Questions?   Comments?    I'd love to hear from you!      > > >
Good Mood Bad Mood
  • Home
  • Purchase
  • Endorsements
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Blog

Marijuana Changes Brains: I Told You So!

4/17/2014

18 Comments

 
Marijuana Changes Brains: I Told You So!

It is time once again for my semi-regular harangue on the subject of pot. I have several blogs in which I have risked the wrath of those who believe it is their libertarian free born American right to smoke dope, I mean pot. J I have also been chastised by those who believe that it should be their right as a Christian to smoke marijuana if it is not against the law. Somehow they think whacky tobacchy (as a friend of mine once called it) fits well in the Paul’s Romans 14 construct of Christian Liberty.

I have consistently warned anyone who will listen that there is little to nothing good about humans smoking marijuana. I’ve spent the better part of 4 decades telling patients that if they smoke tobacco it will kill them. Why people think that smoking marijuana will be harmless is beyond my understanding. I have listened to people give personal testimony to the medicinal benefits of smoking marijuana or consuming marijuana laced products. I have said and continue to say that real research on medical benefits of cannabis should be done for the few it might help.

On the other hand for the general public marijuana is a danger. Research published today shows what many of us have noticed in friends or loved ones who regularly smoke weed.[i] They change. Their personalities change. The abilities to think, their desire to work, and their memories are affected. The reason they change is that even once a week use of marijuana appears to change the human brain.[ii]

The study examined the brains of young people who smoked marijuana at least once a week and those who did not. MRI Brain-scans were used to look for changes. What the researchers found was that two areas of the brain changed as compared to non-users. The nucleus accumbens and the amygdala thickened. “These data suggest that marijuana exposure, even in young recreational users, is associated with exposure-dependent alterations of the neural matrix…” In other words it changes your brain!

In a study published in December of 2013, it was shown that areas of the brain that support memory were changed in heavy users of marijuana and that those changes remained even after 2 years of abstinence from pot.[iii] The current study would indicate that smoking marijuana for any reason is a threat to the ability to think.

There may be individuals with seizure disorders that will not respond to anything but the CBD portion of Marijuana and individuals in that situation should be able to use the drug in a form that does not require smoking. But, for the rest of us with normal healthy brains, marijuana poses real danger.

We know that 25% of young people who regularly smoke pot will be addicted and many of them will suffer brain changes that result in psychosis. Why would any Christian support the use, sale and taxation of recreational marijuana?

Paul specifically tells us in Ephesians 5:18 to not be drunk with wine but be filled/controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul is telling us that Christians should not give themselves over to the control of addictive substances. We should certainly not use substances such as marijuana that damage the body that God has given us to serve Him. It reminds of wise words an old friend told me once. “Will you be able to serve the Lord better if you make that choice, or serve Him better if you do not?”

So, the question for the believer must be will I be able to serve God better intoxicated with marijuana, or sober? 


[i] Jodi M. Gilman, John K. Kuster, Sang Lee, Myung Joo Lee, Byoung Woo Kim, Nikos Makris, Andre Van Der Kouwe, Anne J. Blood and Hans C. Breiter. Cannabis Use is Quantitatively Associated with Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala Abnormalities in Young Adult Recreational Users. Journal of Neuroscience, April 16, 2014 (in press)

[ii] Society for Neuroscience (SfN). "Brain changes associated with casual marijuana use in young adults: More 'joints' equal more damage." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140415181156.htm>.

[iii] Northwestern University. "Casual marijuana use linked to brain abnormalities in students: Dramatic effects of small time use; more 'joints' equal more damage." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140415203807.htm>.

18 Comments

New Research on ADD: Are We Mice or Men?

4/13/2014

0 Comments

 
New Research on ADD: Are We Mice or Men?

“Confirmation of neurobiological origin or attention deficit disorder.” [i] That is the title of the article I read in Science Daily which is a summary of research published in Brain Structure and Function in February.[ii] The research is interesting in that it examines the behavior in mice that have been genetically altered who have a difference in the superior colliculus portion of their midbrain. An analysis of the superficial layers of this region demonstrated an imbalance in the noradrenaline concentrations in this area. Since the mice seemed to demonstrate defective response inhibition, the study appeared to show that these mice had an attention deficit issue. In the words of the researchers, “Our results suggest (my emphasis) that structural abnormalities in the superior colliculus can cause defective response inhibition, a key feature of attention-deficit disorders.”

Where do I start with this? First, the researchers do not claim in their publication to have proven that their research confirms the “neurobiological origin of ADD.” The editor at Science Daily said that. I am glad that this kind of research is being done for lots of reasons. If we do find a cause for ADD & ADHD and if we understand the pathology that causes it, we may be able to design testing that will allow us to reduce the number of children who are incorrectly diagnosed and treated in the United States every year.  Science Daily says that 4 to 8% of children in the U.S. have ADD/ADHD. But, somehow that translates out to 15 to 20% of childhood populations being treated with medication in some parts of the country today.  An understanding of the pathology and an accurate test would reduce both numbers dramatically.

Next, ADHD/ADD is not a disease. It is a difference in human ability to pay attention and tolerate boring environments like school when compared to interesting environments like computer games and television. Most children today are not being taught by anyone to sit up and respectfully listen to adults who are not interesting. With all due respect and apologies to all the good men who have been my Pastors, I learned it in church under the steady gaze of my parents. There were penalties associated with not at least looking like you were paying attention even if you mind was miles away. It was an amazing gift my parents gave me. I can listen to hour-long lectures and take notes now and even enjoy them. I was not born with that ability anymore than any child is today.

