huntsman said the study will use a medical grade cannabis product where they know the concentrations of cannabidiol and THC.
“The study product we’re studying has very little THC in it and very high cannabidiol concentrations,” he said.
“These are desperate parents that we’re seeing … kids having 50, 60, even more seizures a day that are truly (resistant) to the medications and treatments that we have available to offer them.”
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Huntsman said one thing the study will look at is determining if the compound is safe to use in children.
“The ultimate goal is to take the data and then go to Health Canada and the other the regulating agencies to move forward and do clinical trials,” Huntsman said.
He hopes to be able to recruit children in the next one to two months to take part in the study, which will involve six kids from Saskatoon.
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