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Medical Video: Insidermedicine In Depth - March 1, 2010 - Cannabis
Cannabis is the most common type of drug used in Indonesia, and most marijuana users first experiment with marijuana in adolescence. According to the latest data BNN in 2014, 565,598 adolescents of school age were the second largest active marijuana user group after the working class.
Researchers have long noted a link between adolescent marijuana users and an increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and psychosis (schizophrenia) when they grow up.
How does marijuana affect the brain of teenagers?
Cannabis contains the chemical compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other related compounds. THC hijacks areas of the brain responsible for emotional experiences, such as happiness, memory, reasoning, concentration, and sensory perception and time. The way it works is by sending signals between nerve cells that interfere with various mental and physical functions. Over time, marijuana will cause short-term psychotic effects such as euphoria, hallucinations, panic, paranoia, and distortion of reality even in healthy people. Some of these effects can last in the long term.
Several studies have linked cannabis use with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders in adolescents, including depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms that refer to schizophrenia. But, whether and to what extent marijuana actually causes this condition is not always easy to determine. The potential danger associated with cannabis use depends on two main things.
The first is age when you first start using marijuana, especially if before 18 years. Using marijuana during key stages of brain development during adolescence can have an impact on synaptic pruning (when old nerve connections are removed) and the development of white matter (which transmits signals in the brain). The second is the frequency, dosage and duration of smoking marijuana, especially if you use at least weekly. The bigger or stronger the dose, the more THC enters the brain to change the way we regulate emotions.
How can cannabis users be at risk for schizophrenia?
A growing body of evidence shows that heavy doses of marijuana are identical to neuropsychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia. The results showed that regular marijuana users who were aged 16 or 17 showed a decrease in the thalamus of the brain - an important area for learning, memory, and communication.
Furthermore, the researchers say the deterioration in the quality of the thalamus of the brain resembles the damage found in adult schizophrenic patients with marijuana. This change continues until the beginning of adulthood, far past the initial exposure stage. This finding supports several previous studies, which showed that routine marijuana use can cause changes in brain structure associated with schizophrenia. As many as 90 percent of schizophrenic marijuana users have used marijuana in heavy doses, even long before being exposed to mental disorders.
Nevertheless, researchers underline that the increased risk of schizophrenia will surge dramatically when adolescent active marijuana users also have a history of schizophrenia in their family tree. Several studies have shown that smoking cannabis can actually trigger early onset of disease in individuals who have risk factors for schizophrenia.
The risk of schizophrenia will be higher if teens have genetic factors
Latest research quotes from National Institute of Drug Abuse have found that marijuana users carry certain variants of the AKT1 gene, coded for enzymes that affect dopamine signal production in the striatum, have a higher risk for psychosis. Striatum is an area of the brain that becomes active and flooded with dopamine when certain stimuli are present. One study found that the risk of psychosis among a population of routine marijuana users who had a unique genetic code variant had a seven-fold increase in schizophrenia compared to those who rarely smoked marijuana or not at all.
Another study found an increased risk of psychosis among adults who had used marijuana in their teens and also carried certain variants of the gene for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). The use of marijuana has also been shown to aggravate the severity of the disease in marijuana users who already have schizophrenia, and reduce the likelihood of recovery from psychotic episodes.
However, marijuana is not a direct cause of schizophrenia
So far, the above studies have only shown the relationship between cannabis use and the emergence of later symptoms of psychosis or schizophrenia. This is not the same as stating that marijuana causes psychosis.
"In general, we found a tendency for an increase in depression and bipolar disorder in the family history of marijuana users. This might indicate that marijuana users are more susceptible to this disorder than those who are not users, or vice versa, "said the research team from Harvard Medical School, reported by Psych Central.
These studies provide one more reason to remind young people of the dangers of cannabis use - especially if they have family members who have schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.
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