https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/934809
News Release 15-Nov-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Women who use cannabis during pregnancy, potentially to relieve stress and anxiety, may inadvertently predispose their children to stress susceptibility and anxiety, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the City University of New York published Monday, November 15, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
As legalization of recreational cannabis progresses across the world, many people mistakenly believe that cannabis use is without significant health risks.
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The children of mothers who used cannabis during pregnancy showed higher anxiety, aggression, hyperactivity, and levels of the stress hormone cortisol, compared to children of non-cannabis users. Maternal cannabis use was also associated with a reduction in the high-frequency component of heart rate variability—the change in time interval between heart beats—which normally reflects increased stress sensitivity. In addition, RNA sequencing of placental tissue collected at the time of birth in a subset of participants revealed that maternal cannabis use was associated with lower expression of immune-activating genes, including pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are involved in protecting against pathogens. The cannabis-related suppression of several placental immune-gene networks predicted higher anxiety in the children.
“Pregnant women are being bombarded with misinformation that cannabis is of no risk, while the reality is that cannabis is more potent today than it was even a few years ago. Our findings indicate that using it during pregnancy can have long-term impact on children,” said Yasmin Hurd, PhD, the Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience, Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, and senior author of the paper.
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tags: drug use, drug abuse,
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