Wood County Prevention Coalition
Uniting For A Drug-Free Community Since 2004
Marijuana Reduces Blood Flow to Brain Regions Affected by Alzheimer’s
by Valeriya Laskova, MSc December 2, 2016
Medical News Bulletin
New research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, revealed that marijuana users have reduced blood flow to the brain, compared to the non-users. Even more intriguingly, the hippocampus – the brain region responsible for memory and learning – was affected the most.
These findings have important implications for future research, especially in light of the increasing acceptance of marijuana use and its legalization in several countries. It is a commonly accepted belief that marijuana is a safe recreational drug, however, new research may show that it may not be entirely true. Blood carries oxygen, which is vital to the functioning of the brain. Oxygen deprivation negatively affects the brain function and can lead to brain cell death. It is, therefore, important to know if marijuana use affects the blood supply of vital oxygen to different regions of the brain.
The study enrolled 982 individuals with cannabis use disorder, diagnosed by DSM-IV and DSM-V criteria, and 92 healthy controls. The researchers used Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, or SPECT, to investigate the blood flow to different regions of the brain during rest and during a task that required mental concentration. The researchers found that, on average, marijuana users had lower cerebral blood flow than non-users. In addition, the brain region that showed the most differences in perfusion was the right hippocampus.
The hippocampus is the area of the brain that is involved in the formation of memories and learning ability. It is the first region of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Interestingly, past studies show that there is decreased blood flow to the hippocampus of the Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Although the findings of this study do not prove that marijuana use can lead to memory problems, or worse – to Alzheimer’s disease, they provide insights into potential ways marijuana may be harmful. This study raises many new questions for further research. How does the reduced blood flow translate to function? Do marijuana users have long-term memory problems? Is Alzheimer’s disease more prevalent among marijuana users? Are detrimental effects of marijuana use dependent on the amount of the drug consumed? All of these questions will need to be answered and the results considered when important decisions regarding legalization of marijuana are made.
Flying away from stigma: Logan exhibit displays stories of mental illness
Jamie Lenis Shattuck couldn’t explain her feelings, so she kept them secret. Her childhood was full of love, free of misfortune. So why, starting when she was about 14, did she always feel so sad and hopeless?
“I told my parents almost everything,” Lenis Shattuck said. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell them I was desperately sad. I felt it would somehow ruin their happiness.” When she left for college, the darkness prevailed. She visited a counseling center. The diagnosis: depression.
Fifteen years later, Lenis Shattuck is no longer hiding. Her portrait, more than 8 feet tall, stands among 34 photographs lining the 235-foot-long hallway between Terminals B and C at Logan Airport, part of an exhibit that debuted last week called “Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life.” Superimposed on each photograph is text describing the person’s struggle with mental illness.
The airport exhibit was created by McLean Hospital and several mental health advocacy groups to put forth, in the most public of places, the stories of people with mental illness — to combat the shame and show pathways to hope.
Lenis Shattuck, now 43, is a married mother of two in Rockaway, N.J. She keeps her illness in check with therapy, medication, and self-awareness. “Now, I can stand up and say it wasn’t laziness,” she said.
Next to Lenis Shattuck’s photo in the Logan gallery — which does not have a closing date — is a picture of someone identified as “Howie.” Passersby might recognize his face — it’s comedian Howie Mandel, his text describing his experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Mandel is one of several well-known people featured in the exhibit. Also portrayed: musicians Rick Springfield and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, author Luanne Rice, soap opera star Maurice Benard, and football player Brandon Marshall.
The participants range in age from 16 to 72, and tell stories of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other illnesses. The photos were taken by freelancer Patrick O’Connor, who spent 240 hours in photo sessions, kneeling up to his neck in pond water for one and dashing into New York traffic for another. The stories and photos can also be found on the exhibit’s website,deconstructingstigma.org.
It Doesn't Take Much Smoking to Kill You, Study Finds
by Maggie Fox
Even extremely light smoking — as little as one cigarette a day — can greatly increase someone's risk of dying early, government researchers reported Monday.
It's worrying because more and more people are reporting they smoke just one to 10 cigarettes a day in the hope that it will be less dangerous to their health, the team at the National Cancer Institute found."The results of this study support health warnings that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke," said Maki Inoue-Choi, who led the study team.
"Together, these findings indicate that smoking even a small number of cigarettes per day has substantial negative health effects and provide further evidence that smoking cessation benefits all smokers, regardless of how few cigarettes they smoke."
Even people who said they smoked an average of less than one cigarette a day had a 64 percent higher risk of dying early than nonsmokers, the researchers found.
People who smoked up to half a pack a day, when averaged over a lifetime, had an 87 percent higher risk of dying early than people who had never smoked, the team reported in the journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Internal Medicine.
The team looked at surveys of nearly 300,000 people who detailed smoking habits for every decade of life as part of a joint National Institutes of Health-AARP program. On average, they were 71 when the researchers looked at their surveys.
Related: Smoking Kills More Southerners
"Low-intensity smoking over the lifetime was associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality, including deaths from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease," the team wrote.
The sooner they quit, the lower the risks, the team found.
Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable illness, killing more than 480,000 Americans every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Globally, tobacco kills about 6 million people a year from cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other illnesses.
Smoking rates have plummeted in the U.S. and now only about 15 percent of U.S. adults smoke — and just 11 percent of high school students smoke.
But, Inoue-Choi's team found, the percentage of regular tobacco users who say they smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes per day has grown from 16 percent in 2005 to 27 percent in 2014. And about 23 percent of smokers say they don't smoke every day.
Facts on College Student Drinking
About Us
Our Vision: Helping youth be drug-free, productive and responsible citizens.
Our Mission: We are a coalition of compassionate community members working together to coordinate high quality programs for the prevention of youth substance abuse in Wood County.
Email: mkarna@wcesc.org
Website: wcprevention.org
Location: 1867 Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, United States
Phone: (419)-354-9010
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCPCoalition
Twitter: @woodpccoalition