Feco oil (Fully Extract Cannabis Oil) has been used by researchers to reduce epileptic seizure frequency in kids by 86 percent, as published in a new study in the journal BMJ Paediatrics Open.
The researchers, in their paper, say that previous treatments, including a CBD product (the only one licensed for their condition), were unsuccessful for these children. The researchers are urging for further investigation into the potential benefits of using whole plant medicinal cannabis products for therapeutic purposes.
They reported that after starting the treatment with feco oil, seven of the children completely stopped taking their anti-epilepsy drugs (AED’s), no longer requiring the medication. Seizure frequency dropped by an average of 86 percent.
Caregivers and parents also noted significant enhancements in their children’s overall health and wellbeing, including improvements in sleep, appetite, behavior, and cognitive functioning, following the administration of whole plant medicinal cannabis products. Side effects were minor and limited to occasional fatigue.
In spite of these remarkable findings there has been a continuing impasse from the medical establishment in reviewing data from such observational research. To date there have been only 3 NHS prescriptions in the UK, for example, for whole plant cannabis made available on the NHS.
Based on these findings, it can be concluded that medicinal cannabis may serve as an efficient remedy for severe epilepsy in children. This can also result in a reduced requirement of multiple conventional medications, also leading to potential cost savings associated with the treatment.
The authors of the study are Rayyan Zafar, Anne Schlag, Lawrence Phillips and David J Nutt from from Drug Science based in the UK.
Professor David Nutt, chairman of Drug Science and a distinguished Neuropsychopharmacologist and medical doctor, sheds light on the ongoing global revolution surrounding cannabis. This plant has been at the forefront of cultural movements, political debates and international controversies, but it has also been acknowledged for its profound impact on people’s health.
What is FECO Oil?
Feco Oil is a full extract cannabis oil or dagga oil. The acronym stands for Fully Extracted Cannabis Oil. In South Africa it is known as Dagga Oil and a host of other names (THC Oil, Rick Simpson Oil or Dagga Olie).
There are hundreds of molecules present in the cannabis plant (or Dagga Plant in South Africa). It has become very popular worldwide to sell a single isolate of the cannabis plant – CBD – as a therapeutic cannabinoid molecule because of it’s potent anti-inflammatory potential in treating various diseases. However, a fully extracted cannabis oil, feco oil, contains all the molecules present in the plant (more than 400) including cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, CBG, and terpenes such as linalool and pinene as well as flavonoids Many of these molecules also have potent therapeutic value.
Research done by Israeli doctor Raphael Mechoulam, who discovered THC in the 1960’s, wrote extensively about a concept called ‘The Entourage Effect‘, where cannabinoids working together in the human body have a greater effect than single molecules can have working in isolation.
Therefore, feco oil, containing THC and other cannabinoids and terpenes can have health effects in the human body far superior to taking only one extracted isolate such as CBD at a time.
Cannabis Oil for Sale – Cannabis Oil South Africa sells Phoenix Tears, a feco – full extract cannabis oil. We sell cannabis oil in dropper format in 10ml or 20ml bottles, mixed in with Olive Oil as a carrier oil, or in it’s concentrated format in syringes as Rick Simpson Oil. We also sell cannabis oil suppositories which are highly effective for several medical conditions.
Cannabis Usage in History
Medical cannabis has been used in eastern medicine for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until 1843 that western medicine began to take notice of its potential therapeutic benefits for treating seizures.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy, an Irish physician, noticed the potential of medical cannabis as a treatment for seizures in the western world as early as 1843. He discovered that cannabis tinctures successfully alleviated seizures in a feverish infant, leading him to declare it as an outstanding anticonvulsant in the field of medicine.
The South African government in 2018 proposed a bill that would allow for the production and distribution of medical cannabis, including cannabis oil, which was eventually signed into law in 2019. In the UK, it wasn’t until parents of children with seizures reported success with whole-plant cannabis extracts that medical cannabis was re-introduced as a treatment option in the UK pharmacopeia in 2018.
In the UK, doctors have been hesitant to prescribe whole plant medicinal cannabis to children with severe epilepsy due to the lack of clinical trial data.
However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recognized that real-world evidence, including case series, can be valid sources of evidence when clinical trials are difficult to conduct, such as in children.
Study and Results
To evaluate the use of this treatment, researchers studied 10 children with severe epilepsy who had not responded to traditional treatment or the only licensed pharmaceutical-grade purified CBD oil for the condition in children (Epidyolex).
This study provides important real-world evidence that could help inform clinical decisions about the use of whole plant medicinal cannabis for treating epilepsy in children who do not respond to traditional treatment.
The researchers aimed to evaluate the impact of medicinal cannabis on children with severe epilepsy based on factors such as seizure frequency, changes in conventional epilepsy drug usage, and associated costs.
They recruited all subjects from two charities and obtained data from their caregivers. The average age of the children was six years, and they had different types of epilepsies.
Results indicated that after starting medicinal cannabis treatment, the children’s dependence on conventional epilepsy drugs decreased significantly. The average number of drugs dropped from seven to one, with seven children no longer requiring any medication.
Additionally, the monthly seizure frequency decreased by an average of 86% for all participants. These findings suggest that medicinal cannabis could be an effective treatment for severe epilepsy in children, potentially reducing the need for multiple conventional drugs, while also potentially saving costs associated with treatment.
Ongoing research is analyzing the complete chemical composition of medicinal cannabis products derived from the whole plant. However, an evaluation of the THC and CBD content revealed that children consumed an average of 5.15 mg THC and 171.8 mg CBD daily.
The monthly expense of the medicinal cannabis products averaged out to £874, except for one child who received a prescription for free through the NHS.
Caregivers and parents noted significant enhancements in their children’s overall health and wellbeing, including improvements in sleep, appetite, behavior, and cognitive functioning, following the administration of whole plant medicinal cannabis products (feco). Side effects were minor and limited to occasional fatigue.
The researchers suggest that additional investigation is needed to understand how the various components of whole-plant medicinal cannabis contribute to better clinical outcomes.
This exploration should involve comparing the unfavorable effects of medicinal cannabis with the known negative effects of traditional epilepsy drugs.
However, the researchers believe that their findings on the effectiveness of whole-plant medicinal cannabis in treating severe and resistant epilepsy in children provide justification for its inclusion in the NHS, within current NICE prescription guidelines.
They argue that such a move would be extremely beneficial to families, who already bear the emotional burden of caring for chronically ill children and the financial burden of their medications.
About Cannabis Oil South Africa
Cannabis Oil South Africa sells FECO oil – Phoenix Tears Cannabis Oil in dropper format, pure Rick Simpson Oil (commonly misspelt Rich Simpson Oil or Rick Simons Oil) and a Cannabis Oil Suppository format. Cannabis oil is also called Dagga Oil or THC Oil locally in South Africa. Phoenix Tears is commonly misspelt Fenix Tears.
Delivery is nation-wide including to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.