Medical Cannabis & Pediatric Patients

With the growing popularity of cannabis use as a method to treat a wide range of physical ailments, special attention needs to be paid to pediatric patients. Cannabis has been shown to help treat or manage conditions such as seizures, epilepsy, ADD, ADHD, Autism and childhood cancer in the pediatric population, although these treatments should always be authorized and supervised by a licensed medical professional. Children are not “tiny adults” and should certainly be treated differently than adult patients.

Apollo Cannabis Clinics employs doctors and patient educators who are familiar with pediatric patients and how to treat each child individually. If you are interested in finding out more about how medical cannabis may help your child, contact Apollo Cannabis.

• Pediatric Experience: Apollo treats a wide range of pediatric patients and understands the sensitive nature of the pediatric population. We are one of the few clinics in Canada who work with pediatric patients and consider ourselves a family clinic.
• No Referral Needed: Apollo Cannabis Clinics provides a free service and does not charge their patients for appointments, education sessions or ongoing care. Patient’s do not require a referral to utilize our services regardless of their age, or where they are located.
• Patients Across Canada: Apollo Cannabis services patients all over Canada through our unique Digital Patient Network (DPN). Patients meet with a doctor via secure video conference and have access to a patient educator once the prescription has been written.
• Research-Based Care: Apollo Cannabis Clinics is an evidenced-based clinic who has been conducting observational research on medical cannabis and conditions since 2014. We have over 10 prescribing health care professionals as well as patient educators to assist patients on an ongoing basis.
• Ongoing Care: Apollo Cannabis Clinics provide each patient with a personalized treatment plan and offers a support line that is open 7 days a week, should a patient require assistance or have questions about their medication.

ADD and ADHD are two of the most common mental health disorders suffered by children in Canada. ADD and ADHD may cause difficulty focusing, struggles in school and difficulty forming and maintaining relationships. It is also characterized by impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Common treatments for pediatric ADD and ADHD include pharmaceuticals such as Ritalin, Dexadrin, Cylert, and Adderall. The difficulty with some medications is that they are not intended for prolonged use as the child develops.

Parents have begun turning to alternative therapies, such as medical cannabis, to help manage their child’s disorder. When using the correct product, and dosed correctly, some parents report that medical cannabis can drastically improve their child’s ability to focus.

Medical Cannabis is not a cure for ADD and ADHD, rather it seems to work by calming nerves, reducing anxiety, and cutting through brain fog. Cannabis may help bring focus to a child suffering from ADD or ADHD.

Autism is classified as a lifelong pervasive developmental disorder which affects normal mental development. Autism is particularly hard to treat because there is no one known cause of the disorder. A variety of factors, such as genetics and environmental exposure, play a role in the development of Autism. Autistic Disorder is characterized by poor communication skills, repetitive behaviors and impaired social interaction.

Cannabis has been shown to reduce the symptoms of Autism Disorder and may become a breakthrough treatment for children suffering from Autism. A recent study, completed on an animal population, stated that “treatment with CBD is beneficial for autistic-like social defects. CBD acts on the endocannabinoid system to inhibit neurotransmission of the lipid-activated G protein-coupled receptors GPR55”.

Research is promising and many parents have reported improvements in their autistic children with regular cannabis use, although further studies are needed to prove its effectiveness.

• 50 million people, worldwide, are affected by epilepsy and it is one of the most prominent neurological disorders in the pediatric population.Epileptic seizures result in convulsions, loss of consciousness, and sometimes severely altered senses. They are caused by errant electrical signals in the brain which can cause frequent seizures, neurodevelopmental delays and impaired quality of life.Many parents are seeking alternatives to traditional therapies, that don’t often work. Medical Cannabis has been reported to reduce the frequency and severity of epileptic seizures in children and improve their overall quality of life.According to some research, Cannabis has anticonvulsant properties. These properties work on different targets, called calcium ion channels, glutamate receptor antagonists, sodium ion channels, and the GATA system and receptor agonists in the brain. Cannabis may effect the neurotransmitters responsible for sending messages by attaching themselves to the neurons. This may alter the activity of the cell by switching how ions flow in and out of the neurons.