Attention is far more likely to be a spectrum across which some children can focus like lasers while other children are attracted to everything. The truth is that both ends of the spectrum of attention and all the spots in between have a value in different situations. This only becomes a problem when we take children whose attention abilities are not focused and force them to sit in classrooms for long periods of time and listen to people who cannot compete with television or computer games for entertainment value.

This spring Dr Richard Saul, a neurologist, published a book titled “ADHD Does Not Exist.” Dr Saul maintains that what does exist are twenty different medical problems that have the similar symptoms to ADHD. He states that he spends most of his time figuring out which one the individual has instead of lumping them all in to the waste basket diagnosis.

I agree with Dr. Saul. My observation has been that children who struggle to pay attention in school will have some kind of problem that is causing it. It may be one of many different kinds of problems. It is my job to help the family figure out how to help their child without exposing that child to the side effect risks of the medicine currently used in treating ADHD/ADD.

My last observation about the research should be obvious. The research was done on mice who were genetically altered and who demonstrated impulsive behavior living in strange experimental circumstances.

Children aren’t mice. J

 


[i] CNRS (Délégation Paris Michel-Ange). "Confirmation of neurobiological origin of attention-deficit disorder." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140411091727.htm>.

[ii] Chantal Mathis, Elise Savier, Jean-Bastien Bott, Daniel Clesse, Nicholas Bevins, Dominique Sage-Ciocca, Karin Geiger, Anaïs Gillet, Alexis Laux-Biehlmann, Yannick Goumon, Adrien Lacaud, Vincent Lelièvre, Christian Kelche, Jean-Christophe Cassel, Frank W. Pfrieger, Michael Reber. Defective response inhibition and collicular noradrenaline enrichment in mice with duplicated retinotopic map in the superior colliculus. Brain Structure and Function, 2014; DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0745

0 Comments

Overmedication: Sleeping Ourselves to Death

4/2/2014

9 Comments

 

Over Medication: Sleeping ourselves to Death.

Research this week has shown us once more that we can do lots of things with medication. We can calm shaky nerves, make the sleepless slumber, and banish chronic pain. We do these with medications such as Ativan, Ambien, and Hydrocodone and they do work. Unfortunately, we are finding that this does not come without cost.

In a study that looked at 100,000 patients in the United Kingdom who took diazepam derivatives (Valium) related to lorazepam (Ativan), and sedative hypnotic sleeping pills like Ambien (zolpidem) a startling result was found.
[i]The risk of death from all causes was doubled!  The researchers were careful to explain that the study was a correlative study. They could not say that taking a sleeping pill or a nerve pill was the direct cause of the increased death rate. But, the correlation between the doubling of the death rate and taking these medications was real and substantial.

This research is important because our society has become fixated on the idea that if we have problems that are emotional or medical, there must be a medicine that can fix them. This viewpoint has had an impressive effect on the medical habits of our people.

In 2011 our five percent of the world’s population consumed 66% of all the psychiatric medications sold in the world. In addition we consumed 80% of all the worlds opiate derivative narcotic pain medicines.[ii] Since their introduction in 1988, the use of antidepressant medications in the United States has increased 400%.[iii] It is hard to believe that our 5% should be so troubled. But, our medicine cabinets would seem to say we are.

The most significant cost of this rising tide of prescription drug use is death by overdose.
[iv] More people in the US today die of prescription drug overdoses than deaths due to overdoses of heroin and cocaine combined. Most all of these prescription overdose deaths will be due to the Opioid pain killers. Half the time the death will be due to a combination of Narcotic pain killer and the anti anxiety Valium type drugs and sleeping pills. IN 2008 more people died from these prescription drug overdoses than from car wrecks.

By now you must wonder where I am headed with all of this bad news. Well, it stands as a warning to all of us. As patients we should not expect to have every sleepless night, anxious moment or aching joint fixed with medicine. And, we should be carefully asking our prescriber what it is we are going to take and what the side effects and benefits are. As doctors we must take the greatest care when we prescribe medication that we know can alone or in combination with others kill the patient who takes them.

And, maybe it is time that we started looking for answers to more of our problems someplace besides a doctor’s office. This is very true for things like anxiety and sadness over loss. Talking with someone who is trained and skilled in counseling can achieve the same or better results than medication without the risk of medication side effects. It is also true for insomnia. Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral talk therapy helps those who struggle with sleep.
[v]

Biblical counseling deals with these kinds of problems and does so without side effects. Counseling from the scriptures offers hope to those who are sad. It offers answers to those who worry. It gives encouragement for those who struggle with sleep and those who must deal with chronic pain.  A couple of good sources for finding counselors trained in Biblical counseling are the websites for the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (http://www.biblicalcounseling.com/ ) and the Biblical Counseling Coalition ( http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/ ).  


[i] Effect of anxiolytic and hypnotic drug prescriptions on mortality hazards: retrospective cohort study

BMJ 2014; 348 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g1996 (Published 19 March 2014)

Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1996   Scott Weich et.al.

 

[ii] http://www.drugrehab.us/news/americans-gulping-down-80-percent-of-worlds-opiates/ The statistics listed are in the article at this web address.

[iii] http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/20/what-does-a-400-increase-in-antidepressant-prescribing-really-mean/

[iv] http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/rxbrief/ The statistics in this paragraph come from this article at the Center for Disease Control website.

[v] http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/in-depth/insomnia-treatment/art-20046677

9 Comments

    Author

    Charles D Hodges Jr. MD
    I have been counseling people with mood problems and other family issues  for 25 years.  

    Archives

    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    January 2017
    October 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.