Children exposed to cannabis in utero are at high risk of autism

A Canadian-based retrospective study showed that children exposed to marijuana in utero had a moderate risk of developing autism spectrum disorders.

Dr. Daniel Corsi, a colleague at the Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, found that mothers who used cannabis during pregnancy were 50% more likely to have children with autism (adjusted hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.17– 1.96).

Also found hints on increased risk of intellectual and learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Natural medicine.. However, the analysis is very limited and the researchers cautioned in interpreting these results.

Nevertheless, Corsi said in an email MedPage today ,”[o]Our clinical recommendations, based on these findings, are for women who are or are pregnant to avoid using cannabis products. “

Torri Metz, MD, a maternal and fetal medicine expert at the University of Utah, commented that the study raises previous concerns about the potential effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on offspring.

“This is another piece of the puzzle,” said Metz, who was not involved in the study MedPage today.. “It makes us worried about cannabis exposure in utero and whether it affects fetal neurodevelopment.” Mets also categorizes substance use in this large population-based study. The importance of careful interpretation of these findings was emphasized because of the limited nature of the findings.

Dr. Lauren Jansson, MD, head of pediatrics at the Poisoning and Pregnancy Center at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, hopes the study can advise patients to avoid marijuana use during pregnancy as well as during lactation. I am. Good skill.

“We know that health care providers tend to discount cannabis use as insignificant. We know that counseling is inconsistent even during pregnancy,” he was not involved in the study. Mr Yangson said in an interview. “In studies like this, there is more data to help women recommend that they stop using at least during pregnancy.”

Jansson said that pregnant patients who are using marijuana for medical purposes should make a use decision based on a risk-benefit analysis with their provider.

The use of cannabis during pregnancy has increased in recent years, Corsi and colleagues write. Legalization in new jurisdictions raises concerns about how prenatal use of marijuana affects outcomes in childhood development.

using Ontario Achievements and Registry and Network (Born) Researchers investigated the relationship between cannabis exposure and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. They analyzed more than 500,000 live births between 2007 and 2012 and tracked children for up to 10 years. This group has 3,148 mothers (0.6%) who used cannabis.

The Corsi group excluded all babies who were not covered by health insurance at birth. We also excluded children who died 18 months before the autism analysis and children who died before age 4 years from the intellectual and learning disabilities analysis because they are typical ages for diagnosis.

To reduce the main cohort imbalance between cannabis users and non-cannabis researchers, the researchers chose 2,364 users, many including age, education, medical comorbidities, and non-cannabis drug use. We identified approximately 171,000 users with a close match in the covariate of.

The incidence of autism spectrum disorders was 4.0 per 1,000 child-years exposed to marijuana in utero versus 2.42 in unexposed children. The association between prenatal cannabis use and autism spectrum disorders persisted in a sensitivity analysis of substance use, income, and preterm birth. Estimates of points were slightly lower in the corresponding smaller cohorts, but remained statistically significant.

Researchers also found that in a corresponding cohort of children of mothers using marijuana, intellectual and learning disabilities (HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.97–1.55), and ADHD (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.99). We found that the incidence of –1.25) increased. These were not significant after further adjustment.

Corsi and colleagues recognize that the prevalence of cannabis use during pregnancy is significantly lower than that recorded elsewhere (2-5% in the UK and US), and these results It may be restricted. The group lacked data on frequency of use, duration, and trimester, admitting that self-reported data could lead to misclassification.

Mets stressed the need for careful interpretation because of these limitations, but added that the study was a significant step forward.

“We certainly need more information about the use and downstream effects of marijuana on offspring exposed in utero,” Mets said. “It’s exciting to see people rating this.”