6 ms·

Marijuana hospital visits linked to dementia diagnosis within 5 years – a study

44 points by avodonosov 1y ago

throwaway743 1y ago
From the article: > “However, this is not a study that anyone should look at and say, ‘Jury’s in, and cannabis use causes dementia,’” Myran said. “This is a study that brings up a concerning association that fits within a growing body of research.” From the study: > Individuals with acute care due to cannabis use were at lower risk than those with acute care due to alcohol use.
- Retric 1y ago
  Difficulty regulating consumption while intoxicated could easily be an effect of whatever underlying condition is resulting in dementia. I wonder if doing cognitive tests at various levels of intoxication might be a better indicator than under normal conditions.
- honeybadger1 1y ago
  doesn't exactly get the attention and funding they desire with that spin on it does it?
- f6v 1y ago
  One likely explanation is that both cannabis and alcohol users abuse substances due to an underlying process that leads to dementia. There might be something that makes you a heavy user AND prone to dementia. But, of course, we can’t say that alcohol or weed are direct causes of the disease.
  - justin66 1y ago
    It's well known that alcoholism can be a direct cause of dementia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff_syndrome
  - almost_usual 1y ago
    > Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5
- almost_usual 1y ago
  Alcohol is one of the most toxic substances out there, no surprise the risk is higher than cannabis.
- mk_chan 1y ago
  Diagnosis: Misaligned incentives correlate with acute miscomprehension
khalic 1y ago
Why link to a CNN article when there's a paper... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40227745/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40227745/
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  It's a value add on top of the article because it summarizes the broad area of research, discusses the study, and interviews one of its authors. Just linking the study is strictly less informative since TFA already links to it but adds a lot more context.
- arcticbull 1y ago
  Note that correlation is not causation. The study does not show a causative relationship and the relationship could be explained by these folks self-medicating for a pre-existing undiagnosed underlying issue. It might be causative, or it might not - more research is needed. > Yet research shows that regular users of marijuana are at risk for serious conditions, including strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure and myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle. I was under the impression that there was a relationship between cardiovascular disease and dementia too.
  - amanaplanacanal 1y ago
    I expect that inhaling any kind of smoke is going to be contributing factor to those kinds of health problems.
    - arcticbull 1y ago
      Sure, but that's not the only way of consuming the drug.
BlaDeKke 1y ago
17 years of daily use and stopped just like that without any issue or side effect. I’m trying to quit smoking now, but that seems te be an addiction on another level.
- redeux 1y ago
  To my knowledge, Marijuana is not physically addictive like Nicotine, so it's easier to stop with willpower alone. I don't want to understate your accomplishment though - congratulations for ridding yourself of an addiction. Best of luck on the next one too. You can do it.
  - johnecheck 1y ago
    This is a common myth. Cannabis absolutely can cause physical dependence in frequent users. Withdrawal isn't going to kill you like alcohol might, but it's very real. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/marijuana-weed-withdrawal https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/marijuana-wee...
    - INTPenis 1y ago
      Yes, yes and yes. In the worst cases you won't be able to sleep, cold sweats, digestive problems even. But in many of those cases cannabis was actually a relief for a pre-existing health issue. In most cases withdrawal is as simple as a few restless nights and after 3-4 weeks you're completely yourself again. It's still a lot milder compared to cigarette smokers who can dream of dancing cigarettes years after they quit.
    - cj 1y ago
      Not sure why you’re being downvoted. The least favorite withdrawal symptom I’ve seen is REM rebound, which causes intense and vivid dreaming, which causes you to wake up in the morning feeling like you haven’t slept at all. The return of mental clarity also causes some rebound anxiety as you regain mental clarity (especially if anxiety was the reason for smoking in the first place) I think it does a major disservice to the general population to paint weed in an only-positive light. Yea, I get people unfairly demonized weed for years. But that doesn’t mean we should all go on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and pretend there’s no withdrawal, no side effects, etc. (Maybe the people downvoting are just occasional once a week users? I could imagine once weekly having zero negative effects. But once you get to daily use, the negative effects are pretty obvious)
horns4lyfe 1y ago
This is an awful article, why are journalists so bad at interpreting science?
- avodonosov 1y ago
  What journalists are good at? Politics? Economy? Technology? History? Weather? Sports? Anything else? (Disclaimer: I didn't say they are bad at all of those) PS. Read the original paper if you don't like the article.
mcflubbins 1y ago
