{"id":7512,"date":"2017-06-28T12:31:44","date_gmt":"2017-06-28T12:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cannitrol.com\/\/?p=7512"},"modified":"2017-06-29T00:25:21","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T00:25:21","slug":"can-mmj-help-kids-with-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/can-mmj-help-kids-with-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Can MMJ Help Kids with Autism?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/can-mmj-help-kids-with-autism\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>MODI\u2019IN, ISRAEL \u2014 When Noa Shulman came home from school, her mother, Yael, sat her down to eat, then spoon-fed her mashed sweet potatoes \u2014 mixed with cannabis oil.<\/p>\n<p>Noa, who has a severe form of autism, started to bite her own arm. \u201cNo sweetie,\u201d Yael gently told her 17-year-old daughter. \u201cHere, have another bite of this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Noa is part of the first clinical trial in the world to test the benefits of medicinal marijuana for young people with autism, a potential breakthrough that would offer relief for millions of afflicted children \u2014 and their anguished parents.<\/p>\n<p>There is anecdotal evidence that marijuana\u2019s main non-psychoactive compound \u2014 cannabidiol or CBD \u2014 helps children in ways no other medication has. Now this first-of-its-kind scientific study is trying to determine if the link is real.<\/p>\n<p>Israel is a pioneer in this type of research. It\u00a0permitted the use of medical marijuana in 1992, one of the first countries to do so. It&#8217;s also one of just three countries with a government-sponsored medical cannabis program, along with Canada and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>Several years ago, a marijuana strain called Charlotte\u2019s Web became wildly popular. The strain was named after a young girl who suffered neurological symptoms that were successfully treated with the high-CBD content of the strain.<\/p>\n<p>Now, more and more parents are considering the use of CBD oils for treating autism directly. Since autism presents in many different ways across the spectrum, the potency and application of the <a href=\"http:\/\/arizonaorganix.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/30\/mmj-for-kids-treatment-options\">concentrated CBD oil<\/a> can be adjusted to meet the specific needs of the child.<\/p>\n<p>Parents have reported that a small dose of CBD oil can interrupt an attack caused by autism, such as violent outbursts or anti-social behaviors, and the concentrated oil takes effect very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders, affecting 1 in 68 children in the United States,\u00a0according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its debilitating symptoms include impaired communication and social skills, along with compulsive and repetitive behaviors.\u00a0Autism typically emerges in infancy or early childhood.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Advocates for combating the\u00a0disorder are calling attention to it by declaring April National Autism Awareness Month.<\/p>\n<p>Noa&#8217;s mother has to feed and bathe\u00a0her\u00a0and change\u00a0her diapers. Noa is\u00a0unable to speak and often behaves aggressively. Yael, a mother of three with a full-time job in this city halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, has tried to find caretakers to help, but they don\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n<p>Only two medications have been approved in the United States\u00a0by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the symptoms of autism. Both are antipsychotic drugs that are not always effective and carry serious side effects.<\/p>\n<div class=\"partner-outstream\"><\/div>\n<p>When Noa took them, \u201cshe was like a zombie,\u201d Yael said. \u201cShe would just sit there with her mouth wide open, not moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Noa is part of a\u00a0study that began in January at\u00a0the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. It involves 120\u00a0children and young adults, ages\u00a05 to 29, who have\u00a0mild to severe autism, and it will last through the end of 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Adi Aran, the pediatric neurologist leading the study, said nearly all the participants previously took antipsychotics and nearly half responded negatively. Yael desperately pushed Aran and other doctors to prescribe cannabis oil\u00a0after a news report aired about a mother who illegally obtained it for her autistic son\u00a0and said it was the only thing that helped him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany parents were asking for cannabis for their kids,\u201d Aran said. \u201cFirst I said, &#8216;No, there\u2019s no data to support cannabis for autism, so we can\u2019t give it to you.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that changed about a year ago after studies in Israel showed that cannabis helped children with epilepsy by\u00a0drastically reducing seizures and\u00a0improving\u00a0behavior\u00a0for those who also have autism. Epilepsy afflicts about 30%\u00a0of autistic children, Aran said.<\/p>\n<p>Mounting anecdotal reports of autistic children who benefited from cannabis also led Aran to pursue more scientific testing. After seeing positive results in\u00a070 of his autistic patients in an observational study, Aran said, \u201cOK we need to do a clinical trial so there will be data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Study participants are given liquid drops like those mixed into Noa&#8217;s sweet potatoes. They receive one of two different cannabis oil formulas, or a placebo. The oil does not cause a high because of low levels of THC, marijuana&#8217;s main psychoactive ingredient.