What are the Genetic risks of cannabis?
Scientists have pinpointed gene variants tied to the risk of developing cannabis use disorder, in which people build up tolerance to weed and struggle to cut back despite negative impacts on their life and health.
For some individuals cannabis becomes problematic and involves tolerance, dependence, and difficulty to withdrawal.
To probe potential genetic risks of the disorder, Dr. Joel Gelernter, a professor of genetics and neuroscience at Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues, drew data from the Million Veterans Program, which gathers genetic and medical data from U.S. veterans, as well as other large datasets.
In all, their analysis included the genomes of more than 1 million people, about 64,000 of whom had a cannabis use disorder diagnosis. These included mostly people of European descent, but also those of African, East Asian and mixed ancestries.
In the new study, published Monday (Nov. 20) in the journal Nature Genetics, hotspots of variation often appeared near genes related to neurons, the nervous system cells that communicate with electrical and chemical messages. This included a gene that codes for a dopamine receptor that's known to be crucial to the brain's reward system and to play a role in addiction.
Other types of neurons that respond to different chemical messengers also cropped up in the data. But "we didn't see cannabinoid receptors pop up to the top," which are the receptors cannabis' ingredients directly plug into, Gelernter noted.
In addition to identifying loci, the researchers investigated if these genetic traits appeared alongside those related to other disorders and behaviors. They uncovered links between cannabis use disorder and smoking cigarettes, various forms of substance dependence, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
They compared these genetic patterns tied to cannabis use disorder with patterns previously linked to general cannabis use. The two patterns were quite different — general cannabis use was not linked to PTSD, for example. However, both general cannabis use and the diagnosed disorder were linked to schizophrenia.
"To what extent might what we observed be attributable to people simultaneously smoking cigarettes?" Gelernter said. At least in their analyses, cannabis use disorder remained linked to lung cancer even after cigarettes were removed from the equation, but further research is still needed to know what that link means.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/mindandbody/genetic-risks-behind-cannabis-use-disorder-found-in-huge-study/ar-AA1ktJCz?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=4340634acb0744d28b9942b36b24bfaf&ei=20
For some individuals cannabis becomes problematic and involves tolerance, dependence, and difficulty to withdrawal.
To probe potential genetic risks of the disorder, Dr. Joel Gelernter, a professor of genetics and neuroscience at Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues, drew data from the Million Veterans Program, which gathers genetic and medical data from U.S. veterans, as well as other large datasets.
In all, their analysis included the genomes of more than 1 million people, about 64,000 of whom had a cannabis use disorder diagnosis. These included mostly people of European descent, but also those of African, East Asian and mixed ancestries.
In the new study, published Monday (Nov. 20) in the journal Nature Genetics, hotspots of variation often appeared near genes related to neurons, the nervous system cells that communicate with electrical and chemical messages. This included a gene that codes for a dopamine receptor that's known to be crucial to the brain's reward system and to play a role in addiction.
Other types of neurons that respond to different chemical messengers also cropped up in the data. But "we didn't see cannabinoid receptors pop up to the top," which are the receptors cannabis' ingredients directly plug into, Gelernter noted.
In addition to identifying loci, the researchers investigated if these genetic traits appeared alongside those related to other disorders and behaviors. They uncovered links between cannabis use disorder and smoking cigarettes, various forms of substance dependence, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
They compared these genetic patterns tied to cannabis use disorder with patterns previously linked to general cannabis use. The two patterns were quite different — general cannabis use was not linked to PTSD, for example. However, both general cannabis use and the diagnosed disorder were linked to schizophrenia.
"To what extent might what we observed be attributable to people simultaneously smoking cigarettes?" Gelernter said. At least in their analyses, cannabis use disorder remained linked to lung cancer even after cigarettes were removed from the equation, but further research is still needed to know what that link means.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/mindandbody/genetic-risks-behind-cannabis-use-disorder-found-in-huge-study/ar-AA1ktJCz?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=4340634acb0744d28b9942b36b24bfaf&ei=20
