A recent study published in the journal Contemporary Neuropharmacology suggests that cannabis oil therapy rich in CBD (cannabidiol) may help alleviate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

This study conducted in Israel involved 109 children and adolescents, most of whom showed significant improvements in anxiety, shyness, perfectionism, ADHD scores, emotional instability, and hyperactive impulsivity.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the changes in symptoms of autism related attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after three to six months of treatment with CBD rich cannabis oil. This is the first prospective study to use the Standardized Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) to evaluate the impact of CBD rich marijuana on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The results indicate that there have been improvements in key behavioral areas. Previous studies have mainly focused on results reported by parents or small-scale trials, while the results of this experiment confirm emerging evidence about the role of cannabinoids in regulating attention and emotion regulation. The main limitation of this study lies in its open label design.

Between November 2019 and April 2021, researchers recruited 109 children and adolescents diagnosed with symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Among them, 53 participants were evaluated by teachers using the Connors Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) before and after treatment.

The researchers also collected blood samples from participants before and after the intervention to measure the concentrations of cannabinoids and their metabolites, including CBD, 6-OH-CBD, 7-COOH-CBD, and 7-OH-CBD. The results showed statistically significant improvements in multiple behavioral domains, including anxiety and shyness, perfectionism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder index, emotional instability, and hyperactive impulsivity.

In addition, improvement trends were observed in adversarial behavior, cognitive inattention, as well as the overall Connors index and attention scores evaluated according to DSM-IV criteria. Overall, except for emotional instability, no significant correlation was found between cannabinoid dosage or blood drug concentration and the observed degree of improvement; In terms of emotional instability, higher concentrations of CBD are associated with greater improvement.

This study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinical doctors from multiple institutions in Israel, including the Shamir (Asaf Harofei) Medical Center located in Zerifen, which includes departments of clinical pharmacology and toxicology, nephrology, and pediatric neurology and child development, all of which are affiliated with the Tel Aviv University School of Medicine. Researchers from the Azshari National Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (located in Belsheba) and the Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research Laboratory at the Department of Biology at the Israel Institute of Technology (located in Haifa) also participated in this study.