Teenagers smoking weed daily far less likely to graduate high school

As the Global Commission on Drug Policy denounces the so-called “war against drugs” as a failure and suggests new approaches prioritising human rights and health, new studies on increased weed use by teenagers show significantly damaging outcomes. Hence the debate about the consequences of adolescent cannabis use is continuing.

The latest research on the subject was published in the British journal The Lancet Psychiatry this month. It was seen that teenagers who smoked weed daily were 60% less likely to graduate high school and far more likely to attempt suicide.

Researchers studied adolescents using marijuana, gathering data on frequency of marijuana use from over 3700 students from Australia and New Zealand and followed their developmental outcomes upto 30 years of age. They found a significant association between frequency of cannabis use during adolescence and most young adult outcomes investigated, even after controlling for potential confounding factors including age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, use of other drugs, and mental illness. Teens who smoked weed were seen to have far more negative outcomes then their counterparts who didn't smoke weed, thus supporting the case against marijuana use by adolescents no matter how infrequent.

Here are some excerpts from The Washington Post article  Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use  by Christopher Ingraham on the research.

In a conference call, study co-author Edmund Sillins said that the relationship between cannabis use and negative outcomes is significant even at low levels of use (e.g., less than monthly), and that "the results suggest that there may not be a threshold where use can be deemed safe" for teens.
According to the study, there are significant relationships between cannabis use and high school graduation, college graduation, suicide attempts, cannabis dependency (not wholly surprising), and other illicit drug use.

The author points aptly out that;
A person who uses cannabis less than monthly would have slightly lower odds of graduating high school or getting a college degree, compared to a person who doesn't use at all. Increased use further decreases this likelihood. On the other hand, a person who uses cannabis monthly would have roughly 4 times the likelihood of becoming dependent on cannabis as a person who doesn't use at all.

(Continue reading)


P.S:
Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use   
 (Washington Post - Sept 9, 2014)
Young adult sequelae of adolescent cannabis use: an integrative analysis  (September 2014)

Why sitting up straight is really important

A bad posture doesn't only make us look unsmart and slouchy, it can lead to some serious health problems. Some of the commonly reported negative effects of a poor posture are;

Sore Muscles:
Because of our slouch our muscles have to work harder to keep the spine and vertebrae in place and protected, we end up with sore muscles by the end of the day.

Spinal Curvature:
A poor posture overtime can cause us to develop a spinal curvature which may effect the weight bearing capability of our spine. Naturally our spines have an "S" shape which is exacerbated with a slouch.

Subluxations:
A subluxation of the spine is the displacement of vertebrae from their normal position. It is a vertebral misalignment which often results from the altered spinal curvature. This leads to a painful back and also may affect the integrity of the whole spine.

Blood vessels constriction:
The altered spinal curvature and resulting subluxation of spine may lead to constriction of blood vessels traveling through the spinal cord. Thus cause blood flow constriction which may cause poor blood supply to muscles and nerves and can even lead to clot formation. Clot formation can be life-threatening as it can lead to deep vein thrombosis.

Nerve constriction:
As nerves are connected to the spinal cord through the length of the spine, any change in its curvature or alignment of vertebrae can lead to their constriction and cause pain in any part of the body. Most often seen are pain in the back or neck.

Here is a great article on first of all improving posture but also with tips on how to fix a bad posture.

Post by Health, Wellness and Mindfulness.



References:

Negative Effects of Poor Posture  (LIVESTRONG.com)

Teenage cannabis use and schizophrenia

With the growing wave of legalizing marijuana use across the US, it is important to fully understand the possible consequences of expected increase in it's unrestricted use, specially amongst the youth. A group of scientist at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital have conducted a study which has found a link between teenage Marijuana (Cannabis) use and schizophrenia. This study was published by Schizophrenia Bulletin

The brains of teenagers smoking cannabis daily for about three years showed significant structural changes affecting memory. Some of those changes appear very similar to those seen in the brains of schizophrenics.These youngsters also performed badly when tested on memory tasks, indicating poor memory functioning.


As reported by Marla Paul for Northwestern University on Futurity;

This is the first study to target key brain regions in the deep sub-cortical gray matter of chronic marijuana users with structural MRI and to correlate abnormalities in these regions with an impaired working memory.
Working memory is the ability to remember and process information in the moment and—if needed—transfer it to long-term memory. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on the cortex, and few have directly compared chronic marijuana use in otherwise healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia.

