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Study links meth use, schizophrenia
QMI Agency
November 08, 2011
Heavy methamphetamine use increases a person's risk of schizophrenia, a new Canadian study has found.
Researchers at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) looked at California hospital records of patients between 1990 and 2000 who were diagnosed as having a drug dependence or who abused drugs, including methamphetamine, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or opioids.
The methamphetamine group had 42,412 cases, while the cannabis had 23,335. There was also a control group of patients who had appendicitis, but no drug use. Records were excluded from the study if patients were dependent on more than one drug or had a diagnosis of schizophrenia or drug-induced psychosis during their initial hospitalization. Then researchers analyzed readmission records within California hospitals for up to 10 years after the initial admission. Patients who were readmitted with a schizophrenia diagnosis in each drug group were then recorded.
"We found that people hospitalized for methamphetamine dependence who did not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or psychotic symptoms at the start of our study period had an approximately 1.5- to 3-fold risk of subsequently being diagnosed with schizophrenia, compared with groups of patients who used cocaine, alcohol or opioid drugs," said Dr. Russ Callaghan, the CAMH scientist who led the study.
This is the first study to show a potential link between methamphetamine and schizophrenia. It was published online Tuesday in the advance edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The study also confirmed other research that found a link between marijuana dependence and schizophrenia. "We really do not understand how these drugs might increase schizophrenia risk," said Dr. Stephen Kish, senior scientist and head of CAMH's Human Brain Laboratory. "Perhaps repeated use of methamphetamine and cannabis in some susceptible individuals can trigger latent schizophrenia by sensitizing the brain to dopamine, a brain chemical thought to be associated with psychosis."
QMI Agency
November 08, 2011
Heavy methamphetamine use increases a person's risk of schizophrenia, a new Canadian study has found.
Researchers at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) looked at California hospital records of patients between 1990 and 2000 who were diagnosed as having a drug dependence or who abused drugs, including methamphetamine, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or opioids.
The methamphetamine group had 42,412 cases, while the cannabis had 23,335. There was also a control group of patients who had appendicitis, but no drug use. Records were excluded from the study if patients were dependent on more than one drug or had a diagnosis of schizophrenia or drug-induced psychosis during their initial hospitalization. Then researchers analyzed readmission records within California hospitals for up to 10 years after the initial admission. Patients who were readmitted with a schizophrenia diagnosis in each drug group were then recorded.
"We found that people hospitalized for methamphetamine dependence who did not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or psychotic symptoms at the start of our study period had an approximately 1.5- to 3-fold risk of subsequently being diagnosed with schizophrenia, compared with groups of patients who used cocaine, alcohol or opioid drugs," said Dr. Russ Callaghan, the CAMH scientist who led the study.
This is the first study to show a potential link between methamphetamine and schizophrenia. It was published online Tuesday in the advance edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The study also confirmed other research that found a link between marijuana dependence and schizophrenia. "We really do not understand how these drugs might increase schizophrenia risk," said Dr. Stephen Kish, senior scientist and head of CAMH's Human Brain Laboratory. "Perhaps repeated use of methamphetamine and cannabis in some susceptible individuals can trigger latent schizophrenia by sensitizing the brain to dopamine, a brain chemical thought to be associated with psychosis."
