Premature Births Have Been Related to Marijuana When Heavy Prenatal

Women who smoke marijuana while pregnant endanger their fetuses, according to a research released Thursday. Yes. Premature Births Have Been Related to Marijuana When Heavy Prenatal. Let’s learn more about it and discover what is exactly “heavy prenatal”.

According to an analysis of around five million California women who gave birth between 2001 and 2012, babies born to heavy cannabis users during pregnancy are more likely to have health problems, such as premature birth and death within a year of birth, than babies born to women who did not use cannabis during pregnancy.

The study published in the journal Addiction provides additional evidence of the dangers of marijuana usage during pregnancy. As more states allow recreational marijuana use for adults, researchers are attempting to ascertain whether the substance has any negative effects on fetuses. A research released in August connected marijuana usage among pregnant women to an increased risk of autism in their children.

“Because many states in the United States have now approved medical and/or recreational cannabis use, we recommend regulatory approaches targeting pregnant women, such as providing guidance for physicians to appropriately recommend medical cannabis and communicating possible risks of prenatal cannabis use,” said the study’s lead author, Yuyan Shi, an associate professor of health policy and health economy at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.

Another way would be to force shops to post warning signs and cannabis products to have warning labels about potential fetal hazards, she added in an email.

When it comes it premature births have been related to marijuana researches, it is unknown how many pregnant women use marijuana, or how many are heavy users. Previous research found that the number of pregnant women who used cannabis more than doubled between 2002 and 2016, rising from 3.4 percent to 7 percent. According to the experts, this is most likely an underestimation.

Shi and her colleagues examined the medical records of 4.83 million mother-infant couples, including 20,237 cases in which the delivery record stated that the woman had a diagnosis of “cannabis dependency” or “nondependent cannabis abuse,” implying considerably more than occasional usage.

The researchers used demographics, physical health issues, mental health disorders, and behavioral health conditions to compare marijuana users with 40,474 pregnant women whose data indicated no indicators of cannabis use.

When they analyzed the newborn outcomes of the two groups, they discovered that babies born to cannabis users were 6% more likely to be born early, 13% more likely to have a low birthweight, and 35% more likely to die within their first year.

The discovery that kids whose mothers smoked cannabis were more likely to die within the first year was “unprecedented,” according to Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the study.

According to specialists, the study had two significant strengths: the huge number of women studied and the emphasis on high exposure.

“In the past, no attempt was made to quantify the consequences of smoking during pregnancy, whether it was frequent usage or use in high amounts,” Volkow added.

One disadvantage of the study about premature births have been related to marijuana is that it does not know how much or what type of marijuana the women ingested throughout their pregnancy. This issue may be addressed in an ongoing research at the University of Washington in Seattle, which is actively enrolling pregnant marijuana users.

To be eligible, women must be taking or have taken the medicine at least three times per week throughout the first trimester and be willing to keep a diary detailing what product they purchased and how they consumed it.

“We’re trying to follow their marijuana usage quite thoroughly, and we’re also performing drug testing to make sure the ladies aren’t taking any other narcotics,” said Natalia Kleinhans, a neuropsychologist and associate professor at university of Washington, who led the study.

There will be a control group of pregnant women who do not use marijuana but may have a prescription for an anti-nausea medicine.

The researchers want to do brain scans on the newborns six to nine months after birth to determine if they can discover any effects marijuana may have had on their brains.

Because cannabinoid receptors are found all through the human brain and other organs, it is critical to understand how the medication impacts the baby.

“Marijuana usage will excite those receptors at an important time of development,” Volkow explained. “That might be one of the reasons we’re seeing these shifts.”

According to Ziva Cooper, head of the UCLA Cannabis Research program at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute, the new study about premature births have been related to marijuana highlights the possible risks of taking cannabis during pregnancy.

Future research should look at whether women are taking marijuana through edibles, smoking, or vaping to gain a better picture of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, she added.

Given the growing number of pregnant women who use cannabis to relieve nausea, this is an important research, according to Renee Goodwin, a CUNY epidemiology professor and adjunct epidemiologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“This study is unique in that they’re attempting to obtain data on high usage,” she explained.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, there is no proof that marijuana helps with morning sickness. Women who are pregnant or nursing are advised not to use medicinal or recreational marijuana.

“Marijuana has not been tested for safety, and we know it has the potential to harm newborns,” Volkow added.