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t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 12 condition causes seizures, from minor twitching lasting seconds, to a life-threatening condition known as status epilepticus—seizures that can last for hours. Izaiah has suffered up to ten seizures in a day. Now a clinical trial at Texas Children's Hospital is offering fami- lies like Izaiah's hope for a better life. It involves a drug called Epidiolex, derived from marijuana plants. The key ingredient is cannabidiol, or CBD, a chemical compound found in marijuana that has shown promise in patients with seizure disorders. CBD oil is already used in Colorado, where marijuana is legal. It comes from a strain called Charlotte's Web after a child with Dravet syndrome who has benefited from it. Once suffering 300 seizures a week, CBD reduced the frequency to a few per month. Charlotte's story inspired a new kind of oil boom. Families are picking up their lives and moving to Colorado, hoping CBD could be the magic bullet their children need to stop the seizures. But there's a flaw in the unregulated oil. "It's not a pharmaceutical, so every batch of CBD extract could have a different concentration of CBD. Who knows what other contaminants are I n many ways, Izaiah is a typical six-year-old. He loves football and his favorite team, the Houston Texans. When he meets you, he'll give you a high five or a hug. He is quick to reach out his hand for a playful tickle. But since he was just two months old, he has suffered debilitating seizures. Things as simple as going outside on a hot and humid summer day or getting too excited over a big play on the gridiron can trigger them. Often they occur with no explanation or warning. Izaiah has Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy that occurs in one out of every 30,000 births. The genetic I said, 'I want to try this. anything to help him. anything to have a normal life.' I will stop the world and rearrange it to make sure we can get in the study. — lORI fOUnTaIn izaiah's grandmother Hope for Izaiah a family seeks relief from devastating seizures with the first worldwide trial of a pharmaceutical-grade marijuana extract B y S h e a C o n n e l l y