Pregnant women who use cannabis can slightly increase the risk that their unborn child will develop psychosis later in life, new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests.
"Our research shows that exposure to prenatal marijuana after maternal pregnancy knowledge is associated with a small increase in psychoses in childhood or around age 10," said Jeremy Fine, a bachelor of psychology and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at the university. of Washington and the lead author of the study.
The findings come in the aftermath of several national studies that document a dramatic increase in the use of marijuana by pregnant women, including a study from 2018 of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, which found that the use of Marijuana among pregnant women in the United States with 75 percent was increased between 2002 (2,85 percent) and 2016 (4,98 percent).
As more states legalize the medicinal and recreational use of cannabis, other reports suggest that cannabis pharmacies in many cases suggest cannabis as a natural remedy for pregnancy-related nausea.
Pregnant women should be discouraged from using cannabis
This latest study, published on 27 in March in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that pregnant women should be discouraged to use cannabis during their pregnancy, because little is known about the effects on health.
Increased risk of psychosis
But the findings also raise new concerns that prenatal exposure to cannabis may pose a greater risk after the fetal brain begins to develop a receptor system for endocannabinoids, which are part of the naturally occurring neurotransmitter network through which cannabis affects the brain.
Bogdan, who leads the University of Washington BRAIN Lab where the research took place, said these latest findings build on other foundational research suggesting that endocannabinoid signaling may contribute to processes, such as neurogenesis and neural migration, that play important roles in early development of brain structure and connections.
"This study raises the intriguing possibility that there may be developmental windows where exposure to cannabis is likely to increase the likelihood of psychosis," he said.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of marijuana, mimics our body's endocannabinoids and binds to endocannabinoid receptors to exert its effects. Several studies have confirmed that THC crosses the placental barrier to access the developing fetus.
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