According to the lead study author Mathew Smith an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; 

“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it. With the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain.”

 But in contrast to these findings another study conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, has shown a genetic link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. Kate Kelland  reports for Reuters that;

The results chime with previous studies linking schizophrenia and cannabis, but suggest the association may be due to common genes and might not be a causal relationship where cannabis use leads to increased schizophrenia risk. 

 "We know that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Our study certainly does not rule this out, but it suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well – that a pre-disposition to schizophrenia also increases your likelihood of cannabis use," said Robert Power, who led the study at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.

But what become evident from both these recent studies is the clear connection between adolescent use of cannabis and the development of schizophrenia. Therefore it is important for parents to discourage their children from getting swept up in this growing wave of legal recreational use of marijuana. We need to educate ourselves and our children on the very real dangers and consequences of indiscriminate use of marijuana.
 



References:

Teen marijuana use linked with schizophrenia (Futurity-January 3, 2014)

Study finds genetic links between schizophrenia and cannabis use (Reuters-June 24, 2014)

Cannabis-Related Working Memory Deficits and Associated Subcortical Morphological Differences in Healthy Individuals and Schizophrenia Subjects  (Schizophrenia Bulletin-December 15, 2013)

Genetic predisposition to schizophrenia associated with increased use of cannabis (Molecular Psychiatry-June 24, 2014)

Another reason why sitting in front of computer screens for hours on is not a good idea

Post by Health, Wellness and Mindfulness.

Here is why writing by hand should not be forgotten

Post by Health, Wellness and Mindfulness.

Air Pollution damaging not children's health but also their IQs

In a recent study at Columbia University School of Public Health, researchers have shown that air pollution might affect children's earning potential later in life. The study has been published in The Journal of Public Health Policy May issue.
The researchers gathered data by tracking poor and pregnant African American and Dominican mothers and their children til the age of five.
The results as also discussed by Sydney Brownstone in Fast Company Coexist section showed an inverse relationship in air quality (presence of neurotoxicants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) released to ambient air by combustion of fossil fuel and other organic material) and the children's IQ. Here are excerpts of the article;

Some of the biggest barriers blocking children's access to opportunity are also the most invisible. It’s no small difference either. If New York City were to reduce its pollution from sources like diesel fumes by even a quarter, affected children could earn an additional $215 million in their lifetimes.
It’s old news that some types of air pollution affect some groups more than others. Poor communities of color are most at risk, often housed in the polluted miasma next to highways, city dumps, landfills, power plants, and other undesirable places to live. New York City is no exception. In 2006, NYU researchers analyzed backpacks of South Bronx schoolchildren to link the borough’s heavy diesel-powered truck traffic to shockingly high rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations.

The Columbia researchers were able to see if pollution exposure correlated with academic performance and IQ. When they factored in the well-documented relationship between IQ and future earnings, the researchers calculated that if the city decreased PAH pollution by a quarter, each child could earn an additional $3,382 on average. Multiply that by the 63,500 kids exposed to this kind of pollution in the city, and the total comes to $215 million in lost dollars.

These findings have been supported by others studies and medical papers. Such as the 2012 paper published by the National Institute of Health in which Harvard Medical School Neurologist Dr. David C. Bellinger concluded that; 

Any effort to compare the neurodevelopmental burden associated with different risk factors is limited by the data available and the assumptions required. It was possible to estimate the total loss of FSIQ points in the population of 0- to 5-year-old U.S. children for a variety of risk factors, including three environmental chemicals: methylmercury, organophosphate pesticides, and lead. Despite the limitations of the approach, it appears that when population impact is considered, the contributions of chemicals to FSIQ loss in children are substantial, in some cases exceeding those of other recognized risk factors for neurodevelopmental impairment in children. The primary reason for this is the relative ubiquity of exposure.  

Although American industry will insist on more targeted and exact data to force any significant regulations to further reduce air pollution and other environmental pollutants, it is clear that harm is being done. If we want our children to have a fair chance at success and progress we need to take action now.



