Cannabis Oil Was Used To Treat Epilepsy 173 Years Ago
(Health Magazine 18.11.2018)
ehealthmagz.com/2018/11/18/cannabis-oil-was-used-to-treat-epilepsy-173-years-ago/
Epilepsy drugs don’t work well, or at all, for
about one-third of people with the condition.
Unfortunately, these hard-to-treat epilepsies
are associated with an increased risk of
premature death.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabis oil
may help some of these people control their
seizures and potentially save their lives.
A small number of studies have shown that
adding cannabis oil to existing medication
may be effective in devastating, hard-to-treat
epilepsy in children and adolescents.
But cannabis oil as a treatment in paediatric
epilepsy is not a new discovery, it is merely a
rediscovery.
In 1840, Victorian Doctors were treating
people with extracts of cannabis for many
illnesses, including tinctures for treating
children with epilepsy.
One of my favourite pioneers was Dr William
Brooke O’Shaughnessy MD, an Irish
physician, surgeon, Professor of chemistry,
scientist and innovator, he was a pioneer of
‘intravenous therapy’ and he is the man
credited with introducing cannabis to Western
medicine.
O’Shaughnessy graduated in 1829 with a
Medical Doctorate from the University of
Edinburgh.
In 1831, at the young age of 22, he
investigated cholera and his early work led to
the development of intravenous fluid and
electrolyte-replacement therapy.
In 1833, O’Shaughnessy moved to Calcutta,
India to work for the British East India
Company and during his time there he
developed new cannabinoid extraction
techniques which he used is preparations to
treat patients suffering from, cholera, tetanus,
analgesia, rheumatism and epilepsy in infants.
In India, he initially studied botanical
pharmacology and chemistry, publishing his
first paper on medical cannabis in 1839.
In his paper “On the preparations of the Indian
hemp, or Gunjah” published in the Provincial
Medical Journal, London on February 4th,
1843, O’Shaughnessy relates the case of a
baby just over a month old who he
administered an ethanol (alcohol) cannabis
based tincture.
Please remember this was written 173 years
ago.