A newborn baby is the world’s first to join a cannabis therapy trial – The GrowthOp

Baby Oscar Parodi with his mother, Chelsea, and grandmother Christine Bell. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

Oscar Parodi is the first baby in the world to take part in a cannabis treatment study.

The newborn was delivered in March at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), England, through an emergency cesarean. Needing immediate medical attention for Neonatal Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), a condition when the brain doesnt receive enough oxygen or blood flow, he was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit.

I was approached after the birth about taking part in this study and I consulted my mum and my brother who is training to be a paramedic, said Oscars mother, Chelsea, in a statement. It was hard but I wanted to do everything I could to help my baby boy. Oscar was in the hospital for nine days and he was being monitored 24/7.

The study will examine if cannabis-derived medicine can be used safely and effectively to help babies at risk of seizures and lessen the risk of brain injury in babies born with HIE.

A second child born in the hospital in April is also part of the trial.

One of the attractions of this trial for parents is the closer brain monitoring babies get as part of the study because a more advanced brainwave monitor is used for the trial babies. This gives parents more reassurance that any seizures will be picked up, says Prof. Paul Clarke, a consultant neonatologist at NNUH.

As per the trial, children receive standard hypothermia treatment for HIE, wherein the body is cooled to 33.5C and a single dose of the study drug or placebo is administered. For the year-long trial, the drug is administered intravenously and babies will be administered a single dose of the study medication.

As with any study of a new medicine there may be unexpected side effects and unknown risks, says Prof. Clarke. With this in mind the trial has been carefully designed to make it as safe as possible, and so we are only giving the babies a minuscule dose at the beginning, and we monitor them even more closely than usual.

Subscribeto the Cannabis Post newsletter.

Go here to see the original:
A newborn baby is the world's first to join a cannabis therapy trial - The GrowthOp