Calming Cannabis for Prader-Willi

For many parents, nurturing your child with a homecooked meal is a loving way to care for them and create family bonds.  However, time and consequences don’t always permit and the drive-thru becomes the next best alternative.  Sadly, that may lead to unhealthy habits and often, childhood obesity.  If left unchecked it may perpetuate into debilitating diabetes.  On another spectrum, there are children born with a genetic disorder that causes obesity, behavior problems, intellectual disabilities and stunted growth.

Children with PWS, also known as Prader-Willi-Labhart syndrome have an insatiable appetite. If left unattended, they might consume up to six times more than other children their age, while shockingly remaining unsatisfied and hungry.  Camille from Connecticut (USA), struggles with PWS and her parents have gone to extremes to help her.  They, “created a completely ‘food secure’ environment,” which included an alarm on the kitchen door and padlocked cabinets to stop her from foraging.

Hormonal symptoms of Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) include delayed puberty, “…low levels of sex hormones, psychiatric problems with serious consequences and difficult management issues for patients, families and carers.”  Tending to the behavioral challenges associated with the disabilities can be overwhelming. Medical marijuana has been noted to relieve anxiety, depression and fatigue alike; conditions caretakers may have to tend to for self-care.  Medical strains, like Critical Cure offer a low THC percentage, while it’s boosted with a high amount of the cannabinoid CBD, thus offering critical relief for many.

The life expectancy of these loved ones is naturally reduced by this troublesome syndrome and they average around 30 years to mortality, although some have outlived this short period, dwelling into their 60’s.  PWS occurs roughly in 1 of 10,000–30,000 births. “In the UK there are about 2,000 people living with (it) and between 350,000 to 400,000 people worldwide.”  Celebrities such as Katie Price are bringing awareness to this wearisome, life-long struggle.  Harvey was conceived with Dwight Yorke, who consequently dismissed him at birth and offered no further input.  However, Harvey’s loving mother doesn’t complain, instead, she often shares the ups and downs of her 21-year-old’s struggle with PWS on social media, where they recently had a celebratory dinner after he lost two stone (28 lb.), while living in a residential care facility. Sadly, infants born with PWS are often condemned to multiple disabilities.  In Harvey’s case this included partial blindness, autism and septo-optic dysplasia.

Clinical Features of Individuals with Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS)

Note. About 70% of PWS individuals have a partial deletion of chromosome 15 (15q11q13 region) that is donated by the father; about 25% have maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 15 (both 15s from the mother); whereas the remaining 5% have other chromosome 15 abnormalities or genetic imprinting errors. These features are as summarized from the literature from over 500 reported PWS subjects by Butler in 1990.

There are multiple methods of consuming medical marijuana along with a myriad of hybrid strains that may offer relief from various symptoms associated with PWS.  As the cannabis industry continues to gain momentum and acceptance increases within the medical community, it’s likely that cannabis strains will be developed to target specific diseases as well as age groups.  This was the case for the development of Charlotte’s Web CBD, a hybrid strain which was grown specifically to treat childhood epilepsy.  Parents such as Michael, who has a son with PWS, often provide testimony when they find relief for their loved ones.  “My 11-year-old son takes a daily dose of CBD on a recommendation by his pediatric psychiatrist. He was having bad meltdowns prior to this; he has been remarkably calm ever since he’s been taking it.”

PWS is a neurodevelopmental disorder and there’s an emerging body of evidence concerning the significant potential to safely improve many of the common symptoms affecting children and adolescents with these disorders by administering hemp-derived cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD).  “The biological basis of many of these disorders is only partially understood, which makes therapeutic interventions, especially pharmacological ones, particularly difficult.”  However, CBD “is an endocannabinoid system modulator and exerts its effects on both developing and mature brains through numerous mechanisms. Cannabidiol holds a relatively high toxicity limit and current literature suggests that it may have anxiolytic, antipsychotic, and neuroprotective properties. Clinical evidence suggests that early treatment with (CBD) might be a promising therapy for neurodevelopmental disorders, including intellectual disability, autism disorders, tics and ADHD.”