According to a new study, if your cannabis use has ever resulted in an ER visit or hospitalization, you were at greater risk of developing dementia within five years. This was compared to those who had been hospitalized for other reasons or compared to the general population. Heavy long-term cannabis use has been associated with midlife memory issues in addition to dementia-associated brain changes. Let’s learn more about the potential link between cannabis use and dementia.
Is There A Link Between Cannabis Use and Dementia Development
Dr. Daniel Myran, a Canada Research Chair in Social Accountability at the University of Ottawa, stated, “We set out to estimate the risk of being diagnosed with dementia in a group of people whose cannabis use resulted in a visit to the emergency room or required hospitalization for treatment.” Six million people with no history of dementia aged 45 or older were included in the study. The researchers then used health records from ICES to study whether the individuals who went to the emergency room or were hospitalized for cannabis-related issues were more likely to be subsequently diagnosed with dementia.
These individuals were then compared to three different groups. The first group contained people who went to the ER or hospital for any other reason. The second group contained individuals in the general population. The third group contained individuals who went to the ER or hospital for alcohol use. Over the course of the study, it was found that 16,275 (0.3%) participants 45 years of age or older had acute care due to cannabis use. Out of that 0.3%, 60% were male. The annual rate of individuals in this age group who had to seek acute care for the first time increased fivefold over the course of the study.
It jumped from 252 individuals in 2008 to 2,508 in 2021. After accounting for differences in socioeconomic characteristics, other mental health diagnoses, and chronic diseases, people receiving acute treatment for cannabis were 1.23-fold more likely than those receiving all-cause acute care and 1.72-fold more likely than the general population. However, they also found that individuals receiving acute cannabis care had a moderately lower likelihood of dementia than those receiving acute alcohol care.
Authors’ Cautions About The Study
Before jumping to any conclusions, though, it must be noted that the study’s authors did make a few cautions about their findings. While they had studied the link between severe cannabis use and the need for subsequent health care, they did not study cannabis use patterns that did not end up in the need for acute medical care. They also stated that the findings do not show that the use of cannabis actually causes dementia. However, according to co-author Dr. Colleen Webber, using it regularly may potentially increase your dementia risk due to changes in the structure of your brain. It may also be possible that regularly using cannabis may increase your risk of developing certain conditions that are considered significant dementia risk factors.
These include depression, social isolation, and high blood pressure. Yet, other studies have suggested that cannabis use may potentially alleviate certain dementia symptoms. It seems that more research will still need to be done before we have the full picture. While the findings of this study point to a possible link between cannabis usage severe enough to necessitate emergency care and an increased risk of dementia, it is far from conclusive. The study only looks at the most severe cannabis cases – those that end in ER visits or hospitalization.
So, it cannot teach us much about the effects of frequent or moderate use. It also doesn’t prove a direct cause-and-effect link between cannabis use and dementia. Nonetheless, the study raises real concerns that heavy, chronic cannabis use may harm brain function, potentially by adding to factors known to increase dementia risk, such as depression, loneliness, and hypertension. For those who use cannabis frequently, particularly older adults, these findings may be regarded as a warning to use with caution until more extensive studies are available.
Read More: Cannabis Use Linked to Epigenetic Changes, Study Shows
