Cannabis use during pregnancy related to child health problems

Women who use cannabis during pregnancy May put your child at risk Of development mental health A study published on Monday found behavioral problems early in life.

recently research It has been shown that heavy use of cannabis during pregnancy can be harmful to the foetation. However, the effect of the drug on the development of children born to women who used marijuana during pregnancy is less clear.

As the use of cannabis becomes more common, Especially during pregnancyYasmin Hurd, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the lead author of a new study published in the journal, can find out what the potential risk factors for using this drug are. Said it was important. Minutes of the National Academy of Sciences..

“I don’t think cannabis is scary,” she said. “But it is the drug that needs to be sure to understand which individuals may be more vulnerable.”

Participants in the new study were part of a larger research project called Stress in pregnancy researchIt started in 2009 with the aim of investigating how stress during pregnancy affects fetal growth and development. Pregnant females were invited to enroll in the study during the second semester, and participants were invited to participate in follow-up assessments up to 4 years of age with their children.

A new study examined a subset of 322 mother-child pairs from a larger study, including 71 women who reported using cannabis during pregnancy.In this group, researchers discovered that: Cannabis use during pregnancy Associated with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and aggression Hyperactivity With a toddler. This study also identified genetic changes in the placenta of pregnant cannabis users. This was directly correlated with increased anxiety and stress in young children.

Hurd and her colleagues found that children born to women who used cannabis during pregnancy had higher levels of a stress hormone called cortisol in their hair samples than children born to non-users. bottom. When given a behavioral assessment, female children used during pregnancy increased anxiety and hyperactivity. And young girls whose mother used cannabis during pregnancy showed a higher level of aggression.

Scientists have also measured heart rate variability in children associated with a variety of anxiety-related disorders in adults and children. (Heart rate variability is a measure of how fast or slow the heart can be depending on a particular stressor. High heart rate variability is generally considered an indicator of a healthy heart. .) Cannabis during pregnancy reduced heart rate variability, suggesting increased susceptibility to anxiety-related disorders.

Sample taken from placenta He also pointed out the effects of cannabis use during pregnancy. Researchers have found that the placenta of people who use cannabis during pregnancy reduces the expression of some genes related to immune system function, and these differences are directly correlated with future anxiety and behavior in children. I found.

“I think it’s pretty surprising that they were able to actually detect these effects,” said Patricia Conrod, a clinical psychologist at the University of Montreal who was not involved in the study.

Still, “demonstrating causality in such a complex process is very difficult to establish,” she added.

Although the data are relevant, researchers cannot be sure that there is a direct causal relationship. However, the consistency of the data is convincing, and the results are consistent with the results of previous studies showing that cannabis use during pregnancy has a direct effect on the foetation, Mr. Hard said. “I can’t ignore it,” she said.

Cannabis is marketed as a safe substance, said Dr. Salome Kihani, a physician and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.

However, people tend to forget that it is a psychotropic drug, and it has not been fully studied. Expansion of research on potential harm, She said. “This study suggests that cannabis use during pregnancy, like tobacco and alcohol, is associated with poor early childhood outcomes.”

This result does not mean that everyone exposed to cannabis in the womb will have problems or develop anxiety disorders, Haad said. However, the use of cannabis during pregnancy may put those children at risk of stress and anxiety problems, suggesting that other lifelong factors may exacerbate it.

“I think pregnant women and their doctors need to discuss more about cannabis use, just as they do with alcohol. Then they can get help for themselves and their children. You need to be given resources like that, “she said. “This is not about stigmatizing women, it’s the opposite … it’s about more knowledge you have, more power you have.”

This was originally published NBC news..