A recent first-of-its-kind study offers new hope for families struggling with severe autism symptoms in their children.
The research team set out to explore whether CBD-rich medical cannabis could safely and effectively treat core deficits in social communication and interaction associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Other previous studies have suggested cannabis may be effective in the treatment of Autism.
While pharmaceutical options try targeting related issues like anxiety or hyperactivity, they fail addressing the root social and communication challenges defining autism.
Could cannabis be different by interacting with the brain’s endocannabinoid system underlying social motivation and other behavioral processes disrupted in ASD? This new study helps pave the way toward answers.
Over 6 months, 110 autistic children and teens took an oral CBD medicine standardized across the group. Dozens of participants bowed out early due to side effects or lack of results, but the 82 remaining showed significant gains.
These improvements centered around social awareness and communication based on both parent surveys and empirical clinical evaluations. Especially heartening was who benefited most — those initially rated as having more severe ASD.
Cannabis & Social Symptoms in Autism
The headline findings provide hope that cannabis could treat what makes autism so challenging for many children and their caretakers. Over 6 months, the group of ASD kids taking oral CBD saw marked gains in core social deficits.
Specifically, gold-standard autism assessments like the ADOS-2 social affect scale showed major improvements in key abilities like eye contact, facial expressions and conversation skills.
On average, these social symptoms eased from the severe into milder range. Parent surveys mirrored this, recording improved sociability, communication and reduced restrictive/repetitive behaviors.
Hearteningly, cannabis’ impact scaled with severity. Those initially rated with more profound autism got the most relief. One boy who seldom spoke before began conversing cheerfully with nurses at each visit. A girl went from mostly solitary play to happily engaging classmates. Parents were overjoyed by newfound laughs, smiles and family time enjoyed with their kids.
Not all improved; around half showed little measurable change in these social domains. But around 40% did,bettering communication, relationships and quality of life. For families accustomed to regression not progress with autism, cannabis brought unforeseen rays of light.
Core Symptom Relief Emerging from the Data
While social gains grabbed headlines, the data revealed additional benefits across 6 months of oral CBD treatment. Standardized adaptive behavior assessments like the Vineland scale also showed significant improvements in areas like daily living and personal independence.
Especially encouraging was that these communication and functional upgrades occurred without any no cognitive detriment as measured on intelligence tests.
However, one area remained mostly unchanged in the study: restricted/repetitive behaviors that include patterns like hand flapping, obsessiveness and ritualism.
Unlike social gains, these autism hallmarks only budged slightly and insignificantly on clinical evaluations. Parent surveys did capture some reduction though. Why the discrepancy? Restricted interests may require higher oral doses or full cannabis extracts with THC.
Crucially though, adding even purified CBD appeared stoking social motivation circuits disrupted in autism. This comports with other autism-cannabis studies while contrasting sharply with antipsychotics and other meds that leave core deficits untouched.
With further study, such social enrichments could make daily home and school life much easier for millions suffering autism worldwide.
Dosage and Side Effect Considerations
Now for an important reality-check. This breakthrough study had significant limitations worth spotlighting before getting carried away with cannabis euphoria.
First, it lacked placebo control and blinding that could skew results via expectation effects. Second, side effects proved non-trivial: of 110 enrolled, 12% stopped early due to increased anxiety, aggression or hyperactivity judged related to the CBD medicine.
Though mild side effects like fatigue and diarrhea were more common, government regulators would still likely balk at a >10% severe symptom uptick.
Third and trickiest: dosing unpredictability. With standard pharmaceuticals, steady dose-response relationships help determine an optimal amount.
But autism’s heterogeneity complicated this; some kids showed improvements on just a few drops a day while others needed max doses to turn the corner. Customized precision approaches are sorely needed.
Still, by demonstrating genuine promise for easing autism’s burden, this research opens exciting new directions. Rigorously optimizing doses and cannabinoid combinations could maximize benefits while minimizing risks in customized ways. That inspiring possibility merits spotlighting despite acknowledged limitations of this first step.
What This Means for Families with ASD
For families facing untenable autism struggles, these findings offer a first glimmer of hope. After decades bereft of progress, seeing even preliminary social gains from cannabis kindles optimism. However, huge hurdles remain at multiple levels.
Practically, access barriers persist for now. Few doctors currently prescribe cannabis in autism given research limitations and stigma. And in areas allowing medical use, costs of hundreds of dollars monthly often prove prohibitive for already overburdened families. Still, these financial and stigma roadblocks can shift quickly if demand pressures accelerate.
And accelerate they may with this study’s publication. Combined with building anecdotal usage reports, the solid methodology here lent legitimacy that Cannabis-curious families craved.
It affirmed struggles they saw daily by deploying empirical metrics often weaponized against marginalized patient experiences. This authoritative corroboration is already bolstering advocacy efforts to reform restrictions targeting equitable access.
So while concrete clinical impacts will take time, the reverberations from this small study could soon rock the foundations of autism policy worldwide.
By scientifically validating lived disability realities for many with severe ASD, it may hasten the day when healing with cannabis reaches not just privileged few but all in need. And that cannabis-fueled revolution could spread hope to long-darkened corners of the autism experience globally.
