Description
cbd oil saudi arabia cbd oil saudi arabia Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. Various institutions have shown an interest to investigate the role of cannabidiol (CBD) in treating pediatric epilepsy. CBD is a chemical extracted from the cannabis plant and lacks the euphoria-inducing characteristic. Despite the FDA approval, the physicians’ attitude toward CBD is controversial. Therefore, we aim to measure physicians’ knowledge and acceptance of the use of CBD in managing epilepsy patients in Saudi Arabia. buy cbd vape juice saudi arabia pure thc-cbd-vape-oil/ Objectives The aim of this study is to measure the knowledge and attitude of physicians regarding CBD use in pediatric epilepsy. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a validated electronic survey was distributed in the period between September 2021 and October 2021 among pediatricians and neurologists at King Abdulaziz Medical City. The survey consisted of four sections: demographics, the perceived knowledge regarding CBD, the knowledge test, and the attitudes toward CBD. Three-scoring systems were established to assess these sections. Results A total of 94 participants were included in this study; 50% of them were males, 81.9% of the participants were in the pediatric field, 13.8% were in the field of neurology, and 4.3% were pediatric neurologists. As for the professional tenure, approximately half of the participants were residents/trainees. Overall, respondents tend to have low perceived knowledge (94.7%) and attitude (93.6%) regarding CBD use. The perceived knowledge and attitude levels were found to be significantly associated with specialty (p Conclusion This study demonstrates that physicians have poor knowledge and attitude levels regarding the usage of CBD in pediatric epilepsy. Therefore, more education is highly suggested before the introduction of this medication to Saudi patients. Keywords: knowledge, healthcare professionals, pediatrics, epilepsy, cannabidiol (cbd), cannabis Introduction Epilepsy is considered one of the most common neurological diseases, with a global prevalence of approximately 50 million people [ 1 ]. Recent studies stated that the estimated figure of epileptic patients in Saudi is 6.54 per 1,000 people [ 2 ]. Despite the approval of various anti-epileptic medications over the last two decades, there is still a need to expand the number of medication options for physicians to prescribe since one-third of epileptic patients have drug-resistant epilepsy [ 3 ]. Over the last decade, various countries and institutions have shown a huge interest to investigate the role of cannabidiol (CBD) and its efficacy in treating pediatric epilepsy. CBD is a chemical that can be extracted from the cannabis plant and lacks the euphoria-inducing characteristic of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another cannabis component. Among these two cannabis constituents, CBD shows superior anti-epileptic potential, which has been proven by multiple studies [ 4 ]. The exact mechanism behind CBD’s capability in treating epilepsy is still an area of research; however, several theories have been proposed. One of which is the role of CBD in modulating intracellular calcium through a variety of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. Furthermore, another study revealed that CBD has an anti-inflammatory action via modulating tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha release or inhibiting the reuptake of adenosine, which is also postulated to be the cause behind CBD’s anti-seizure effect [ 3 , 4 ]. The effectiveness of CBD has been supported by various studies. In particular, four randomized control trials and 31 non-randomized studies supported cannabidiol and its potency in decreasing the number of seizures among patients with drug-resistant epilepsy [ 5 , 6 ]. Consequently, the use of CBD in pediatric epilepsy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018. It is approved to treat seizures in children who fulfill the criteria that state the following: firstly, children who are diagnosed with either Dravet Syndrome (DS) or Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), and secondly, children two years of age or older [ 7 ]. This medication is considered to be the first FDA-approved drug containing a purified drug substance derived from cannabis. Moreover, CBD is also the first FDA-approved drug for the treatment of patients with Dravet syndrome. Despite the FDA approval, physicians’ attitude toward CBD is controversial. As some physicians support the use of CBD and present it as a treatment option for patients or their families, others are still reluctant to prescribe and suggest this medication. According to a study involving 155 physicians, practitioners only discuss CBD as an option upon request by patients or their parents and only about 40% of them would recommend CBD treatment actively [ 8 ]. This division in physicians’ opinions could be attributed to several factors such as the novelty of the supportive evidence. Various studies have been conducted over the last five years to address the knowledge gap regarding this medication; however, there is still a need for more research to unravel the drug characteristics and mechanism of action [ 5 ]. Another reason that could be behind practitioners’ reluctance in prescribing CBD is the stigma of using it due to the fact of abusing its natural source, cannabis, over the years. According to a recent study that involved 531 dermatologists in the US, 48% of them were concerned about a negative stigma when proposing cannabinoid therapies to patients [ 9 ]. Multiple studies have been done worldwide to assess practitioners’ acceptance of prescribing CBD for patients, but none in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, we aim to measure physicians’ acceptance of the use of CBD in managing epilepsy patients in Saudi Arabia. cbd oil saudi arabia Materials and methods Study area In this cross-sectional study, an electronic survey hosted through the Google survey webpage was distributed betw
