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smoking_guru

Here's an interesting article on Marijuana and increased blood flow in your brain, found in February 12-18th edition of NewScientist


"MARIJUANA really does give you a head rush. In frequent cannabis users, blood flows faster through the arteries of the brain than in people who do not use the drug.
According to Jean Cadet of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore, Maryland, the faster flow may be an attempt to compensate for a lack of oxygen in the brain caused by cannabis. He claims his findings could explain why the drug affects short-term memory.
Cadet measured blood flow in the brains of 54 frequent marijuana smokers using a method called transcranial Doppler sonography. Even in the group he describes as "light" users, who smoked 11 joints a week on average, there was a clear difference in blood flow compared with 18 controls. An earlier study showed tobacco smokers have normal blood flow.
After a month of observed non-smoking in a clinic, there was no improvement in people who smoked more than 78 joints a week on average. In those who had smoked fewer, blood flow fell slightly (Neurology, vol. 64, p 488). The findings may not apply to people who take marijuana in forms developed for medicinal purposes or who smoke it only occasionally, points out William Notcutt of James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth in the UK. Unlike frequent cannabis smokers, they a re not exposed to large doses of the various toxic substances found in the smoke from joints, he points out." (NewScientist February 12-18 2005)

Any comments?

 

smoking_guru

More than 60 views and no reply's? Any veteran tokers out there want to shed some light?

cb007sax

Of course it increases bloodflow to the brain, almost anyone who has been high enough can start to feel the pressure in the head from increased bloodflow. The question really is, is this bloodflow bad for you, especially if you have possible blockage?

I'm not a doctor of course, so I couldn't say. Good article to bring some new topics.

Buzzby

This is the first I've ever heard about marijuana causing a shortage of oxygen in the brain. If you hold tokes for extended periods of time there would be some very short-term oxygen deficits due to lack of breathing. Other than that I don't know where he got this idea.

Faster flow might have something to do with dilated blood vessels and a faster heartbeat.


That's like two ounces a week. I've never known anyone to smoke that much. I'm still not clear as to why increased blood flow to the brain would be a bad thing. More blood > more oxygen > better metabolism in the brain cells.


It sounds like he's implying that it's not the cannabinoids causing the increased blood flow but some other, unknown, components in the smoke. It would be interesting to see the research protocols repeated with people who use vaporizers, people who consume marijuana in food, and people who use Marinol.

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smoking_guru

Some very good insight.


Increased bloodflow would probably not be that bad, except when the increased bloodflow is to compensate for lack of oxygen in the blood, then it shows that your body is having a problem and it is tryin to solve it.

 

Richi

Here is someone sending a letter back to New Scientist, with the same information that Buzzby said:

Heavy Smoking

In your report on marijuana causing headrushes (12 February, p 17), the author notes that after a month of observed non-smoking in a clinic, there was no improvement in people who smoked more than 78 joints a week on average. I know a lot of people who smoke cannabis, but I have never known of anyone smoking 78 joints a week.

This reminds me of the study by Robert Heath in the US in 1974. Heath made rhesus monkeys smoke the equivalent of 63 joints in 5 minutes in a gas mask so they would not lose any of the smoke. They suffocated and some died. So the government proclaimed "cannabis kills brain cells", which it may. We unfortunately still don't know because of the lack of credible studies. Instead, we get studies funded by political groups with their own agenda.

From issue 2490 of New Scientist magazine, 12 March 2005, page 27