As I've gotten older (in my late 30s) I've enjoyed the sensation less and less. I find myself getting stuck in loops of thinking or actions. It wrecks my sleep schedule, and in the worst cases gives me some anxiety (and I don't normally suffer from anxiety.) I just don't enjoy it any more, though it does give me motivation for mundane tasks like cleaning the house, etc. Jut not worth it for me.
- lostmsu 1y ago
  I never smoked, and I noticed both loops and sleep problems in late 30s.
  - mcflubbins 1y ago
    I only noticed the issues when I smoke, so if I still have them they're not noticeable by comparison. Marijuana has never made me sleepy though, it has quite the opposite effect and keeps me awake. Perhaps it was just easier to rebound from staying up all night in my 20s.
mrtksn 1y ago
This is about a specific condition but it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really. I remember when there was a huge push on reddit and everywhere to decriminalize and later legalize marijuana and I was a supporter of the movement and still support it but only as a liberty principle. After getting into smoking it regularly in college I had the chance to meet long time users and without exception all of them had cognitive issues. One day I was late for a party and everyone was high when I arrived and I realized that I simply can't stand them because everything they said was the lowest IQ stuff I ever heard and they were pretending that its creative. Quit the thing and never looked back. Stick to the alcohol and drink within the culture of it and you will be fine. It is bad for your body even at small quantities but at least you keep your mind intact and alcohol actually enhances the creativity by lowering your guard and not interfering with your intelligence. The culture part is important, binge drinking can be fun at college at times but the culture I'm referring is the culture where alcohol is being consumed socially together with some food or at event. Avoid drinking alone and other high risk activities associated with drinking. I keep reading about how alcohol consumption is dropping, pubs are closing and this makes me sad because I see how young people lock themselves into apartments and smoke weed all day. I don't believe that anything good comes out of it, no wonder the loneliness epidemic is destroying the world. It's a very unpopular opinion and in some countries drinking only means getting smashed but trust me, there's another way. With weed, there's no another way. Anyway, here's something fun to watch on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTSCppeFzX4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTSCppeFzX4
- pedrogpimenta 1y ago
  That's just, like, your experience, man. I smoke weed socially. And know many that drink alone at home. Don't just, like, generalize, man.
  - pinoy420 1y ago
    [dead]
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- 1y ago
drbojingle 1y ago
CNN. I don't think I've ever seen them on the front page. Anyways, I take gummies about once a week these days. Using them every day is fun for a while but your paying for a new state of mind when you have one for free. IMO, drugs like weed, acid, etc are best used sparingly so they can change your perspective and not to become your only perspective. Personally I like reading code and studying UI's when I'm high. If you can figure out someone else's code or ui while your high, you know it's good. I also fuck better. High sex = best sex.
- Ylpertnodi 1y ago
  >High sex = best sex. ...surely, a lot must rest on what the other mammal(¿) thinks, especially er....before, during, and after.
  - drbojingle 1y ago
    As it happens, I've spoken to them about it before, during, and after.
eth0up 1y ago
Article seems mediocre or worse... Probably best to keep it in moderation for most folks and occasionally benefit from the introspective or entheogenic effects, which I'd argue outweigh most dangers. The analgesic effects really do work for some people, it seems via detachment rather than direct anesthetics. If it worked for me, I'd struggle with moderation. While it does shift perspective enough to reinterpret some discomfort in an alleviating manner, it's a bit much for me in exchange. Recreational use mystifies me, but I'd rather be judged than judge, and regarding these supposed associations with dementia, I find the chronic consumers that I know more mentally fit than most others. I've also, for the hordes of stoners I've known, never observed nor heard of a hospitalization. I have however, observed that the plant and its extracts instill a focused awareness on one's self and previously hidden ailments can be both revealed and sometimes appear exaggerated. I think there's a sensitizing effect, but it's often lost with chronic use. I consider it a medicine, and given the choice between ineffective legal analgesics, would fear marijuana less than, eg acetaminophen [0] or ibuprofen, which annihilates my stomach. 0. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0163834323001317 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01638...
johnea 1y ago
One has to wonder: What's cause, and what's effect? Which came first, the cannabis consumption, or the mental health issues? I totally agree with some of the other comments: I've seen alcohol consumption lead to MUCH more frequent, and serious, behavioral issues and long term mental and physical health issues.
arctics 1y ago
as someone who started from few puffs a day to several blunts a day... wouldn't be surprised to see prolonged marijuana use/abuse linked to not so great outcomes, glad I managed to quite a while back.

