Cannabidiol has shown to be effective for a severe form of epilepsy, according to a new University of Otago study.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first Class 1 clinical trial of the drug cannabidiol and has shown it is effective at reducing convulsive seizures in Dravet syndrome - a severe childhood epilepsy disorder associated with drug-resistant seizures, developmental delay, and a high mortality rate.
The only New Zealander on the project was Associate Professor Lynette Sadleir, an epilepsy researcher and paediatric neurologist at the University of Otago in Wellington.
![Associate Professor Lynette Sadleir. Photo / supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/YCJGDWF76J5X6ZYFGYIFQHFYX4.jpg?auth=38b31bc52489f34248f7f5bb5cb7a58a4e4757b3ccc8eed7fea7e3745d2f6712&width=16&height=20&quality=70&smart=true)
"This study is significant because it is the first scientific clinical evidence we have of an effect of a plant-derived cannabinoid therapeutic medication on epilepsy," she said.
"Previous reports of effects, widely reported in the media, were of individual children and it was unclear if these reflected a true effect for children in general with this type of epilepsy."
Associate Professor Sadleir's expertise is in diagnosing children with specific types of epilepsy.