In November, 2012 HealthDay News reported that there was a new study and from this study it could be explained why some marijuana users develop psychosis. It seems that scientists have pinpointed a gene variant and it goes along with increased risk of mental impairment that comes from marijuana use. So what does that have to do with the growing acceptance of medical and recreational marijuana? Well that means more people will be at risk for cannabis-induced psychosis says the researchers. Some ways of avoiding this are seeking drug abuse solutions. They also noted that there is emerging evidence that marijuana use during adolescence may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and that is a serious psychotic disorder.
In this study they looked at 700 people which they focused on the AKT1 gene. This gene is involved in dopamine signaling and that is abnormal in psychosis. It does play an important role in mental health.
Dr. Marta Di Forti of King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry states, “We found that cannabis users who carry a particular variant in the AKT1 gene had a twofold increased probability of a psychotic disorder and this increased up to sevenfold if they used cannabis daily. Our findings help to explain why one cannabis user under develops psychosis while his friends continue smoking without problems.” Just to clarify psychosis is typically characterized as a personality changes, impaired functions and a distorted sense of reality. Dr. Di Forti said, “The findings could also help to design health educational campaigns tailored to reach those young people at particular risk.”
All of these findings were published in the journal “Biological Psychiatry” just recently. So the identification of these gene variant absolutely does reveal a genetic factor that could help lead to new treatments for the problem of psychosis.
I have always known that there has to be a genetic factor that keeps one person addicted on a long term basis and then some people can get into recovery and stay clean for years afterwards. This sort of research is good for all of us in this nation.
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