(Press-News.org) A new study of nearly five million live births recorded in California from 2001 to 2012 found that babies born to mothers diagnosed with cannabis use disorders at delivery were more likely to experience negative health outcomes, including preterm birth and low birth weight, compared to babies born to mothers without a cannabis use disorder diagnosis. The analysis, published today in Addiction and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, adds to a growing body of evidence that prenatal exposure to cannabis (marijuana) may be associated with poor birth outcomes, and sheds light on infant health one year after birth.
Recent studies have shown the use of cannabis during pregnancy is rising, with some expectant parents reporting using the drug to alleviate nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy. Medical experts have expressed concern around these patterns because an active component of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been shown to reach fetuses and infants through the placenta and breastmilk, respectively. Further, THC disrupts the normal function of the endocannabinoid system, which has been shown to play a key role in fetal brain development and in pregnancy, including implantation of the embryo in the uterus and maintenance of the placenta.
In the current study, investigators found that among the 4.83 million mother-infant pairs analyzed in the study, 20,237 women received a delivery discharge diagnosis of cannabis use disorder, which goes beyond occasional cannabis use and involves meeting specific criteria for a pattern of continued cannabis use despite negative consequences. Not all people who use cannabis meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder, and in this study, diagnoses were based on self-reported information. Because of this, investigators noted that the actual incidence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder in the study population were likely much higher than reported.
"While we cannot establish that cannabis use caused negative outcomes in this study, these data reinforce the case for caution around using cannabis during pregnancy," said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. "Careful analysis of data like these is one way we can responsibly study how cannabis use affects the developing child, all while a natural experiment is playing out across our country in places where cannabis is becoming widely available to pregnant consumers."
The analysis revealed diagnoses of cannabis use disorders based on medical records at delivery rose from 2% in 2001 to 6.9% in 2012. To assess the correlation between cannabis use disorder and infant health outcomes, investigators compared the mother-infant pairs linked to a cannabis use disorder diagnosis to 40,474 control mother-infant pairs with similar demographics and maternal health factors, including other substance use disorder diagnoses and tobacco use. Infants born to women with cannabis use disorders were more likely than control group infants to be born preterm, have a low birth weight, and be small for their gestational age. These findings were consistent with previous studies in similar populations.
Investigators also analyzed infant death certificates linked to birth records and found that, while infant mortality was rare overall (less than 1% in either group), infants born to women with a cannabis use disorders diagnosis at delivery were 35% more likely to die within a year of birth than control group infants. Analysis of additional health records revealed that infants born to mothers with cannabis use disorders were less likely to be hospitalized within the same year than control group infants, which differs from previous analyses that found a correlation between prenatal cannabis exposure and neonatal intensive care unit admission.
"Because we are looking only at medical records, there is a lot we don't know about the mothers and infants in this study," said lead author Dr. Yuyan Shi of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. "But our analysis supports the recommendation that health professionals screen for and address cannabis use disorders in their pregnant clients--to protect both their health and potentially the health of their infants."
Currently, it is not standard practice for healthcare professionals to screen for cannabis use or cannabis use disorders during pregnancy, nor is it standard to provide counselling on the lack of safety data around cannabis use during pregnancy. Both strategies may be helpful in addition to encouraging pregnant women who use cannabis to discontinue use during pregnancy and breastfeeding and to refer them to treatment when appropriate.
Investigators also analyzed how tobacco use--a confounding factor in previous analyses of prenatal cannabis exposure--impacted infant health outcomes among mothers diagnosed with cannabis use disorders. Compared with infants born to mothers who did not use tobacco, infants born to mothers who self-reported tobacco use were at greater risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, as well as hospitalization and death within their first year. These findings are consistent with previous findings that suggest concurrent tobacco use is common among pregnant women who use cannabis and underscore the importance of analyzing tobacco use and other confounding factors that may occur in cases of cannabis use disorder captured by medical records.
INFORMATION:
Reference: Y Shi et al. The associations between prenatal cannabis use disorder and neonatal outcomes. Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/add.15467 (2021).
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit http://www.drugabuse.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®
Males may have shorter lifespans than females due to repetitive sections of the Y chromosome that create toxic effects as males get older. These new findings appear in a study by Doris Bachtrog of the University of California, Berkeley published April 22 in PLOS Genetics.
