CBD Health

CBD For Autism: New Research Shows Promising Results

Legalized Marijuana Could Help Curb the Opioid Epidemic
Written by Alexandra Hicks

There are currently no clinical studies on cannabis and autism, regardless, there is mounting ancillary research from doctors and patients alike.

Due to the lack of scientific data, doctors have been prohibited from prescribing or even suggesting cannabis use as an option for treating autism. There is however, a great deal of anecdotal evidence that suggests CBD can help autistic children like no other medication has been able to.

What is Autism?

Autism is a spectrum of disorder that effect the way a growing brain develops. Symptoms include difficulties communicating, problems interacting with others, and/or repetitive and obsessive behaviors. A variety of things can contribute to the onset of autism such as genetic mutations, environmental factors, advanced parental age, and certain pregnancy problems.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), autism impacts 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls in the United States. Around one third of these people remain nonverbal their entire lives and another one third have intellectual disabilities. Other medical and psychological ailments frequently accompany autism such as gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, seizures, sleep disturbances, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and phobias.

The Research

A doctor at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, conducted an observational study on 70 of his own patients to determine the effects of CBD on autism. Most of the children show drastic improvements, many were able to communicate better and were no longer throwing extreme tantrums or hurting themselves.

The positive results led to a full-fledged clinical trial to be established, which started in January of this year. The study involves 120 individuals, five to twenty-nine years of age. Each participant will receive one of two different cannabis oil formulas or a placebo.

“It is indeed the first study in the world that’s examining the effects of cannabis on autism,” stated Dr. Adi Aran, 47, director, neuro-pediatric unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center. “The research is still ongoing, and I want to be very careful about what I say, but as of now we are seeing very good results – we see an improvement in behavioral problems.”

Research is expected to run through the end of 2018.

[Image credit: Flickr]

Have anything to add? Your voice matters! Join the conversation and contribute your insights and ideas below.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About the author

Alexandra Hicks

Managing editor at Cannadelics and U.S based journalist, helping spread the word about the many benefits of using cannabis and psychedelics.

Privacy Overview

This site use technologies, such as cookies, to customize content and advertising, to provide social media features and to analyse traffic to the site. We also share information about your use of our site with our trusted social media, advertising and analytics partners.

However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at AboutCookies.org which offers guidance for all modern browsers.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side / above.