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Ask A Doctor Health Opinion

Ask A Doctor – Case Scenarios For Children’s CBD Dosage

CBD Dosage
Written by Dr. Leah Zachar

Most parents would stop at nothing to ease the pain and suffering of their children; whether that’s by administering medicine or other herbal remedies

But how does a parent know when to administer drugs that could have side effects on their kids versus offering them a holistic remedy like CBD to ease their pain? Let’s take a look at some specific scenarios when it comes to CBD dosage for kids…

Question: My child has colitis. Is CBD safe to give him?

The dosages that the pediatric population receive for seizures is much higher than that needed to treat colitis. And these high dosages were found to be safe in children.
So, the answer is yes. CBD is safe to give him. Start with 0.5 mg/pound/day. Divide it into three doses. Increase by 0.5 mg/pound/day every week, until you see maximum benefits. Be conservative.

Question: How does CBD help to control seizures in the pediatric population?

CBD is an antagonist of GPR55. GPR55 is present in the caudate, putamen, hippocampus, thalamus, pons, cerebellum, frontal cortex, and thalamus. GPR55 increases seizure risk. CBD blocks glutamate release which then results in blocking GPR55. This is believed to be how CBD works as an antiseizure medication.

Ref:
“The case for assessing cannabidiol in epilepsy.” Epilepsia. 2014; 55(6): 787– 790

Question: Can I give CBD to my daughter who has PTSD?

A study was done on this specific issue. CBD oil was found to be a safe treatment for reducing anxiety & improving sleep in a young girl (who has PTSD due to sexual abuse when she was four years old.) CBD helped her sleep, reduced her nightmares, and allowed her to be able to concentrate in school.

Ref:
“Effectiveness of Cannabidiol Oil for Pediatric Anxiety and Insomnia as Part of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report” Perm J. 2016 Fall; 20(4): 108–111.

Question: I heard that CBD can help reduce the problems that develop when during childbirth when newborn does not get enough oxygen. What is the science behind that?

You are talking about “perinatal brain injury”. Perinatal brain injury is caused by lack of oxygen to the child at the time of birth. The catastrophic results can be permanent.
Conventional treatment includes hypothermia, magnesium sulfate, and minocycline. The goal of is to decrease the neuroinflammation & apoptosis. The infant’s own endocannabinoid system attempts to control the neuronal damage by trying to prevent the glutamate excitotoxicity and decrease the inflammation. While there are no human studies, results from mice and pig models have shown that CBD can reduce the damage by reducing cytokine release.

Question: My son has Asperger’s syndrome. He is now 17 and it is getting worse, not better. I don’t know what part of his behavior is due to him being a teenager and what is due to the Asperger’s. Frankly, I’m at wits end. Can CBD help?

I think I’ll have to write a separate article to answer this one…. but I’ll give you the shortened version.
Extensive research has revealed that the endocannabinoid system (eCB) is dysfunctional in autism spectrum disorder. The people with ASD have a dysfunction in their “tonic eCB” signaling.
“Tonic eCB” is a relatively new concept. Simply put, it means that the endocannabinoid system is always functioning, sometimes at a low, or senescent level, and sometimes in spurts.
Anandamide levels are not able to increase or decrease properly relative to the outside environmental triggers, whether they be social cues, wake/sleep cycles, anxiety stimuli, and even eye contact.
CBD raises the anandamide level and then maintains it by preventing the anandamide from being broken down inside the cell.
Because CBD works inside the cell (THC works outside the cell) the anandamide levels are never too high or too low – they are maintained at the same level required to maintain a healthy emotional state.
A homeostatic anandamide level results in a proper control of the symptoms manifest in autism spectrum disorder.
Ref:
1.“Endocannabinoid Signaling in Autism.” Neurotherapeutics October 2015, Volume 12, Issue 4, pp 837–847
2. “Autism-Associated Neuroligin-3 Mutations Commonly Disrupt Tonic Endocannabinoid Signaling.” Neuron, 2013 (in press) DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.02.036
3. “Reduction in endocannabinoid tone is a homeostatic mechanism for specific inhibitory synapses.”. Nat. Neurosci. 2010; 13: 592–600
4. “Autism-linked neuroligin-3 R451C mutation differentially alters hippocampal and cortical synaptic function.” Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2011; 108: 13764–13769

Please be advised that we are moving the weekly In-house doctor session to a more suitable time as requested – From Thursday at 3pm EST, to the earlier time of 1pm EST on Thursday.

If you want to read more from Dr Zachar, check out: ‘Ask A Doctor CBD For Pets: Delivery Systems, Health Issues And Dosing’

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About the author

Dr. Leah Zachar

Dr. Leah Zachar, M.D. is a physician who worked for nearly thirty years in Internal Medicine.
She currently is a scientific adviser to CBD Testers. Dr. Zachar believes that there is much that medical cannabis, and cannabidiol in particular can offer to traditional medicine.