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Carly Chandler, her father and Gov. Robert Bentley pose for cameras during the passage of Carly's Law, permitting the study of marijuana-derived CBD oil.

(bn)

About half of the patients who enrolled in a study of CBD oil at UAB had reductions in seizure frequency, according to initial results that will be reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in April.

Seizures declined by an average of 32 to 45 percent for the patients who responded to CBD oil, according to a UAB press release. Two patients out of the 51 initially enrolled became seizure-free after they began taking CBD oil, which is derived from marijuana.

The results came from the first six months of the study, and includes patients who have not responded to traditional seizure treatment. Seven of the participants dropped out due to the side effects or lack of effectiveness of the oil.

UAB launched the study in April 2015, a year after the governor signed Carly's Law, which lifted a prohibition against using CBD oil for research. The law was named for Carly Chandler of Hoover, who suffers from a severe seizure disorder.

UAB has been using CBD oil provided by a pharmaceutical company under the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The oil has traces of THC, which is the psychoactive component of marijuana.

Researchers also found that CBD oil can interact with an anti-epileptic drug clobazam. Participants who used both drugs had higher blood-levels of clobazam, which could cause sedation, researchers reported.

A study of electrical activity in the brain showed no change among those used CBD oil, according to the news release.

"The studies are ongoing, and we have a lot more to learn; but these preliminary findings are encouraging," said Jerzy Szaflarski, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Neurology, in a statement. "Among our goals was to determine the safety of CBD oil therapy, and it appears that, in many cases, patients tolerate the oil quite well. The evidence of seizure reduction gives us hope that, the more we learn about CBD oil, the better we will be able to tailor this therapy to provide relief for those with severe epilepsy."

Updated at 10:26 a.m. to correct the hometown of Carly Chandler.