<\/p>\n<p>Yael doesn&#8217;t know if her daughter is receiving the cannabis or a placebo. Noa\u00a0is calmer on some days since beginning the trial, she said, but on other days she&#8217;s aggressive and irritable.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, just being a part of the study gives\u00a0Yael hope. \u201cI had really come to a point where I no longer had the power \u2014\u00a0not physically, not emotionally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., it has been very difficult to gather enough research to support the positive effects of MMJ. Part of the reason is that researchers cannot get the funding they need to launch large-scale studies here.<\/p>\n<p>However, other parts of the world, like Israel, have been more receptive to the medical applications of marijuana for autism, and there are currently more than 110 studies taking place in Israel alone to study the efficacy of marijuana as a long-term treatment option.<\/p>\n<p>There is significant concern from pediatricians and other medical professionals about the effects of CBD on brain development over the course of the child\u2019s life. However, many marijuana advocates have argued that before switching to CBD, their children were faced with a lifetime full of opioids and other prescription drug cocktails to manage symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>More than 110 cannabis clinical trials are underway in Israel\u00a0\u2014 more than any other country, according to Michael Dor, senior medical adviser at the Health Ministry\u2019s medical cannabis unit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7513\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7513\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7513 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/autismSLIDE-300x171.jpg\" alt=\"Can MMJ Help Kids with Autism?\" width=\"300\" height=\"171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/autismSLIDE-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/autismSLIDE.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7513\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"http:\/\/arizonaorganix.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/02\/can-mmj-help-kids-with-autism\/\">Can MMJ Help Kids with Autism?<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Alan Shackelford, a Harvard-trained physician, sparked a surge in American interest in cannabis treatment for epileptic children in 2013, when\u00a0he used medical marijuana to treat\u00a0a young girl in Colorado and her seizures drastically decreased. He said he tried for years to conduct clinical trials in the U.S.,\u00a0but \u201cI was meeting nothing but closed doors to study something that was so clearly beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shackelford said\u00a0a colleague spent seven years trying to get approval from U.S.\u00a0authorities to\u00a0study\u00a0cannabis treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. By contrast,\u00a0Aran said it took Israel\u2019s Ministry of Health six months to approve his clinical trial with autistic children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael leads the world in inquiries and studies on cannabis as a potential medical treatment,\u201d said Shackelford, who recently launched an Israeli company to conduct research on medical cannabis here because of the restrictions he faced in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>He said the U.S. government has funded $1.4 billion in marijuana research since 2008, but $1.1 billion of that went to studying addiction, withdrawal and drug abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Aran cautioned\u00a0against premature conclusions about cannabis as a treatment for autism, but he said many children have shown significant improvements. Some no longer hurt themselves or throw tantrums. Some are more communicative. Others were able to return to classes after they had been suspended for\u00a0behavioral problems.<\/p>\n<p>Tamir Gedo, CEO of Breath of Life Pharma,\u00a0which provides the cannabis oil for the study, said one mother reported, &#8220;My child is speaking relentlessly. \u2026 He never spoke before. And he&#8217;s 12 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One major concern is the\u00a0long-term impact of\u00a0prescribing cannabis to young patients,\u00a0said Sarah Spence, co-director of the Autism Spectrum Center at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cThere certainly could be harm\u201d to brain development, she said.<\/p>\n<p>But opioids and antipsychotic drugs currently prescribed to children are more harmful, said Gedo.\u00a0\u201cThese families have no other hope.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MODI\u2019IN, ISRAEL \u2014 When Noa Shulman came home from school, her mother, Yael, sat her down to eat, then spoon-fed her mashed sweet potatoes \u2014 mixed with cannabis oil. Noa, who has a severe form of autism, started to bite her own arm. \u201cNo sweetie,\u201d Yael gently told her 17-year-old daughter. \u201cHere, have another bite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[77,56,9,61],"tags":[4145,4349,7169],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7514,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions\/7514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}