Hugh Hempel, a technology industry veteran, has become a health care entrepreneur and a surprising supporter of medicinal cannabis.
In 2006, his identical twin daughters were diagnosed with Niemann Pick Type C, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease, often referred to as “Childhood Alzheimer’s.” Since then, Hugh and his wife have done a lot of research and discovered that a simple sugar compound called cyclodextrin could save their daughters lives. They have successfully filed applications with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and received permission to try this never before used treatment on their daughters.
Their journey to develop cyclodextrin made international headlines and was featured in The Wall Street Journal. The story, “A Desperate Fight to Save Kids and Change Science,” as well as a documentary called “Here. Us. Now.” can be found at TRIALS: A Fight for Children with Niemann-Pick Type C, a Fatal Genetic Disease and Here. Us. Now. a family’s fight to bring medical innovation home | Here. Us. Now. a family’s fight to bring medical innovation home.
As a result of their disease, Hugh’s twins experience up to 100 seizures a week. So, in 2009 the Hempel’s became interested in Cannabidiol (CBD), one of at least 80 active cannabinoids identified in marijuana and hemp, as a way of treating the seizures. Through their extensive research, they “learned that cannabinoid receptors are involved in a vast array of functions in the body, including helping to control brain and nerve activity (including memory and pain), energy metabolism, heart function, and the immune system. After realizing pharmaceutical grade cannabis products were unavailable for their daughters and other patients in Nevada, the Hempel’s decided to create a Nevada based “cannabusiness” focused on legally developing and distributing high-quality flowers, extracts and concentrates at competitive prices”, reports his bio on Youtube.
The hope and plan is to create a large-scale cannabis clinical research clearing house so that the potential benefit of cannabis can be better understood.
We wish them all the luck possible for their daughters and everyone else this could impact.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Rethinking Medicinal Cannabis
Author: Erin Elizabeth
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