Study says smoking a powerful tobacco daily increases the risk of psychosis



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Smoking high-powered dagga daily could increase the risk of developing psychosis by five, according to the largest study ever done on the impact of marijuana on the rate of psychotic disorders.

The research adds to previous studies that revealed links between marijuana and mental health issues, but she still has not identified marijuana as the cause.

Psychotic disorders – in which people lose touch with reality – are usually triggered by factors such as genetics and the environment. But experts say the findings of the new study have implications for jurisdictions legalizing the dagga, warning them that they should consider the potential impact on their mental health services.

"If we think that there is something special about cannabis (very powerful), then making it harder to find, could be a useful harm reduction measure," said Suzanne Gage, of the 39, University of Liverpool, which was not related to the new study.

Researchers from King & # 39; s College London and elsewhere badyzed data from a dozen sites in Europe and Brazil between 2010 and 2015. About 900 people in whom a first episode of the disease was diagnosed in a mental health clinic, including those with delusions and hallucinations, were compared with more than 1,200 healthy patients.

After questioning patients about their use of dagga and other drugs, the researchers found that daily use of marijuana was more common among patients with a first episode of psychosis compared to the healthy control group.

The scientists estimated that people who smoked marijuana every day were three times more likely to suffer from a diagnosis of psychosis than people who had never used it. For those who used marijuana every day, the risk was almost five times higher.

The newspaper was published online last week by the journal Lancet. It has been paid for by donors, including the British Council for Medical Research, the Sao Paulo Research Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

"If you decide to use very potent marijuana, you have to keep in mind that: Psychosis is a potential risk," said Dr. Marta Di Forti, of King's College London. and lead author of the study. She pointed out that the frequency with which people could smoke low-potency marijuana without increasing their risk of psychosis was unknown, but that using it for less than a week seemed to pose no risk.

Di Forti and colleagues estimated that in Amsterdam about half of the new cases of psychosis were badociated with high-potency smoking.

Gage pointed out that it was possible that people with a family history of psychosis or other risk factors were more likely to develop problems like psychosis or schizophrenia if they used cannabis.

"It could be the thing that tilts the balance for some people," she said. "For them, cannabis could be an additional risk factor, but it certainly would not have to be involved.If you use cannabis, it does not mean that you will definitely develop a psychosis."

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