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Regular Marijuana Use May Worsen Sleep, Study Finds

2021-12-07T19:11:06.280Z


A new study investigating the relationship between regular use of marijuana to fall asleep, more than 20 nights a month, suggests that it could be harmful.


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(CNN) -

It's a common belief among marijuana users: It will help you fall asleep and stay asleep.

Scientists, however, are not so sure that is true.


"This is an under-studied but important area, as many people are increasingly turning to cannabis products as a sleep aid," said sleep specialist Wendy Troxel, lead behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation, who was not involved in the study.

"But we really lack strong evidence to show whether cannabis helps or hurts sleep," Troxel added.

Marijuana use could impair sleep, according to a new study.

The research, published Monday in the journal BMJ, revealed that adults who used marijuana 20 or more days in the past month were 64% more likely to sleep less than six hours per night and 76% more likely to sleep. more than nine hours a night.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines optimal sleep for adults as seven to eight hours a night.

  • How to fall asleep faster and healthier

Moderate use - using marijuana less than 20 days in the past month - did not create short sleep problems, but people were 47% more likely to get nine or more hours of sleep per night, according to the study.

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Why are both short and long sleep a problem?

"Large population-based studies show that both short and long sleep are associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as the long-term progression of conditions such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and disease. coronary arteries and any of the major cardiovascular diseases, "said study lead author Calvin Diep, who is a resident in the department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto.

"It seems that with sleep there is a kind of 'Goldilocks phenomenon' in which there is a 'fair' amount," Diep said.

  • You have to find the sweet spot of sleep to keep your brain fit, says a new study

One in three Americans does not get enough sleep, according to the CDC.

Additionally, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, such as apnea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome, which can ruin a good night's sleep.

The CDC considers this to be a "public health problem", as interruptions to sleep are associated with an increased risk of suffering from, among other things, high blood pressure, weakened immune system, weight gain, low libido, mood swings, paranoia, and depression, as well as an increased risk of diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and some types of cancer.

There is no clear evidence in any sense

The study looked at marijuana use for sleep among 21,729 adults between the ages of 20 and 59.

The data was collected by the National Health and Nutrition Survey, and is considered representative of more than 146 million Americans.

In addition to problems with short and long sleep, people in the study who used marijuana in the past 30 days were also more likely to say they had trouble falling or staying asleep, and were more likely to say they had discussed the problems. sleep problems with a healthcare provider, Diep said.

"The problem with our study is that we cannot really say that it is causal, that is, we cannot know for sure if it is simply individuals who have difficulty sleeping and therefore consume cannabis or if cannabis has caused it", added.

Previous studies have also found a connection between the two components of marijuana, CBD and THC, and lack of sleep.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a key component of medical marijuana, while THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that produces the sensation of being high.

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A 2018 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, The Gold Standard, found no benefit of CBD on sleep in healthy volunteers.

Other studies have also found high rates of insomnia when nighttime marijuana use is withdrawn.

"At this time there is still no clear evidence that cannabis helps you sleep," said Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla, a sleep medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved. in none of the studies.

"We know that when people start using it, there is some benefit in the immediate short term, but there is a rapid tolerance to this effect," Kolla said.

"There is currently no good quality evidence to suggest that cannabis helps improve the quality or duration of sleep."

Confounding factors

Still, people still believe that marijuana helps them sleep.

Surveys of marijuana users show that they do indeed rely on the drug to sleep better.

"The problem is that there is a disconnect between these anecdotal reports of people reporting therapeutic benefits and the evidence that supports them in terms of data," Diep said.

One possible reason, according to Kolla, is that when people stop using cannabis after a period of regular use, the effects of withdrawal can cause sleep disturbances.

That leads people to believe that "the cannabis was actually helping (to sleep), whereas what they are really experiencing are withdrawal symptoms."

  • How to Improve Sleep Habits to Support Emotional Well-Being, According to a Therapist

Another factor to consider is the higher potency of marijuana today compared to the time when many of the studies on cannabis and sleep were conducted, said Dr. Karim Ladha, anesthesiologist and clinical scientist in the department of Anesthesiology. and Pain Medicine from the University of Toronto.

"Much of the older cannabis-related data is based on lower doses of THC than patients use now, and there is very little research related to CBD," Ladha said.

"The studies tell us about what happens at the population level, but at the individual level that discussion is much more personal," he said.

"The studies only give us the chances that (marijuana) could harm your sleep, but it can help and so we just don't know until you try it."

That is why more studies need to be done, he added.

"Patients are spending money and time and resources to get cannabis right now to help with sleep," Ladha said.

"I believe that as a medical community, we have to do everything we can to make sure that we enable our patients to make the best possible decisions for their health."

Sleep quality Marijuana use

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-12-07

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