HEALTH WITH HIFAD: MARIJUANA

Marijuana.
Marijuana , also known as cannabis, among other names,  is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant intended for medical or recreational use.  The main psychoactive part of cannabis is
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC); one of 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids .Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.


Your Body on Marijuana
When you smoke pot, THC and other chemicals travel from your bloodstream to your brain. THC causes the feel-good "high."
Here are some of the other effects you'll feel:
Trouble thinking and remembering
Bloodshot eyes
Dry mouth (cotton mouth)
Increased appetite (the "munchies")
Fast heart rate
Slowed coordination


Marijuana Smoke: What's in It?
Marijuana smoke contains about 60 chemicals called cannabinoids. The best-known of these is THC, which also leads to the signs that someone has been smoking pot: the memory loss and random thoughts, as well as the unsteady walk.

Breathing In the Smoke
Marijuana smoke is also filled with many of the same chemicals as tobacco smoke, including ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde. Some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. Most users smoke pot in a joint or water pipe, so they breathe the smoke straight into their lungs.
There's no proof that smoking marijuana causes lung cancer like cigarettes do. But people who smoke pot do show signs of damage and precancerous changes in their lungs, especially if they also smoke cigarettes. And a study published in 2013 in
Cancer Causes & Control found that heavy marijuana smoking might raise the risk of lung cancer.
Pot smoking leads to other lung effects, too. "We know that patients see their doctor with more symptoms, including cough and wheezing, when they're marijuana smokers," Tetrault says.

Marijuana on the Brain
Could smoking marijuana change the way the brain works? That's what researchers are finding.
Brain imaging scans of heavy marijuana smokers have revealed changes in blood flow to parts of the brain involved in memory and attention. Researchers have also noted differences in the size and shape of the thalamus, the part of the brain that's involved in consciousness and information processing.
Heavy pot smokers in studies score lower than non-users on tests of memory, attention, and learning. The more they smoked, the worse they did.
The effects of smoking pot may be even more pronounced in teenage smokers than adults, because teens' brains are still developing.
Regular users are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, especially when they have a family history of the condition.



SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
Short-term memory problems
Severe anxiety, including fear that one is being watched or followed (paranoia)
Very strange behavior, seeing, hearing or smelling things that aren’t there, not being able to tell imagination from reality (psychosis)
Panic
Hallucinations
Loss of sense of personal identity
Lowered reaction time
Increased heart rate (risk of heart attack)
Increased risk of stroke
Problems with coordination (impairing safe driving or playing sports)
Sexual problems (for males)
Up to seven times more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections
than non-users (for females)


LONG-TERM EFFECTS
Decline in IQ (up to 8 points if prolonged use started in adolescent age)
Poor school performance and higher chance of dropping out
Impaired thinking and ability to learn and perform complex tasks
Lower life satisfaction
Addiction (about 9% of adults and 17% of people who started smoking as teens)
Potential development of opiate abuse
Relationship problems, intimate partner violence
Antisocial behavior including stealing money or lying
Financial difficulties
Increased welfare dependence
Greater chances of being unemployed or not getting good jobs

Other Health Effects
Marijuana can have effects beyond the lungs and brain. These include:
Anxiety
Depression
Fast heart rate
Increased risk of heart attack (within the first hour after smoking)
Suicidal thoughts in teens
Is It Addictive?
People who stop smoking pot don't have the same withdrawal symptoms -- like anxiety and sweating -- they'd get if they were addicted to a drug like heroin. Yet those who use marijuana all the time can have a hard time stopping.
The condition of marijuana dependence does exist, studies show. Some long-term, near-daily users seek treatment to quit, yet they keep smoking marijuana, despite its social, psychological, and physical effects. They also mention effects such as relationship and family problems, low energy and self-esteem, memory problems, and low life-satisfaction.
Marijuana can also lead to other addictions¸ especially in people who start smoking at a young age. That's why it's sometimes called a "gateway drug." One study found that young people who smoke marijuana are more likely to abuse other drugs, including prescription opioids, in the future.

AVOID DRUG ABUSE..
                             HiFAD AFRICA. 2018
Post by: Peter Olamide