Martina Bebin, MD, MPA: Bridging The Gap to Prevention With Epidiolex

"We want to identify children, particularly babies, before they even have their first seizure because the ultimate goal is being on the preventative side of epilepsy, which is where we’re headed. For now, it’s so nice to have another option that’s really gone through the rigor of the FDA process.”

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) differs from other epilepsies in that it is a genetic disorder, with clinicians having the option to diagnose it prenatally and thus start the clinical care process earlier. Cannabidiol (CBD; Epidiolex; GW Pharmaceuticals) was recently approved for the treatment of seizures associated with TSC for patients as early as age 1 year and older.

Martina Bebin, MD, MDA, professor of neurology and pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham Epilepsy Center, claims that the approval can be even more advantageous for the TSC community due to the young-age indication. Notably, the approval marks another milestone step for patients with TSC in the efforts to eventually reach true prevention.

While true prevention is the ultimate goal for a lot of neurological disorders, it takes time to achieve. In an interview with NeurologyLive, Bebin stresses the importance of treating patients with TSC at such an early age, and why CBD serves as a cog in bridging the gap to true prevention.