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  • Pot & psychois

    Link....

    Pot Triggers Psychotic Symptoms

    By Maria Cheng
    Associated Press

    LONDON (AP)—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 Dr. 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 in the U.S. 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 Dr. Deepak Cyril D'Souza, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University's School of Medicine. "In practice, we found that cannabis is very bad for people with schizophrenia,'' he said.

    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 Dr. 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.
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

  • #2
    So, to recap:

    1. Pot makes you paranoid.

    2. Schizophrenics should probably not smoke pot.

    In other breaking news, Alcohol consumption decreases emotional inhibitions and motor coordination and chronic use can damage the brain and liver, and chronic tobacco use causes cancer.

    Kevin

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    • #3
      I know eh?
      took em what 30 years or more to figure it out? hehe

      Comment


      • #4
        i love you....hic!
        The Welsh support two teams when it comes to rugby. Wales of course, and anyone else playing England

        Comment


        • #5
          I think the point of the whole article is the last line that doc quoted.

          It reminds me of the discovery of endorphins. Seeing the effects that opiates had on us made researchers figure that we had specific receptors for them. But why would we have receptors for an exogenous substance? Probably because our body has similar substances that those receptors are sensitive to. Following that they actually discovered the receptors and endorphins (endogenous-morphine-like substance).
          Q9450 + TRUE, G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2, GTX 560, ASUS X48, 1TB WD Black, Windows 7 64-bit, LG M2762D-PM 27" + 17" LG 1752TX, Corsair HX620, Antec P182, Logitech G5 (Blue)
          Laptop: MSI Wind - Black

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          • #6
            Don't get me wrong. I'm all for learning all we can about how marijuana affects the brain and body. My beef is with the US government's long black history of underfunding and discouraging and even actively attacking any research into pot's possible medicinal applications.

            Note that this research came out of the UK, and studies last year showing marijuana's possible cancer-suppressing properties came out of Spain. Very little (if any) research along these lines is being conducted in the US.

            Kevin

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            • #7
              Forget about pot, they need to get out there and ban nutmeg before it's too late! Think of the children!

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              • #8
                Actually I've long kept nutmeg & a few other spices/herbs in a lock box just because of their potential toxicity, especially in children. Then there are those with drug interactions.

                If you want a proven cancer suppressing plant try green tea & garlic.

                I've found cinnamon & cloves (3 & 1 mg respectively 2x/day) useful in treating my type2 diabetes. Blood sugar took a long term 25-30 pct dump with no other changes. Had to lower the doses of my prescribed meds
                Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 3 May 2007, 12:11.
                Dr. Mordrid
                ----------------------------
                An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Dr Mordrid View Post
                  Actually I've long kept nutmeg & a few other spices/herbs in a lock box just because of their potential toxicity, especially in children. Then there are those with drug interactions.

                  If you want a proven cancer suppressing plant try green tea & garlic.

                  I've found cinnamon & cloves (3 & 1 mg respectively 2x/day) useful in treating my type2 diabetes. Blood sugar took a long term 25-30 pct dump with no other changes. Had to lower the doses of my prescribed meds
                  Do you put them in capsules? Make a tea? I've become a big fan of pomegranate juice myself.
                  Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
                  ________________________________________________

                  That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I put them in capsules. The cinnamon I use and what's been tested is Cinnamomum cassia, AKA true or Chinese cinnamon. Supermarket cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) ain't it. Cloves is cloves.

                    Yes, pomegranate juice is a good move; folic acid and antioxidant polyphenols plus I love the taste. So are cranberries, which I use dried unsweetened.
                    Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 3 May 2007, 17:41.
                    Dr. Mordrid
                    ----------------------------
                    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                    Comment

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