44 points by avodonosov 1y ago

From the article: > “However, this is not a study that anyone should look at and say, ‘Jury’s in, and cannabis use causes dementia,’” Myran said. “This is a study that brings up a concerning association that fits within a growing body of research.” From the study: > Individuals with acute care due to cannabis use were at lower risk than those with acute care due to alcohol use.

Retric 1y ago
Difficulty regulating consumption while intoxicated could easily be an effect of whatever underlying condition is resulting in dementia. I wonder if doing cognitive tests at various levels of intoxication might be a better indicator than under normal conditions.
honeybadger1 1y ago
doesn't exactly get the attention and funding they desire with that spin on it does it?
f6v 1y ago
One likely explanation is that both cannabis and alcohol users abuse substances due to an underlying process that leads to dementia. There might be something that makes you a heavy user AND prone to dementia. But, of course, we can’t say that alcohol or weed are direct causes of the disease.
- justin66 1y ago
  It's well known that alcoholism can be a direct cause of dementia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff_syndrome
- almost_usual 1y ago
  > Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5
almost_usual 1y ago
Alcohol is one of the most toxic substances out there, no surprise the risk is higher than cannabis.
mk_chan 1y ago
Diagnosis: Misaligned incentives correlate with acute miscomprehension

khalic 1y ago

Why link to a CNN article when there's a paper... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40227745/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40227745/

hombre_fatal 1y ago
It's a value add on top of the article because it summarizes the broad area of research, discusses the study, and interviews one of its authors. Just linking the study is strictly less informative since TFA already links to it but adds a lot more context.
arcticbull 1y ago
Note that correlation is not causation. The study does not show a causative relationship and the relationship could be explained by these folks self-medicating for a pre-existing undiagnosed underlying issue. It might be causative, or it might not - more research is needed. > Yet research shows that regular users of marijuana are at risk for serious conditions, including strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure and myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle. I was under the impression that there was a relationship between cardiovascular disease and dementia too.
- amanaplanacanal 1y ago
  I expect that inhaling any kind of smoke is going to be contributing factor to those kinds of health problems.
  - arcticbull 1y ago
    Sure, but that's not the only way of consuming the drug.

BlaDeKke 1y ago

17 years of daily use and stopped just like that without any issue or side effect. I’m trying to quit smoking now, but that seems te be an addiction on another level.

redeux 1y ago
To my knowledge, Marijuana is not physically addictive like Nicotine, so it's easier to stop with willpower alone. I don't want to understate your accomplishment though - congratulations for ridding yourself of an addiction. Best of luck on the next one too. You can do it.
- johnecheck 1y ago
  This is a common myth. Cannabis absolutely can cause physical dependence in frequent users. Withdrawal isn't going to kill you like alcohol might, but it's very real. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/marijuana-weed-withdrawal https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/marijuana-wee...
  - INTPenis 1y ago
    Yes, yes and yes. In the worst cases you won't be able to sleep, cold sweats, digestive problems even. But in many of those cases cannabis was actually a relief for a pre-existing health issue. In most cases withdrawal is as simple as a few restless nights and after 3-4 weeks you're completely yourself again. It's still a lot milder compared to cigarette smokers who can dream of dancing cigarettes years after they quit.
  - cj 1y ago
    Not sure why you’re being downvoted. The least favorite withdrawal symptom I’ve seen is REM rebound, which causes intense and vivid dreaming, which causes you to wake up in the morning feeling like you haven’t slept at all. The return of mental clarity also causes some rebound anxiety as you regain mental clarity (especially if anxiety was the reason for smoking in the first place) I think it does a major disservice to the general population to paint weed in an only-positive light. Yea, I get people unfairly demonized weed for years. But that doesn’t mean we should all go on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and pretend there’s no withdrawal, no side effects, etc. (Maybe the people downvoting are just occasional once a week users? I could imagine once weekly having zero negative effects. But once you get to daily use, the negative effects are pretty obvious)

horns4lyfe 1y ago

This is an awful article, why are journalists so bad at interpreting science?

avodonosov 1y ago
What journalists are good at? Politics? Economy? Technology? History? Weather? Sports? Anything else? (Disclaimer: I didn't say they are bad at all of those) PS. Read the original paper if you don't like the article.

