Methamphetamines, cannabis abuse may increase risk of schizophrenia
Mentally ill people who are fighting schizophrenia can help themselves live more functional lives if they buy Canadian Zyprexa.
Mentally ill people who are fighting schizophrenia can help themselves live more functional lives if they buy Canadian Zyprexa. While such diseases may have a genetic link, new research suggests that abusing drugs such as methamphetamines and cannabis can increase the likelihood that one develops schizophrenia.
Scientists from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada reviewed the medical data of patients admitted to California hospitals between 1990 and 2000 for abusing one of several drugs: methamphetamine, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or opioids. The team then tracked the rate of readmissions during the decade following the initial hospitalization, looking for individuals who were later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Results showed that compared to controls who were treated for appendicitis and not drug abuse, heavy users of either methamphetamines or cannabis were between 1.5 to 3 times more likely to develop schizophrenia, as published Nov. 8 in AJP in Advance, the advance edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
"Perhaps repeated use of methamphetamine and cannabis in some susceptible individuals can trigger latent schizophrenia by sensitizing the brain to dopamine, a brain chemical thought to be associated with psychosis," said researcher Stephen Kish.
These findings will need to be verified by further studies, which may lead to better therapies for both drug addiction and schizophrenia, according to the researchers.
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