oracle
11-11-2002, 12:22 AM
Cannabis link to schizophrenia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2407027.stm)
<font size=1>Wednesday, 6 November, 2002, 01:33 GMT 2</font>
Psychiatrists are calling for caution in the move towards licensing cannabis-based medicines.
It follows research into a possible link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.
Two recent studies have shown that heavy use of cannabis is associated with a fourfold increased risk of developing the mental illness.
"There are some dangers to using high doses of cannabis that people need to know about," said Dr Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.
He said there was concern in the medical profession that people who smoke large amounts of cannabis for a long period of time are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia.
This needs to be kept in mind in the testing of new cannabis-based medicines, he added.
He told BBC News Online: "We need to do some kind of study to establish the psychiatric safety profile of these drugs."
Dr D'Souza presented new evidence on the link between cannabis and schizophrenia at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in London.
...
Click here to read more (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2407027.stm)
<font size=1>Wednesday, 6 November, 2002, 01:33 GMT 2</font>
Psychiatrists are calling for caution in the move towards licensing cannabis-based medicines.
It follows research into a possible link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.
Two recent studies have shown that heavy use of cannabis is associated with a fourfold increased risk of developing the mental illness.
"There are some dangers to using high doses of cannabis that people need to know about," said Dr Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.
He said there was concern in the medical profession that people who smoke large amounts of cannabis for a long period of time are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia.
This needs to be kept in mind in the testing of new cannabis-based medicines, he added.
He told BBC News Online: "We need to do some kind of study to establish the psychiatric safety profile of these drugs."
Dr D'Souza presented new evidence on the link between cannabis and schizophrenia at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in London.
...
Click here to read more (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2407027.stm)