Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Cannabis Use Linked to Early-Onset Schizophrenia
Reuters Health story - "Among men suffering from schizophrenia, those who had used cannabis were much more likely to experience their first psychotic episode at an early age at, Dutch investigators report. Dr. Natalie D. Veen, from University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and colleagues looked at gender and cannabis use in 133 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Seventy patients were cannabis users and 97 patients were male. Male patients were significantly younger than female patients when they first became impaired socially or occupationally, when they first exhibited psychosis, and when they first experienced negative symptoms of schizophrenia, the team reports in the American Journal of Psychiatry."