Epileptic seizures are numerous and anyone could possibly have a seizure at some point in their life. Nevertheless, having epilepsy is different, it is a disorder of the central nervous system in which the brain activity becomes abnormal, causing convulsions, and sometimes a loss of consciousness. Relayed by our colleagues of the daily mail, discover the amazing story of this girl who had up to 300 seizures a day and who has almost no more thanks to the cannabis oil.
Everyone can develop epilepsy, the disease affects men and women of all origins and all ages. The symptoms may vary considerably, but having one seizure does not mean that you have epilepsy. Indeed, a person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have at least two unprovoked seizures. The term "unprovoked" refers to seizures that have not been caused by malignant disease, fever or head trauma.
Teagan Appleby, a young girl with severe epilepsy has almost no crisis thanks to cannabis oil.
Teagan Appleby, a 9-year-old girl, was born with isodicentric chromosome 15 syndrome. A rare disorder in the chromosome that, at the age of four years, was diagnosed with severe epilepsy belonging to the pediatric group "epileptic encephalopathies": Lennox Gastaut syndrome.
The girl's health had become so severe that she could no longer feed herself and therefore had to be put into an artificial coma after having had five seizures in the space of eight days last summer.
Emma Appleby, Teagan's mom said, "The situation has really gotten worse very quickly. She was having seizures every day, and that could go up to 300 seizures a day. She lost all her abilities, yet before she had epilepsy she could run in the garden and feed herself, but because of the illness she became completely dependent and needed someone to take care of her. she constantly. "
To help her daughter, Ms. Applebby launched a fundraising campaign to send Teagan to Canada for a THC treatment process. The latter being the psychoactive compound of cannabis responsible for its pharmacological effects in humans.
Cannabis oil has been legalized in England, Scotland and Wales since November 1, and Emma says Teagan has received Epidiolex, a drug that contains Cannabidiol, a cannabis compound, but no THC. . Ms. Applebby does not know why her daughter did not receive a THC-containing medication, however, Epidiolex was enough to stop her seizures during the day.
Also, even if the drug was enough to control his attacks during the day, they nevertheless occurred at night. But according to her mom, for optimal remission, Teagan would need a prescription of cannabis-derived THC-containing drugs, she said, "When you have a child who has epileptic seizures 300 times a day, you are happy even if it is a 50% decrease. All I want is a better quality of life for Teagan because I am torn to see her suffer so much. She was a happy and very loving child (...) It could be a whole new life for her, she could be like a whole new child. "
Although legalized, there is no guide to prescribe cannabis oil and doctors are still reluctant to order it. Moreover, shortly after its legalization, it is not yet widely marketed in pharmacies in the United Kingdom.
Lennox Gastaut's syndrome
Lennox Gastaut's Syndrome is a seizure syndrome that causes tonic absences (which occur only at night and cause stiffness of the limbs) and atypical absences (vacant or empty glances) generally difficult to control and intellectual disability. According to statistics from the Florida Hospital, it accounts for 4% of cases of epilepsy in children. This syndrome affects children between the ages of 2 to 6 years and in most cases causes a psychomotor regression.
Causes of Lennox Gastaut syndrome
According to AboutKidsHealth, most children with this syndrome have a family history of epilepsy, although there is no direct evidence of heredity in this condition.
However, other factors may be at the origin of this disease:
- Degenerative disorders of the nervous system
- A brain malformation
- Brain injury that occurred before or after birth
- An infection of the central nervous system.