There aremany , manystudies linking cannabis usage to schizophrenia and psychosis – include onerecently that suggests it is the latter ( or at least a latent sensitivity towards the latter ) that act upon the former rather than vice versa .
Now , inquiry reveals there is a naturally come about component within marijuana that can actually helpsuppresssymptoms of psychosis , at least in the forgetful - term . The study has been bring out inJAMA Psychiatry .
The substance in question is cannabidiol ( CBD ) , and one dose may be all it takes to relieve certain wit abnormalities , including delusions and delusion . It is the very same cannabinoid that has been purified andlicensed by the FDAas a treatment for rare and grievous forms of epilepsy .
To learn its effects on psychosis , scientists from King ’s College London ( KCL ) enrol 33 young mass who had been experiencing distressing psychotic symptom but were not yet diagnosed with psychosis and a further 19 to act as controls . Sixteen of the at - danger group were offered a unmarried dose of cannabidiol ( 600 mg ) . Everyone else get a placebo .
Three hour later , Volunteer performed a memory undertaking while their psyche was being scanned by an MRI machine . The chore had been specifically designed to engage three parts of the brain connected to psychosis , including activities such as say whether or not a pair of Good Book blend well together , then call back which word had been paired with which .
The 33 young people with psychosis - like symptoms extend to show mellow levels of abnormal brain action in these brain regions than the control chemical group ( unsurprising ) , but those who had strike the cannabidiol add-on showed lower levels than those who had taken the placebo .
It ’s not the first metre research at KCL has shown that cannabidiol may work asan adversaryto tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ) , the substance responsible for your high ( in recreational cannabis , levels of cannabidiol are too low to have much of an antipsychotic effect ) . And if the results are replicate , it may show that cannabidiol selection could be used to assist to stamp out unnatural brain activity , at least partially .
Right now , theWorld Health Organizationestimates that roughly 100,000 new people receive some form of psychosis every undivided year and up to three masses in every 100 will go through a psychotic episode at some period during their life . The scientists ask hope this inquiry will one day be used to treat those with psychosis untreatable by other substance .
" The mainstay of current treatment for people with psychosis are drug that were first discovered in the fifties and regrettably do not work for everyone , " Sagnik Bhattacharyya from the Institute of Psychiatry , Psychology & Neuroscience ( IoPPN ) at KCL said in astatement . " Our results have started unravelling the wit mechanics of a new drug that work in a completely different way to traditional anti - psychotic person . "
Next up : Bhattacharyya and his squad at the IoPPN are work on a large - scale trial to examine whether or not it can be prescribed to young the great unwashed at a in high spirits risk of infection of psychosis to care their symptoms . This will be the first of its kind .
" One of the main advantages of cannabidiol is that it is safe and seems to be very well tolerated , cause it in some path an ideal discussion , " Bhattacharyyaadded . " If successful , this trial will offer definitive trial impression of cannabidiol ’s function as an antipsychotic treatment and pave the way for use in the clinic . "
