TOPLINE
Days after the American Heart Association issued a statement advising against smoking cannabis products, a comprehensive study was published Monday in the journal Nature, found that women who used marijuana during pregnancy were 1.5 times more likely to have a child with autism.
Hand holding let marijuana joint.
KEY FACTS
Researchers at Ottawa Hospital and affiliated institutions examined data from each birth in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2012, which totaled more than 500,000, in what is arguably one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind. .
In 2,200 cases, the mothers said they used marijuana during pregnancy without mixing it with tobacco, alcohol or opioids.
The study found “an association between mother’s cannabis use in pregnancy and the incidence of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.”
“The incidence of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was 4.00 per 1,000 person-years among children with exposure compared with 2.42 among non-exposed children, and the fully adjusted risk ratio was 1.51,” according to the study.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, past research into marijuana use during pregnancy has been linked to low birth weight in newborns and hyperactivity, attention and other cognitive and behavioral problems in children.
The number of pregnant women using cannabis is likely to rise: A study found about 1 in 20 women in the U.S. reported using marijuana while pregnant in 2017, doubling the rate in 2002 – and that is before marijuana became legal in many states.
Crucial quote:
“These are not reassuring findings. We strongly discourage the use of cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding, “said study author Dr. Darine El-Chaâr, a specialist in maternal fetal medicine and clinical researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada.
Key background:
The authors of the Canadian study published Thursday acknowledged that it is limited. It did not include the amount and type of marijuana that the women used or when during pregnancy or how often women used it. The study does not conclusively prove that marijuana use during pregnancy causes autism, only that there is an association between the two factors. However, other research has led to similar finding findings. A National Institute of Health study back in 2013 found that pregnant women who use marijuana are 2.3 times more likely to die. Last year, a study by the same team of Canadian doctors found that pregnant women who use cannabis are at a higher risk of delivering their baby early. “I am not too surprised by these findings,” said Drs. El-Chaâr. “Fetal brain development occurs at all gestational ages.”
Tangent:
Last Wednesday, in a statement published in the AHA Journal Circulation, the American Heart Association said it “recommends that people do not smoke substance, vape, including cannabis products, because of the potential damage to the heart, lungs and blood vessels.” Clinical pharmacologist Robert Page II, who chaired the medical writing group for the statement, wrote that marijuana use “has the potential to interfere with prescription drugs” and “triggers cardiovascular conditions such as events such as heart attacks and strokes.” ” Page added that if individuals choose to use cannabis products, “the oral and topical forms, for which doses can be measured, can reduce some of the potential harm.”
Continue reading:
Cannabis for mother use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes for children (Nature)
Marijuana use during pregnancy linked to autism in babies, says study (CNN)
Weeds are not good for your heart, studies say (CNN)
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