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Teenagers who use marijuana are twice as likely to develop a psychosis such as schizophrenia, according to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

• Dr. John McGrath , and his colleagues at the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia studied 3,800 young adults born between 1981 and 1984 .
  
• Among the 1,272 young people in this study who never used marijuana, only 2 percent were diagnosed with psychosis.
  
• Among those who used marijuana for six or more years, 3.7 percent were diagnosed with this illness.
  
• Even those who used marijuana for fewer than three years were at an increased risk for mental problems.

"The nature of the relationship between psychosis and marijuana use is by no means simple and more research is needed to examine the mechanisms at work," Dr. McGrath wrote in his report.

The study comes at a time when many state legislatures are considering legalizing marijuana. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in marijuana use among young people, many of who believe the drug is harmless.

Labels: marijuana, health problems

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A recent report published by researchers at the University of British Columbia indicates that many young people in British Columbia use marijuana for "therapy" or "medicinal use" instead of for "recreation." Approximately one-third of young people interviewed for the study reported using marijuana to address health problems such as depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness.

Area physician Dr. Pam Allardyce commented that although this type of use is fairly widespread, many young people she sees are trying to move toward more conventional treatments: "It's not surprising at all [that they are] using it to self medicate. ... They come in in their 19 or 20's and they're trying to seek employment. ... They have met a girlfriend who's not accepting of their marijuana use or there's something socially that's caused them to have to deal with it."

(Source: www.ctvbc.ctv.ca)

Labels: health problems, teen drug abuse, pot, weed

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Drug addicts are at increased risk of contracting and transmitting HIV infections. Therefore, helping drug addicts could possibly curb the number of new HIV infections worldwide, according to information presented at the 18th International AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria.

Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said that many drugs increase sexual desire and impulsivity while decreasing the function of the inhibitory systems of the brain. Even after a person stopped using drugs, impulsive behaviors can persist for years.

"If you do not treat the addiction," she said, "the likelihood of any individual being infected by HIV becomes higher. "

For example, Volkow noted that substituting methadone for heroin reduces the rate of HIV transmission from 20% to 2% over a period of 18 months.

"Addiction is a chronic disease," Volkow said. "People take drugs, not because the individual wants to but because they have lost their ability to control."

Labels: health problems, addiction treatment, treatment, high risk behavior

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 2 Comments

Teenagers who smoke, who exercise fewer than two times a week, and who are overweight or obese are three times more likely to have recurrent headaches, according to a study from Norway.

Researchers studied 5800 teens and found that 55 percent had all three bad habits. This group had triple the risk for reoccurring headaches.

"The message for teens is that if you have headaches, it might behoove you to really look at your lifestyle, get exercise, quit smoking, and eat healthy foods," said Dr. Kathleen Digre, a professor of neurology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. "And if you don't have headaches the same message applies for prevention."

The study appeared in the journal Neurology.
 

Labels: health problems, smoking, overeating, exercise

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Yet another reason to end teen binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse among teen boys: Men who have high blood pressure are at increased risk of dying from either a heart attack or stroke if they go on alcoholic binges, according to a new study from Korea.

Dr. J.W. Sull and his colleagues at Eulji University studied 6100 people over the age of 55 years old. They defined binge drinking as six or more drinks on one occasion, and heavy binge drinking as 12.

• Men with high blood pressure who were binge drinkers increased their risk of death by heart attack or stroke almost four times, compared to those who abstain and do not have high blood pressure.
• Men who were heavy binge drinkers and who suffered from hypertension were 12 times as likely to die from heart attacks and strokes as those who had normal blood pressure and did not drink.

Almost 92% of American adults say they have participated in binge drinking in the past month, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Labels: alcohol abuse, health problems, binge drinking

Posted By: CRC Health Group 0 Comments