CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
New findings on marijuana's damaging effect on the brain show the drug triggers temporary psychotic symptoms in some people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors say.
British doctors took brain scans of 15 healthy volunteers given small doses of two of the active ingredients of cannabis, as well as a placebo.
One compound, cannabidiol, or CBD, made people more relaxed. But even small doses of another component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psychotic symptoms in people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors said.
The results, to be presented at an international mental health conference in London on Tuesday and Wednesday, provides physical evidence of the drug's damaging influence on the human brain.
''We've long suspected that cannabis is linked to psychoses, but we have never before had scans to show how the mechanism works,'' said Philip McGuire, a professor of psychiatry at King's College, London.
In analyzing MRI scans of the study's subjects, McGuire and his colleagues found that THC interfered with activity in the inferior frontal cortex, a region of the brain associated with paranoia.
''THC is switching off that regulator,'' McGuire said, effectively unleashing the paranoia usually kept under control by the frontal cortex.
In another study being presented at the conference, a two-day gathering of mental health experts discussing the connections between cannabis and mental health, scientists found that marijuana worsens psychotic symptoms of schizophrenics.
Doctors at Yale University tested the impact of THC on 150 healthy volunteers and 13 people with stable schizophrenia. Nearly half of the healthy subjects experienced psychotic symptoms when given the drug.
While the doctors expected to see marijuana improve the conditions of their schizophrenic subjects--since their patients reported that the drug calmed them--they found that the reverse was true.
''I was surprised by the results,'' said Deepak Cyril D'Souza, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale's School of Medicine. ''In practice we found that cannabis is very bad for people with schizophrenia.''
While D'Souza had intended to study marijuana's impact on schizophrenics in more patients, the study was stopped prematurely because the impact was so pronounced that it would have been unethical to test it on more people with schizophrenia.
''One of the great puzzles is why people with schizophrenia keep taking the stuff when it makes the paranoia worse,'' said Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatry at King's College.
Experts theorized that schizophrenics may mistakenly judge the drug's pleasurable effects to outweigh any negatives.
Understanding how marijuana affects the brain may ultimately lead experts to a better understanding of mental health in general.
''We don't know the basis of paranoia or anxiety,'' said McGuire.
''It is possible that we could use cannabis in controlled studies to understand psychoses better,'' he said. McGuire theorized that could one day lead to specific drugs targeting the responsible regions of the brain. (AP)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
60 wild photos from Folsom Street East that prove New York City knows how to play
June 21 2024 12:25 PM
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
Latest Stories
Amy Coney Barrett surprised by history of cross-dressing laws targeting trans people
December 05 2024 5:40 PM
LGBTQ+ groups cautiously optimistic that Supreme Court will rule for trans youth care
December 05 2024 5:36 PM
MAGA husband: Giving wife orgasms, not babies, is 'gay sex'
December 05 2024 4:00 PM
BREAKING: Chelsea Manning and Raquel Willis among 15 arrested
December 05 2024 3:19 PM
Chelsea Manning and Raquel Willis among 15 arrested at U.S. Capitol during bathroom sit-in
December 05 2024 3:03 PM
New England wedding vendors offer help to same-sex couples before Trump inauguration
December 05 2024 1:25 PM