Maybe. At least it shows promise for improving speech, relieving pain and reducing spasticity. Let’s be clear, there isn’t a cure for cerebral palsy, which is a neurological condition. Damage to an infant’s brain causes lesions that lead to cerebral palsy of which there are four types:
· Ataxic cerebral palsy causes coordination and balance problems, often leading to shaky movement, and occasionally, tremors.
· Athetoid cerebral palsy affects muscle tone, switching between floppiness and stiffness, which cause uncontrolled and involuntary spasms.
· Spastic cerebral palsy causes muscles to feel tight and stiff making movement difficult. Patients often have a reduced range of movements.
· Mixed cerebral palsy is a combination of any of the above types of cerebral palsy.
CBD and cerebral palsy symptoms
Although there haven’t been extensive studies of CBD or cannabis on cerebral palsy, existing clinical evidence shows benefits for some of the symptoms.
Muscle spasms can be relieved with CBD. Also, CBD can relieve pain associated with the spasms. Currently studies are being conducted on how cannabis may help treat muscle spasticity in cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.
Seizures also can occur with cerebral palsy. As we’ve seen with seizures in patients who have epilepsy, CBD can help control seizures. It stands to reason that those with cerebral palsy could use CBD to control seizures as well.
Research on CBD and cerebral palsy
As I noted, there haven’t been a lot of studies that focus on cannabis and cerebral palsy. However, there are some, and the results are promising.
Wolfson Medical Center examined the effectiveness of CBD oils on children with cerebral palsy. Findings showed that the oils seemed to improve the children’s motor skills, sleep quality, bowel movements and overall mood.
A study published in 2011 in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation noted that, “The patients that used cannabis self-rated it as the most helpful pain treatment out of any used.”
Finally, a case study on CBD treatment for a 45-year-old man who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy indicated that CBD could be beneficial for people who have seizures as it was for this man.
As I said earlier, there is no cure for cerebral palsy, but it may be possible to ease some of the serious symptoms with CBD oil. It’s easy to use, even for young children, and has no known side effects.