CONNECT WITH US
HealthTech

HealthTech

Cannabis involved in most substance-related emergency visits among teens, young adults

Medical Xpress logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Cannabis involved in most substance-related emergency visits among teens, young adults

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A large national study analyzing emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to alcohol or cannabis use across the U.S. has found diverging age patterns: Among people who presented to the hospital for a substance-related problem, cannabis was involved in the majority of visits by adolescents and young adults, while alcohol predominated among older adults.

Led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study appears Nov. 4 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Better awareness of changing patterns of harm from these substances could help clarify the risks involved in using them, according to the investigators, led by Kevin Y. Xu, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine.

For example, the risks of cannabis use are often oversimplified and underestimated in popular media, according to Xu, especially considering the increasing potency of cannabis products readily available for purchase. The new study could help doctors provide better, more nuanced and individualized information to their patients and help them make more informed decisions around the use of alcohol and cannabis.

"In general, we have seen that cannabis use is trending up and alcohol use is trending down; but until now, we haven't had high-quality data tracking what kind of use is causing immediate harm—emergency room visits and hospitalizations," Xu said.



Source link
Related Topics:HealthTech

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.