mcflubbins 1y ago

As I've gotten older (in my late 30s) I've enjoyed the sensation less and less. I find myself getting stuck in loops of thinking or actions. It wrecks my sleep schedule, and in the worst cases gives me some anxiety (and I don't normally suffer from anxiety.) I just don't enjoy it any more, though it does give me motivation for mundane tasks like cleaning the house, etc. Jut not worth it for me.

lostmsu 1y ago
I never smoked, and I noticed both loops and sleep problems in late 30s.
- mcflubbins 1y ago
  I only noticed the issues when I smoke, so if I still have them they're not noticeable by comparison. Marijuana has never made me sleepy though, it has quite the opposite effect and keeps me awake. Perhaps it was just easier to rebound from staying up all night in my 20s.

mrtksn 1y ago

This is about a specific condition but it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really. I remember when there was a huge push on reddit and everywhere to decriminalize and later legalize marijuana and I was a supporter of the movement and still support it but only as a liberty principle. After getting into smoking it regularly in college I had the chance to meet long time users and without exception all of them had cognitive issues. One day I was late for a party and everyone was high when I arrived and I realized that I simply can't stand them because everything they said was the lowest IQ stuff I ever heard and they were pretending that its creative. Quit the thing and never looked back. Stick to the alcohol and drink within the culture of it and you will be fine. It is bad for your body even at small quantities but at least you keep your mind intact and alcohol actually enhances the creativity by lowering your guard and not interfering with your intelligence. The culture part is important, binge drinking can be fun at college at times but the culture I'm referring is the culture where alcohol is being consumed socially together with some food or at event. Avoid drinking alone and other high risk activities associated with drinking. I keep reading about how alcohol consumption is dropping, pubs are closing and this makes me sad because I see how young people lock themselves into apartments and smoke weed all day. I don't believe that anything good comes out of it, no wonder the loneliness epidemic is destroying the world. It's a very unpopular opinion and in some countries drinking only means getting smashed but trust me, there's another way. With weed, there's no another way. Anyway, here's something fun to watch on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTSCppeFzX4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTSCppeFzX4

pedrogpimenta 1y ago
That's just, like, your experience, man. I smoke weed socially. And know many that drink alone at home. Don't just, like, generalize, man.
- pinoy420 1y ago
  [dead]
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
1y ago

drbojingle 1y ago

CNN. I don't think I've ever seen them on the front page. Anyways, I take gummies about once a week these days. Using them every day is fun for a while but your paying for a new state of mind when you have one for free. IMO, drugs like weed, acid, etc are best used sparingly so they can change your perspective and not to become your only perspective. Personally I like reading code and studying UI's when I'm high. If you can figure out someone else's code or ui while your high, you know it's good. I also fuck better. High sex = best sex.

Ylpertnodi 1y ago
>High sex = best sex. ...surely, a lot must rest on what the other mammal(¿) thinks, especially er....before, during, and after.
- drbojingle 1y ago
  As it happens, I've spoken to them about it before, during, and after.

eth0up 1y ago

Article seems mediocre or worse... Probably best to keep it in moderation for most folks and occasionally benefit from the introspective or entheogenic effects, which I'd argue outweigh most dangers. The analgesic effects really do work for some people, it seems via detachment rather than direct anesthetics. If it worked for me, I'd struggle with moderation. While it does shift perspective enough to reinterpret some discomfort in an alleviating manner, it's a bit much for me in exchange. Recreational use mystifies me, but I'd rather be judged than judge, and regarding these supposed associations with dementia, I find the chronic consumers that I know more mentally fit than most others. I've also, for the hordes of stoners I've known, never observed nor heard of a hospitalization. I have however, observed that the plant and its extracts instill a focused awareness on one's self and previously hidden ailments can be both revealed and sometimes appear exaggerated. I think there's a sensitizing effect, but it's often lost with chronic use. I consider it a medicine, and given the choice between ineffective legal analgesics, would fear marijuana less than, eg acetaminophen [0] or ibuprofen, which annihilates my stomach. 0. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0163834323001317 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01638...

johnea 1y ago

One has to wonder: What's cause, and what's effect? Which came first, the cannabis consumption, or the mental health issues? I totally agree with some of the other comments: I've seen alcohol consumption lead to MUCH more frequent, and serious, behavioral issues and long term mental and physical health issues.

arctics 1y ago

as someone who started from few puffs a day to several blunts a day... wouldn't be surprised to see prolonged marijuana use/abuse linked to not so great outcomes, glad I managed to quite a while back.