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Smoking marijuana may increase their risk of schizophrenia. The risk is greater when the drug is used by people under 21 years.
While those with a biological agent predisposition to schizophrenia (eg, a family history of disease) are the most risk, heavy cannabis users during adolescence when the brain is developing, are particularly vulnerable. Experts say that between 8 percent and 13 percent of all cases of schizophrenia have been linked to marijuana use during these formative years.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects more 50 million people worldwide. Schizophrenics suffer from hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and unusual ways. They may hear voices that no one hears or see people or objects that are not there. Patients may believe they are persecuted, harassed or spied upon. These symptoms usually begin in men in their teens and 20 years earlier and women in their mid-20s to early 30s.
Schizophrenia is often described in terms of positive (or production) and negative (or deficit) symptoms. Positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and thought disorder typically regarded as manifestations of psychosis. Negative symptoms are so named because it is considered that the loss or absence of normal characteristics or skills.
Given the popularity of marijuana, both here and abroad, experts said the number of schizophrenics could increase dramatically in coming years. At present, marijuana is the most widely consumed illicit drug used by about 146 million euros or 3.7 percent of world population between 15 and 64 years, according to the World Drug Report prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In the United States alone, approximately 15 million Americans use marijuana.
The link between schizophrenia and marijuana has been established in more than 30 different scientific studies carried out in the past 20 years. These were mostly done in the UK, Australia and Sweden. The growing body of evidence is also due to the increased power of marijuana. The British Lung Association of the street said that marijuana is 15 times more potent today than those sold three decades ago.
"Researchers in New Zealand found that those who used cannabis at age 15 years more than three times (300 percent) more likely to develop illnesses such as schizophrenia. Other Research has supported this, showing that cannabis use increases the risk of psychosis by up to 700 percent for large consumers, and that risk increases in proportion the amount of cannabis used (smoked or consumed), "according Schizophreia.Com, a community non-profit website that offers information, support and education to people with schizophrenia.
Aside from marijuana use, schizophrenia is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The disease tends to run in families and can be triggered by exposure to viruses or malnutrition in the womb, problems during childbirth, and stressful environments. Defect chemistry the brain caused by imbalances in brain chemicals dopamine and glutamate is another possible cause.
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Sharon Bell is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premier online news magazine http://www.HealthLinesNews.com
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