References:

The Toxins That Threaten Our Brains(The Atlantic-May 18, 2014)

Air Pollution Is Lowering The IQs--And Earning Potential--Of New York City Children 

(Fast Company-CoExist May 12, 2014)

Prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and IQ: Estimated benefit of pollution reduction (Journal Of Public Health Policy- May 8, 2014)

Air Pollution and Health Risk (EPA)
A Strategy for Comparing the Contributions of Environmental Chemicals and Other Risk Factors to Neurodevelopment of Children  (NIH April 1, 2012)
A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma  (The New York Times- June 2, 2006)


 

The autism vs vaccines controversy

In 1998 an article published in the British Journal The Lancet claimed it found a causal connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Although that article was widely disputed and later retracted, it has left behind a significant following, leading many parents to refuse MMR vaccination for their children. The anti-vaccine groups also stressed on the use of mercury-based preservative Thimerosal in vaccines as a suspected culprit. As a result the government has gradually removed it or reduced it to trace amounts in all vaccines in 2001, in spite of no scientific proof of its possible link to incidence of autism. As explained on the CDC website;

"Over the years, some people have had concerns that autism might be linked to the vaccines children receive. One vaccine ingredient that has been studied specifically is thimerosal, previously used as a preservative in many recommended childhood vaccines. However, in 2001 thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in all childhood vaccines except for one type of influenza vaccine, and thimerosal-free alternatives are available for influenza vaccine. Evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association between thimerosal and autism. Furthermore, a scientific review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal–containing vaccines and autism." CDC supports the IOM conclusion that there is no relationship between vaccines containing thimerosal and autism rates in children.
The IOM also recently conducted a thorough review of the current medical and scientific evidence on vaccines and certain health events that may be observed after vaccination. It released a report in August 2011 on 8 vaccines given to children and adults that found the vaccines to be generally safe and serious adverse events following these vaccinations to be rare."

The 2012 National Immunization Survey  found that about 90% of children aged 19 to 35 months completed recommended vaccinations and less than 1% received no vaccines at all. But it also highlighted the fact that rates are varied by states and regions therefore leaving some areas vulnerable to outbreaks of measles and other vaccine preventable diseases. The resurgence of measles and whooping cough (Pertussis) in recent years after decades of almost complete extinction could possibly be the distressing consequence of an increasing number of parents refusing the MMR vaccine on grounds of its possible association to autism. 

As explained by Puneet Kollipara in The Washington Post article How the anti-vaccine movement is endangering lives (May 5, 2014).

A measles outbreak that struck a Texas megachurch community late last summer sickened 21 people. And just recently, at least 16 people got sick during a measles outbreak in Ohio. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported 13 measles outbreaks so far in 2014 -- the most since 1996.

According to an article in JAMA News;

Overall, among 140 US residents who acquired measles, 117 (84%) were unvaccinated, and 11 (8%) had unknown vaccination status. Of those who were unvaccinated, 92 (79%) had philosophical objections to vaccination, and 15 cases (13%) occurred among infants younger than 12 months who were not eligible for vaccination.


Besides leading to prevention and saving lives, these vaccines are also economically beneficial, as pointed out by Kuneet Kollipara;

A new study from CDC researchers led by Anne Schuchat analyzed what happened to disease rates as childhood vaccination rates increased starting in the early 1990s. The researchers used these findings to model the resulting effect over the kids' lifetimes. In the analysis, the researchers factored in most routine vaccines recommended for children below age 6 (among them the MMR and whooping cough vaccines). Their findings: Routine childhood vaccinations given between 1994 and 2013 will save 732,000 lives and prevent 322 million cases of illness and 21 million hospitalizations over the course of the children's lifetimes. 

In 2009 alone, the researchers determined, each $1 spent on vaccines and their administration yielded $10 in benefits to society. And the vaccinations from 1994-2013, the researchers found, will save society a net $1.38 trillion, both directly (by reducing health expenses) and indirectly (via the economic activity that is saved from avoided illnesses). That's almost 10 percent of the U.S. economy's gross domestic product.

In the end vaccines may not be without fault but there is no clear cut evidence to their causal link to autism. And they are definitely effective and save lives if given to a significant percentage of the population.



References:
How the anti-vaccine movement is endangering lives (The Washington Post-May 5, 2014).

Vaccine Safety: Concern about Autism (CDC)

Vaccination Rates for US Children Remain Generally High, But Measles Outbreaks Underscore Shortfalls in Some Regions(JAMA News Spetember 2013)