Posted by linkadge on May 5, 2007, at 10:21:18
In reply to Re: More evidence of the dangers of cannabis..... » linkadge, posted by Declan on May 5, 2007, at 2:46:52
It is my conention that the proposed link between marajuanna and shizophrenia relies almost entirely on associative evidence (a larger percentage of the shizophrenic population smokes marajuanna than does the general non shizophrenic population).
This is not proof IMHO, it is merely a correlation.
Some people's idea of "proof" is "I have a good friend who smokes all the time, and yeah he's sure got some strange ideas".
Thats not a proof. Correlation does not imply causation.
If you state a correlation long enough, just about anyone can think they see such a connection.
There have been a lot of assumptions that were held as fact for a "long time" untill more recent investigation proved otherwise. Marajuanna was purported to kill brain cells (probably due to the fact that it can impair memory). On the contrary, marajuanna promotes hippocampal neurogenesis like other cannabanoid receptor agonists.
The "marajuanna kills brain cells" was mainly asserted for two reasons. 1) it is believable since marajuanna impairs memory 2) it works as propeganda to keep people from smoking it.
It is unethical to perform the type of research that would be needed to determine the true propensity for marajuanna to cause psychosis. You cannot take healthy vaulnteers and assign them either placebo or marjauuanna for a few years and see which ones become psychotic.
This is the only type of reasearch that would conclude anything.
On the flipside, there is some evidence that levels of the endocannabanoid anandamaide are very low in the brains of schizophrenics. This could very easily be a result of problems with the ballance of fatty acids in the brain. A DHA deficiancy, for instance, will cause an anandamide deficiancy. Some very recent research has proposed that shizophrenics may also be trying to compensate for low levels of anandamide by using cannabis.
In some of the above posts we were outlining the links between fatty acid imballances and mental illness. We already know that marjauanna can prevent some of the myelin loss and inflamation that results in futher deterioration in M.S. We also know that shizohprenics brains may have significant abnormalities in myelenation. Perhaps marjaunna provides a similar protection of myelin in the brain of shizophrenics as it does in those with MS
It is the same thing with nicotine. Nicotine cuts brain inflammation and is neuroprotective in a number of models of neurodegeneration. It is possable that the nicotine consuming shizohprenic is actually halting certain aspects of their disease.
Linkadge
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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070410/msgs/756021.html