In humans and other species with XY sex chromosomes, females often live longer than males. One possible explanation for this disparity may be repetitive sequences within the genome. While both males and females carry these repeat sequences, scientists have suspected that the large number of repeats ...
A study of almost 5 million live births in California by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego reports that babies born to mothers diagnosed with cannabis use disorder were more likely to experience negative health outcomes, such as preterm birth and low birth weight, than babies born to mothers without a cannabis use disorder diagnosis.
The findings are published online in the April 22, 2021 issue of the journal Addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the study.
Cannabis use disorder is a diagnostic term with specific criteria that defines continued cannabis use despite ...
A natural compound previously demonstrated to counteract aspects of aging and improve metabolic health in mice has clinically relevant effects in people, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
A small clinical trial of postmenopausal women with prediabetes shows that the compound NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) improved the ability of insulin to increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, which often is abnormal in people with obesity, prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes. NMN also improved expression of genes that are involved in muscle structure and remodeling. However, the treatment did not lower blood glucose or blood pressure, improve blood lipid profile, increase insulin sensitivity in the liver, reduce fat ...
As part of the Paris Agreement, nearly all countries agreed to take steps to limit the average increase in global surface temperature to less than 2 °C, or preferably 1.5 °C, compared with preindustrial levels. Since the Agreement was adopted, however, concerns about global warming suggest that countries should aim for the "preferable" warming limit of 1.5 °C.
What are the implications for China of trying to achieve this lower limit?
Prof. DUAN Hongbo from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. WANG Shouyang from the Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science of the Chinese Academy ...
LA JOLLA--(April 22, 2021) Spinal cord nerve cells branching through the body resemble trees with limbs fanning out in every direction. But this image can also be used to tell the story of how these neurons, their jobs becoming more specialized over time, arose through developmental and evolutionary history. Salk researchers have, for the first time, traced the development of spinal cord neurons using genetic signatures and revealed how different subtypes of the cells may have evolved and ultimately function to regulate our body movements.
The findings, published in ...
In two landmark studies, researchers have used cutting-edge genomic tools to investigate the potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. One study found no evidence that radiation exposure to parents resulted in new genetic changes being passed from parent to child. The second study documented the genetic changes in the tumors of people who developed thyroid cancer after being exposed as children or fetuses to the radiation released by the accident.
The findings, published around the ...
Researchers have found that a natural molecule can effectively block the binding of a subset of human antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery may help explain why some COVID-19 patients can become severely ill despite having high levels of antibodies against the virus.
In their research, published in Science Advances today (22 April 2021), teams from the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London, Kings College London and UCL (University College London), found that biliverdin and bilirubin, natural molecules present in the body, can suppress the ...
Researchers have identified another potential target for neutralizing antibodies on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that is masked by metabolites in the blood. As a result of this masking, the target may be inaccessible to antibodies, because they must compete with metabolite molecules to bind to the otherwise open region, the study authors speculate. This competitive binding activity may represent another method of immune evasion by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Although further validation work is needed, the findings suggest that strategies to unmask this region - thus making it more visible and accessible to antibodies - may help lead to new vaccine designs. ...
AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite advances in medicine and technology, childbirth isn't likely to get much easier on women from a biological perspective.
Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin and University of Vienna revealed in new research a series of evolutionary trade-offs that have created a near-perfect balance between supporting childbirth and keeping organs intact on a day-to-day basis. Human reproduction is unique because of the comparatively tight fit between the birth canal and baby's head, and it is likely to stay that way because of these competing biological imperatives.
The size of the pelvic floor and canal is key to keeping this balance. These opposing duties have constrained the ability of the pelvic floor to evolve over time to make childbirth easier because doing ...
Not all cancerous tumors are created equal. Some tumors, known as "hot" tumors, show signs of inflammation, which means they are infiltrated with T cells working to fight the cancer. Those tumors are easier to treat, as immunotherapy drugs can then amp up the immune response.
"Cold" tumors, on the other hand, have no T-cell infiltration, which means the immune system is not stepping in to help. With these tumors, immunotherapy is of little use.
It's the latter type of tumor that researchers Michael Knitz and radiation oncologist and University of Colorado Cancer Center member Sana Karam, MD, PhD, address in new research published this week in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Working with mouse models in Karam's specialty area of head and neck cancers, Knitz and ...
